'Best-seller' label guides online gift purchases

Online retailers have an opportunity to persuade hesitant shoppers to click "buy" this holiday season, according to new research by a marketing professor.

It's all in the labeling. Clinical Assistant Professor of Marketing Christopher Lee discovered that online shoppers are more likely to purchase an item as a gift if it's labeled a "best-seller." However, people are more likely to buy something for themselves if it's branded "limited edition." In an ASU Now article published on November 22, 2016:

"It's the idea where in any gift-buying scenario, we're nervous if they'll like it and whether it's a good product," Lee said. "The idea that 'this is a best-seller' would help ease that uncomfortable feeling. But when we're buying for ourselves, we're driven by two things — a need to be unique, but also a need to belong. So when a product is labeled 'limited edition,' we're more persuaded by that for ourselves," he said.