You have been NUDGED...

This week in my Consumer Behavior class, we spoke about NUDGES. According to the book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness by R. Thaler and C. Sunstein (2009), which we had to read for class, a Nudge is an arranged environment, which gives individuals the freedom to choose, but still “influence[s] people’s behavior in order to make their lives longer, healthier, and better” (Thaler & Sunstein, p. 5).

One of the last in-class examples reminded me of a Nudge designed by IKEA. A few years ago I a read this German book Wir IKEAner (translated: We citizens of IKEA) by S. Hermann (2009) in which the author introduces IKEA’s history, its retail strategy as well as store layout, restaurant idea and all other phenomena behind the IKEA mystery. 

Reading this book, I discovered something I have never been aware of and which had nudged me my entire life...

Have you guys ever noticed the following: You enter an IKEA warehouse and its showroom with the intention only to buy the one or two items you ‘really’ need. After taking the full IKEA tour, you leave the store with at least two or three items you did not had in mind in the first place and maybe did not even buy everything you came there for. S. Hermann (pp.103-105) names tealights and napkins as the most popular spontaneously purchased items by IKEA customers. 

Really just a spontaneous and impulsive choice, or one perfectly arranged by IKEA?

  

The book and further research gave me the answer...  

Every IKEA store looks at least from the outside and in most cases from the inside pretty much the same (Hermann, p. 106). The loyal IKEA customer knows where everything (all different showroom areas, restaurant and self-service hall) is located and feels homey. The so familiar IKEA journey starts at the beginning of the whole-level showroom, is guided through all different rooms a home needs furniture and decoration to place in, and ends in the IKEA restaurant before you take the stairs down to the self-service halls. That is in every IKEA store around the world pretty much the same (Hermann, p. 106).

Did you ever notice, that you don’t just walk a simple loop through the showroom?

It is like a maze – the IKEA maze – with all its hurdles and obstacles (purchase temptations and suggestions of items one ‘really’ needs). The path through the IKAE showroom forces the customer to walk around a lot of corners and makes them rotating there focus and consequently their point of attention as often as possible (Hermann, pp. 106-113). The same intention is behind the apparently randomly placed boxes in the middle of the alleys containing all kinds of decoration and household items. Changing your center of attention every few feet within this store maze, makes you notice all this items, which you most likely do or don’t need (Hermann, pp. 106-113). Arranged in a simple loop, you would probably not even pay attention to the most of them. Items you noticed and thought about are half way in the cart and almost through the check out...

Smartly designed and well established! The most people don’t even notice, that it is not only them to blame for the so long IKEA receipt.  But I can tell from my own, my friends’ and family’s experience: Even when you are aware of this Nudge by IKEA, you don’t change much of your consumer behavior.

Don’t we all just love IKEA?!

To get some more information about this phenomenal Nudge by IKEA, check out this website and the other links at the end of the article:

http://www.retailwire.com/discussion/15027/prof-calls-ikea-layout-tortuous

=> These articles describe the IKEA’s intention behind this (from my point of view) so well-designed, labyrinthine showrooms more negative than S. Hermann does in his book.

shopping at the 'dm' varmacy market... a different shopping experience

In Germany exists a variety of pharmacy markets which all differ from the American once in size, store layouts, products and pricing. But one of those is different than all the others... the dm farmacy market. Back in Germany I have always been a loyal customer at dm, avoiding all other pharmacy markets. My friends and a lot of other people I know feel the same way: dm only! But why are dm customers so loyal to the market, even if all pharmacy markets basically offer the same or similar products?

To answer this question for myself... I like dm the most, because I feel comfortable shopping there, it never feels super crowded in the stores, even if there are a lot of people in it at the same time, dm supplies my favorite products, and I think I get everything for a really good to low price.

Quite a while ago, I found a more scientific answer to the question... One of the German public TV channels called ARD has a documentary show in which anchors with the support of specialists analyse different popular brands, such as fast food and other restaurants, clothing shops, grocery stores and many more. The other day, this show examined the mystery of the dm pharmacy market. What is the secret of dm having the most loyal German customers, even if they do not have the most stores of all pharmacy markets?

The company was tested in 4 categories: (1) Mere advertisement, (2) Price Advantage, (3) Quality, and (4) Fairness. The analysis of all categories is quite interesting, but in particular for people purchasing at dm stores on a regular basis with a high loyalty. Not everything is how it seems to be... But anyway, at this point I want to show you the biggest secret what dm stores differentiates from all other pharmacy stores... the Stores' Interior Furnishing

A dm store is different... all alleys are wider (that is quite typical in America, but not in German stores), more space at the check out points, all shelfs are just as high as the average human shoulder height, the shelfs in the store's center are all rotated through 45° and the light in the store is a comfortable yellow instead of a usual white. All these factors change the atmosphere in the store and change the purchasing process in a dm store into a whole different shopping experience. The stores' Interior Furnishing as well as a the customer service all regard the human natural feeling of comfort.
    

              

The rotated shelfs facilitate the view into the alley to easily spot the product one's looking for. The widen alleys give a feeling of space, privacy and feedom of movement. The lower shelfs facilitate a better overview of the whole store and eliminate the feeling to get striked to death by a shelf. The dimmed light increases the general comfort as well as pleases the colors of the packages and so the perception of each product. The documentary shows, that customers at a dm store focus more on the product itself, than on the lowest price in the shelf like in other companies' stores. Customers spend more time in a dm store than in any other pharmacy market's store. This all is arranged on purpose: A dm store is supposed to become a place, which invites to look at, test and touch products, to amble around and take ones time either by oneself or with the whole family.

All this is based on a customer-oriented store interior and service.The company's slogan translated: dm - here is were I am a human, here is were I buy

Take a look at the documentary (unfortunately in German): the dm check
scip to min 6:45 - 8:00 and 9:20 - 10:30 to see the change from a normal pharmcy store layout to a dm store layout!