Why Do the Abbotts Wait, While the Zimmermans Rush to Buy?
I am in trouble. With a name like Zinger I am often quick as my name suggests. And now I find out that those of us at the end of the alphabet are much quicker to respond to purchase opportunities. I am a victim of the double zinger – right at the end of the alphabet and with a surname that means – something that zings; A very rapidly moving object, especially one that is thrown.
Carlson and Conrad (those top of the alphabet types) are publishing an intriguing article in the Journal of Consumer Research. Here is a short summary of their work:
Why are some people more likely than others to wait in line overnight to buy just-released book or to queue up for the new iPad? (Yikes, I am hopeless I already have an iPad and I am trying to order books that don’t even come out until May!) “The tendency to act quicklyto acquire items such as those above is related to the first letter of one’s childhood surname,” write authors Kurt A. Carlson (Georgetown University) and JacquelineM. Conard (Belmont University).The authors studied how quickly adults responded to opportunities to acquire items of value to them. They found that the later in the alphabet people’s childhood surnames were, the faster those consumers responded to purchase opportunities. The “last-name effect” occurred when the items were real (basketball tickets, cash, and wine) or hypothetical (sale on a backpack – I better phone Mountain Equipment Co-op today as you never know when you might need a backpack).
I guess I better not answer the phone when a telemarketer calls and I better learn to cultivate my new first response, “let me think about that.” Of course you knew I would be one of the first to write about this and the article does not appear in the Journal of Consumer Research until August 2011!
Why couldn’t I have been named Azinger? It would have saved me so much money.
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David Zinger just made three online purchases. He works with organizations and individuals to improve employee engagement. His speaking, writing, coaching, and consulting focus on helping organizations and individuals increase employee engagement by 20%. David founded the 3400 member Employee Engagement Network. The network is striving to increase employee engagement 20% by 2020.
Contact David today to increase engagement where you work. (Email: dzinger@shaw.ca / Phone 204 254 2130 / Website: www.davidzinger.com)
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