Jun 17, 2010

Study: Store flooring can affect purchasing decisionsBy Katherine LymnMNDaily.com

The feeling customers get from a store’s flooring can affect how a product makes them feel, which can in turn determine whether they buy it, according to new research from University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management professor Joan Meyers-Levy, who worked in Vancouver with colleagues from the University of British Columbia.

The real-life implications of the research in retail shops depend largely on whether customers are looking at a product from just inches away or from a distance, Meyers-Levy said.

A plush carpet, for example, would make a distant product seem more comfortable, while hard tile would leave the customer less content with the same product, the findings show.

The research has clear implications for retailers, Meyers-Levy said.

“It says something about how you want to set up your store,” she said.

At a distance, when fine details are less apparent, customers “fill in” the gaps in their perception of a product with their physical sensations at that moment. Customers take their physical comfort into consideration on a subconscious level, Meyers-Levy said.

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