Last Friday, fellow blogger Kim wrote about the struggles she faced in making a purchasing decision between two different pairs of fuchsia high heels and the factors that eventually swayed her toward one pair over the other. She wrote, “With the price being almost the same, my decision came down to the extras provided by these companies. When would I get them? Were there any discounts available? How much was shipping? And what would happen if they didn’t fit? I settled on one of my new favorite shoe and accessory websites. They offered me free, overnight shipping and the option to return the shoes free-of-charge should they not fit properly.”
Upon reading this, it instantly reminded me of an article I had read last week posted by Penn Olson, titled, “7 Psychology Theories That Help You Sell,” – one of which was called cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is, essentially, a negative emotional feeling that arises when one holds two somewhat conflicting ideas concurrently. In relation to purchasing, Penn Olson explains, “We feel cognitive dissonance when we think that our purchase might not be the best there is.” As a result, studies have shown that people try to reduce this dissonance by changing their attitudes or beliefs in order to justify these attitudes or beliefs – or in this reference, purchases. The article continues, “As marketers, our job is to give them a hand to reduce this dissonance. That’s why we have sales people telling us that the dress looks good on us at the fitting rooms. Besides having an awesome product, warranties, exchange and refund policies, and positive testimonies and reviews can help ease the mind of consumers before and after purchase.”
So in effect, Kim was able to make her decision of which fuchsia high heels to purchase because the shoe website was able to reduce her cognitive dissonance and push her attitudes in favor of their site by offering special shipping and guarantees. At Pinnacle, we do the same thing. We offer rush promotional products whose orders can be processed within 24 hours. We have a Pinnacle Platinum Guarantee that ensures that all orders will arrive on time and exactly as approved, or we will re-run the order or refund the purchaser’s money. You can also find tons of case studies and individual customer reviews on product pages throughout the site!