Marketing Communications

394 CHAPTER 12 BRAND ACTIVATION

Figure 12.8 Percentage of people making at least one decision in-store

Source : Based on Ogilvy & Mather (2008), ‘Turning Shoppers into Buyers: The Truth Behind Shopper Decisions Made in Store’,

http://www.scribd.com/doc/11302909/Turning-Shoppers-Into-Buyers#wordpress (accessed July 2012).

It is well known that POP communications attract a shopper’s attention and drive up unplanned purchases. The

extent to which unplanned purchases are influenced depends on several factors. For example, shoppers appear

to do most unplanned buying when they shop in unfamiliar stores and have a lot of time available.^49 Unplanned

purchases are also more likely to occur for hedonic product categories and increase with the number of aisles the

shopper visits.^50 Further, recent research shows that consumers’ shopping goals also impact the extent to which

they are seduced to do unplanned purchases. Shoppers may go to the store holding a goal that can range from very

specific and concrete (e.g. to redeem a specific coupon) to very general and abstract (e.g. to fill up on weekly

needs). Consumers in an abstract state of mind are more flexible and receptive to their environment, whereas con-

sumers in a concrete mindset are more focused on their specific goal. Not surprisingly then, consumers with an

abstract (vs concrete) shopping trip goal appear to engage more in unplanned buying. The expected percentage

change in unplanned buying amounts to about −25% for a very concrete shopping goal (such as shopping for spe-

cial offers and promotions), to about +2% for a less concrete shopping goal (such as shopping for immediate

con sumption), to 27% for a rather abstract goal (such as a fill-in trip to get daily essentials) and to almost +60%

(or an increase of 10% on the total amount spent) for a very abstract shopping goal (such as weekly fill-ups). If a

consumer decides to shop in a store because of its low prices, unplanned purchases increase from 12% to 13%

(these additional purchases can be easily justified on the basis of the low prices), whereas shopping in a store

because of the image or higher-quality products is less likely to stimulate unplanned purchases. One-stop shopping,

in contrast to shopping in multiple stores, also drives up unplanned purchases, more specifically with an average

of 12%.^51

RESEARCH INSIGHT

Factors driving up unplanned buying

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