DES GB2015 Englisch

SHOPPING I n a context of a growing loss of trust and communication overload, the genuine experience of multisensory interaction with a product and a seller is an important guarantee of quality and foundation for trust. As a species we are very reliant on our sense of touch. While we start to believe something when we see it with our own eyes, when we seek a deeper understanding we reach out with our fingers. It is only when we physically handle something that we can a feel for its value. Return rates in mail order business speak volumes about this. As research into haptics shows, touch is the “truthful sense” when it comes to judging quality and gauging well-being. What is more, once we have held some- thing, we are unwilling to surren- der it. We see this behaviour in its most instinctive form in children. In the socialisation process, we learn to curb our desires, but this ingrained pattern is very persis- tent and has a surprisingly large influence on our buying decisions. The irresistible endowment effect Psychological and neuroscience studies * have shown that our valuation of an object goes up as soon as we touch or hold it. Var- ious studies have considered a cup. The results show that the longer a test participant held the cup in their hands, the higher the value they put on it. After 10 sec- onds, the subjects were prepared to pay 30% more for the item; after 30 seconds they would spend 60% more. “It is only when we physically handle something that we can a feel for its value.” “It is only Once we have held something, we are unwilling to surrender it. 23

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