Howshopscanexploitpeople'sherdmentalitytoincreasesales

1.ATRIPtothesupermarketmaynotseemlikeanexerciseinpsychologicalwarfare—butitis.Shopkeepersknowthatfillingastorewiththearomaoffreshlybakedbreadmakespeoplefeelhungryandpersuadesthemtobuymorefoodthantheyhadintended.Stockingthemostexpensiveproductsateyelevelmakesthemsellfasterthancheaperbutlessvisiblecompetitors.Nowresearchersareinvestigatinghow“swarmintelligence”(thatis,howants,beesoranysocialanimal,includinghumans,behaveinacrowd)canbeusedtoinfluencewhatpeoplebuy.

2.AtarecentconferenceonthesimulationofadaptivebehaviourinRome,Zeeshan-ul-hassanUsmani,acomputerscientistfromtheFloridaInstituteofTechnology,describedanewwaytoincreaseimpulsebuyingusingthisphenomenon.Supermarketsalreadyencourageshopperstobuythingstheydidnotrealisetheywanted:forinstance,byplacingeverydayitemssuchasmilkandeggsatthebackofthestore,forcingshopperstowalkpastothertemptinggoodstoreachthem.MrUsmaniandRonaldoMenezes,alsooftheFloridaInstituteofTechnology,setouttoenhancethistendencytobuymorebyplayingontheherdinstinct.Theideaisthat,ifacertainproductisseentobepopular,shoppersarelikelytochooseittoo.Thechallengeistokeepcustomersinformedaboutwhatothersarebuying.

3.Entersmart-carttechnology.InMrUsmani'ssupermarketeveryproducthasaradiofrequencyidentificationtag,asortofbarcodethatusesradiowavestotransmitinformation,andeverytrolleyhasascannerthatreadsthisinformationandrelaysittoacentralcomputer.Asacustomerwalkspastashelfofgoods,ascreenontheshelftellshimhowmanypeoplecurrentlyintheshophavechosenthatparticularproduct.Ifthenumberishigh,heismorelikelytoselectittoo.

4.MrUsmani's“swarm-moves”modelappealstosupermarketsbecauseitincreasessaleswithouttheneedtogivepeoplediscounts.Anditgivesshoppersthesatisfactionofknowingthattheyboughtthe“right”product—thatis,theoneeveryoneelsebought.Themodelhasnotyetbeentestedwidelyintherealworld,mainlybecauseradiofrequencyidentificationtechnologyisnewandhasonlybeeninstalledexperimentallyinsomesupermarkets.ButMrUsmanisaysthatbothWal-MartinAmericaandTescoinBritainareinterestedinhiswork,andtestingwillgetunderwayinthespring.

5.Anotherrecentstudyonthepowerofsocialinfluenceindicatesthatsalescould,indeed,beboostedinthisway.MatthewSalganikofColumbiaUniversityinNewYorkandhiscolleagueshavedescribedcreatinganartificialmusicmarketinwhichsome14,000peopledownloadedpreviouslyunknownsongs.Theresearchersfoundthatwhenpeoplecouldseethesongsrankedbyhowmanytimestheyhadbeendownloaded,theyfollowedthecrowd.Whenthesongswerenotorderedbyrank,butthenumberoftimestheyhadbeendownloadedwasdisplayed,theeffectofsocialinfluencewasstilltherebutwaslesspronounced.Peoplethusfollowtheherdwhenitiseasyforthemtodoso.

6.InJapanachainofconvenienceshopscalledRanKingRanQueenhasbeenorderingitsproductsaccordingtosalesdatafromdepartmentstoresandresearchcompanies.Theshopssellonlythemostpopularitemsineachproductcategory,andtherankingsareupdatedweekly.Icosystem,acompanyinCambridge,Massachusetts,alsoaimstoexploitknowledgeofsocialnetworkingtoimprovesales.

7.Andthepsychologythatworksinphysicalstoresisjustaspotentontheinternet.OnlineretailerssuchasAmazonareadeptattellingshopperswhichproductsarepopularwithlike-mindedconsumers.Evenintheprivacyofyourhome,youcanstillbepartoftheswarm.

Questions1-6

Completethesentencesbelowwithwordstakenfromthereadingpassage.UseNOMORETHANTHREEWORDSforeachanswer.

1.Shopownersrealizethatthesmellof_______________canincreasesalesoffoodproducts.

2.Inshops,productsshelvedatamorevisiblelevelsellbettereveniftheyaremore_______________.

3.AccordingtoMr.Usmani,withtheuseof“swarmintelligence”phenomenon,anewmethodcanbeappliedtoencourage_______________.

4.Onthewaytoeverydayitemsatthebackofthestore,shoppersmightbetemptedtobuy_______________.

5.Ifthenumberofbuyersshownonthe_______________ishigh,othercustomerstendtofollowthem.

6.Usingthe“swarm-moves”model,shopownersdonothavetogivecustomers_______________toincreasesales.

查看答案
正确答案:

1.答案:(freshly baked) bread.

2.答案:expensive.

3.答案:impulse buying.

4.答案:other (tempting) goods/things/products.

5.答案:screen.

6.答案:discounts.

答案解析:

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