We are much more willing to spend money on board an airplane when our neighbors on the left and right are doing the same.
We all know that we make purchases not only out of necessity, but also under the influence of others, but measuring the degree of this influence is not so easy. Sociologists shouldn’t ask all shoppers whether they really need new shoes or phones, or whether they are haunted by the new clothes of their girlfriends and friends. However, marketing specialist, professor of business school at Stanford University (USA) Pedro Gardet (Pedro M. Gardete) found an ingenious way to get around this difficulty. He decided to study the purchases that passengers make during air travel on American domestic flights *. The study conditions were close to ideal. Purchases are made in a closed space. All information about them is stored in the records of airlines. They are made using bank cards, which allows you to accurately determine the time of purchase and the name of the buyer – and hence his place in the cabin. Pedro Gardet collected data on 65 purchases made on 525 flights between January and February 2000. And with the pedantry of a good detective, he began to draw up a big picture.
Here’s what he got. The probability of buying increased by 30% if the passenger saw that his neighbor had just done the same thing. Of course, he did not always buy the same souvenirs or drinks, but in this case, the fact of making a purchase is much more important. And also the fact that the influence, apparently, was exerted only by the neighbors on the left and right. The example of people sitting in front, behind, diagonally or across the aisle did not increase buying activity.
Pedro Gardet did not stop there. Seeing that even the behavior of a stranger can cause us to have a strong desire to part with money, he decided to find out how the actions of acquaintances affect us. The scientist suggested that the passengers who checked in together for the flight and chose seats next to each other are most likely not strangers to each other, and studied this sample separately. In it, the influence of purchases made in the neighborhood on purchasing behavior was no longer 30, but 50 percent.
Marketers enjoy discussing Gardet’s results and looking for ways to leverage them. The day is probably not far off when social media will start bombarding us with messages like this: “Your friend N. just bought a Chanel 2.55 handbag.” It does not hurt to take into account the conclusions of the researcher and air passengers. And if the neighbor on the left or right clearly intends to buy something, but your plans for the purchase were not included, maybe you should look for an empty seat in the cabin?
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