New research suggests that merely passing a discount store on the way to the sporting goods store might affect an eventual purchase. In effect, even 60 milliseconds of exposure to a brand name such as
Wal-Mart or Tiffany can alter consumers' subconscious goals, according to the study published in the
Journal of Consumer Research.
"Results suggest that simple exposure to brand
names has the potential to activate goals which then influence choices," write Tanya L. Chartrand, Joel Huber (both Duke University), Baba Shiv (Stanford University), and Robin J. Tanner (University
of Wisconsin).
"This data thus opens the door to an intriguing new way to think about the role and power of brands."
The researchers had participants complete scrambled sentence
tasks designed to subconsciously activate either " thrift" or "prestige" goals. In subsequent studies, participants completed those tasks and were then asked to make choices among various product
brands. Finally, participants viewed numbers on a computer screen while U.S. retail brand names flashed on the edge of their field of vision. Those brand names were associated with prestige (e.g.,
Tiffany) or thrift (e.g., Wal-Mart). Those 60-millisecond flashes influenced the participants' choice.
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