A study conducted puts the number of ads viewed by an average American in a day at a staggering four-thousand. This figure is derived from the billboards on the streets, ads on television and social media induced digital marketing. This is too much noise, but to make it more specific brands can use the concept of psychological ownership. This is the case where customers feel so connected to a product, that it starts feeling like an extension of themselves. Companies that have successfully done it, are reaping the rewards. To get this done, three factors need to be built in- control, intimate knowledge and investment of self. A way to increasing customer control, is to simply offer them an option in product design as Thread-less has done with its t-shirts. Investment of self can be encouraged to have one’s own identity as a piece of the product. An example of this is Coca-Cola’s 2014 campaign titled “share a coke”, where coke bottles could be procured with users’ names being customized on them. Virtual reality tours, free classes or in-store garage sales can be methods of building intimate knowledge. There also exist dangers of ultra-psychological ownership as fell recently by the makers of the Star Wars series or the Tropicana brand back in 2009.

Source:https://hbr.org/2018/09/how-customers-come-to-think-of-a-product-as-an-extension-of-themselves

Uploaded Date:26 September 2018