Using Psychology in Sales, Part 1

Last week, you went to Ikea to buy some inexpensive magazine holders to file the last dozen issues of Harvard Business Review piled on the floor next to your desk.  You walked into the store and quickly worked your way through the expertly-designed rooms showcasing furnishings for different purposes.  Living Rooms.  Dining Rooms.   Bedrooms.   Offices.  One such Office was decorated with a sleek, minimalist white desk that adjusts height so you can work while sitting or standing.  There are white, glass-front book cases, a track light above the desk, a vibrant rug, and a reclining, white leather Executive Chair.  On the bookshelves are books, tasteful decorations and those magazine holders you want.  But now that you’ve seen them in this setting, surrounded by all of the complimentary furnishings, you pause to admire the décor.  The Executive Chair looks so sleek that you think ‘it’s probably not comfortable’.  But it IS comfortable… more than comfortable.  It’s luxurious and provides the perfect amount of lumbar support.  You realize your current desk chair at home is not nearly as comfortable.  You think ‘in this chair, I will be able to work late without straining my back.’  You decide you need one of those chairs.  You grab a tag, a couple of those magazine holders and head for register. 

The next week, you decide that your sleek new leather chair and magazine holders just don’t look right next to your traditional, worn maple desk. In fact, they look downright odd next to each other.  What you need is that adjustable white desk.  You jump on the Ikea website and order the desk.  While you are on the website, you decide that you probably should get the matching bookcases to complete “the look”.  A month later, your office looks a lot like the show-office in the Ikea showroom.  A trip to Ikea to buy two inexpensive magazine holders cost you thousands of dollars, plus picking, assembly and delivery.  You had a desk and chair and didn’t really think you needed new ones until that Ikea showroom spoke to you.  

Or maybe it was a visit to a Home Depot.  You went to get a box of picture hangers and ended up buying a new hammer and tool belt as well.  When you tried to put the new tools away, you realized that you needed that toolbox you’d seen.  So then you hop on the Home Depot website to order the toolbox, but see a tool chest with rolling wheels that will accommodate your tools even better.  You order it.  When it arrives, you put away your tools and realize that the tool chest is roomier than you realized and there are still three empty drawers.  Now you think you should probably pick up that drill you’ve always wanted plus the drill bits since you now have space to store them.  You don’t need a drill right now, but you buy it anyways in case you need one later.  And so it goes. One single purchase triggers the need to buy other things too. 

There’s a name for these reactive purchases:  the Diderot Effect.  The Diderot Effect is a phenomenon that occurs when the acquisition of one new possession leads to a spiral of consumption that results in the acquisition of even more possessions. Buying something new – or even receiving something new as a gift — can cause a chain reaction of more buying because the new item makes one feel like one needs other things to go with it or to keep up with it.

The term was coined by Canadian anthropologist Grant McCracken in 1988.  McCracken was a scholar of consumption patterns and an author known for his books about culture and commerce.  He named this particular psychological behavior after the French philosopher Denis Diderot (1713–1784), who first described the effect in his essay, Metaphysique. Diderot tells the story of how he was gifted a new exquisite dressing gown, that was nicer than anything else he owned. This made him feel dissatisfied with the rest of his possessions. He then went on to buy a new mirror, a new chair, and a new writing desk, in order to match the new dressing gown. This chain reaction of purchases eventually led him to sell off most of his old possessions, and to replace them with new ones. Obtaining a new possession triggered a spiral of consumption.

Why do People Experience the Diderot Effect?

Whether shopping for food, clothes, cars, real estate, art or business services, people are not rational.  People are often led by emotions, desires, values, loyalties, and instincts, which often override logic and reason.  Even the smartest, most sensible person can be swayed by psychological triggers and tactics used to sway the sales process.  Such is the case with the Diderot Effect.

The Diderot Effect is a reminder that our possessions can have a powerful influence on our sense of identity and self-worth. When we acquire a new possession, it can make us feel like we need to upgrade the rest of our possessions. This can lead to a cycle of consumption.  We buy things that we suddenly want even though we previously never needed them to feel happy or fulfilled. But this is not surprising.  People do irrational and illogical purchases for a variety of reasons. Reasons include:

• Emotions. Shopping can be a very emotional experience, and our emotions can affect our judgment. For example, impulse purchases are more likely to be made when feeling happy or excited.
• FOMO. Fear of missing outis a social anxiety that can cause us to feel like we are missing out on something if we are not participating in a popular activity or trend. This can lead us to make impulse purchases in order to feel like we are part of the group.
• Marketing persuasion. Retailers know ways to influence behavior. They use techniques like limited-time offers, free samples, social proof and reactive purchases to trigger feeling a need to buy something or something more.
• Finite willpower. All willpower is limited, and it can be difficult to resist temptation when shopping. This is especially true when tired, stressed, or hungry.
• Need for esteem.  The phrase ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ refers to the comparison of oneself to one’s neighbor as a benchmark for social class or the accumulation of material goods. Some feel that they need to have the latest and greatest things – like the Joneses — in order to feel good about themselves. Others need to keep up with their neighbors in order to fit in.  Still others keep up with the Joneses in order to be seen as ‘successful’.

It is important for business owners and salespeople to understand the psychology that drives buying behavior.  Salespeople can use the Diderot Effect to their advantage by asking customers about existing possessions or services in order to identify what other products or services the customer might need.  This can help them increase sales by facilitating more cross-selling or upselling.

Some additional tips for business owners and salespeople who want to use the Diderot Effect to their advantage include:

• Using high-quality products that will make customers feel like they have made a wise investment.
• Offering a wide variety of products so that customers can find the perfect complement to their existing possessions.
• Display products or services as part of a set
• Making it easier for customers to purchase multiple products at once.
• Offering discounts and promotions to encourage customers to buy more than one product.
• Using marketing materials that highlight the complementary nature of your products.

Next week, we’ll look at some other common strategies that retailers use to cross-sell or upsell shoppers such as offering discounts or promotions, charm pricing, moving items around, suggestive selling, product placement, social proof and scarcity.  We’ll dive deeper into these and other psychological sales triggers next week.  Stay tuned.

Quote of the Week

“The Diderot Effect is a reminder that people are more likely to buy something if they see it as being part of a set.” Marie Kondo

© 2023, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

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