by Carrie Barnett

Did you ever thumb through a magazine while waiting in a grocery store? If you decided to buy the magazine, you probably picked another copy from the back of the rack. You are not alone. Most shoppers never pick the one at the front of the rack. The reason is perceived “product contamination.”

Andrea Morales is marketing professor at ASU’s W. P. Carey School of Business. She and her colleagues studied the phenomenon of product contamination and its related costs to retailers.

Consumers want to think that the item they take home was untouched by human hands, she says. Yet, paradoxically, most want to handle the item before they buy.

Morales found that consumers are significantly less likely to buy an item they believe to be contaminated. The finding holds important lessons for both major retailers and mom-and-pop storefronts alike. But retailers can take steps to limit losses, according to the researchers.

“When consumers receive a signal that another consumer has touched a product, they lower both their evaluations and purchase intentions for that product,” Morales explains.

“We don't have any numbers on the impact of damaged goods and returned goods. But we do know, in general, that companies lose money on these items.”

If companies ignore their customers' feelings about these tainted products, they could be leaving money on the table. Morales says that retailers should think carefully about this issue.

Solutions might require a big effort; perhaps the renovation or redesign of a dressing room. Or it could be as simple as putting a fresh price tag on a product that has been returned.

For more information about this and other studies at the W. P. Carey School of Business, visit Knowledge @ W. P. Carey