A study in the Journal of Marketing has found that when customers do something environmentally conscious, like tote around a reusable bag, they are much more likely to treat themselves to junk food. The researchers tied this behavior to the “licensing effect”, where people allow themselves to do something “bad” after doing something they consider responsible and good. Tote bags probably won’t work for a jeweler, but how about inviting your customers in for a wheat-grass tasting? Anyone putting themselves through that sort of deprivation would be bound to snap up a piece of fashion jewelry.
This article originally appeared in the April 2017 edition of INSTORE.