Sellers of both puppies and cars have known this for a while … customers interacting with, or just holding, your product for longer periods are more likely to buy. Of additional interest from a recent scientific study is that these customers will be more likely to pay more!

Length of ownership influences the owner’s perception of value and this study demonstrates that it applies to pre-ownership scenarios also. Additionally, it aligns with psychological principles of loss aversion, where people tend to be more averse to the potential of a loss than the potential of acquiring a gain.

Marketers should be considering ways that they can get their product and, indeed, their service-based experience, in the hands of their target customers. The question is simply how do we get our customers to interact with our offering and for how long? In particular, how do online retailers address this opportunity? Think about it. Give me some suggestions. I will share my own thoughts with you.

The Generational Imperative by Chuck Underwood

After recently re-reading Aldous Huxley’s classic novel, Brave New World, it was timely to read the Questions for Jonah Lehrer interview in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, as he has just written How We Decide, a book on how we make decisions. I got to thinking about our understanding of the human brain and the use of that knowledge in marketing. In another post, I’ll chat about behavioral economics, but in this post, as it is the end of the year and there is the surfeit of “Books of 2008″ lists, allow me to note just a few books related to this topic that I think would be inspiring and to ask you to provide your own suggestions. (more…)