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In-Store Retail Media Design Guide: Incorporating Psychological Principles

In-Store Retail Media Design Guide: Incorporating Psychological Principles

How to ensure that your retail media are not only visually appealing but also rooted in psychological principles that drive shopper behaviour.

By incorporating psychological principles into the design and deployment of retail media, you can create more effective, engaging, and persuasive in-store experiences.

This guide outlines key principles for designing effective in-store retail media, ensuring that your strategies are not only visually appealing but also rooted in psychological principles that drive shopper behaviour.

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1. Define Clear Objectives

Psychological Principle: Goal Setting Theory

Design Guideline: Begin by clearly defining the goals of your retail media (e.g., increasing brand awareness, driving impulse purchases, or promoting seasonal products). Specific and measurable goals help focus design efforts, ensuring that every element supports these objectives.

Example: If the goal is to boost impulse purchases, focus on eye-catching designs for endcaps or checkout displays with clear, enticing messages.

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2. Leverage the Power of Simplicity

Psychological Principle: Cognitive Load Theory

Design Guideline: Minimise cognitive load by keeping designs simple and uncluttered. The human brain can process only a limited amount of information at once; too much detail can overwhelm shoppers and reduce engagement.

Example: Use large, bold fonts for key messages, and avoid overcrowding displays with too many products or text. Prioritise the most important information.

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3. Use Eye-Catching Visuals

Psychological Principle: Visual Salience

Design Guideline: Utilise bold colours, contrast, and motion to capture attention. Humans are naturally drawn to visually salient stimuli, which can help your media stand out in a busy retail environment.

Example: Bright colours and high-contrast visuals can draw attention to promotional offers. Incorporating motion in digital displays can further enhance visual salience.

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4. Optimise Placement for Visibility

Psychological Principle: The Mere Exposure Effect

Design Guideline: Place retail media in high-traffic areas, such as entrances, endcaps, and checkout lanes, where they will be frequently seen by shoppers. Repeated exposure increases familiarity and can lead to increased preference for the promoted items.

Example: Positioning displays at eye level and along the shopper’s natural path increases the likelihood of repeated exposure, making them more effective.

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5. Incorporate Social Proof
Psychological Principle: Social Proof

Design Guideline: Include elements of social proof, such as customer reviews, testimonials, or popularity indicators (e.g., “Best Seller” tags). People are more likely to purchase products that others are buying or endorsing.

Example: Digital displays featuring customer testimonials or social media posts can create a sense of trust and urgency, encouraging others to follow suit.

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6. Engage Multiple Senses

Psychological Principle: Multisensory Integration

Design Guideline: Incorporate elements that appeal to multiple senses to create a more immersive and memorable shopping experience. Engaging more senses can increase emotional engagement and enhance recall.

Example: Combine visuals with sound (e.g., music or announcements), scent (e.g., fresh bakery scents), and touch (e.g., interactive displays) to create a richer sensory experience.

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7. Create Urgency

Psychological Principle: Scarcity

Design Guideline: Utilise scarcity and urgency to prompt quick decision-making. Indicating that a promotion is time-limited or that stock is running low can create a fear of missing out (FOMO), driving impulse purchases.

Example: Use phrases like “Limited Time Offer” or “Only a Few Left!” on digital screens or shelf tags to instil a sense of urgency.

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8. Personalise Where Possible

Psychological Principle: Personalisation Effect

Design Guideline: Tailor retail media to individual preferences when possible. Personalised offers and content are more engaging and can significantly increase conversion rates.

Example: Leverage loyalty program data to display personalised offers on digital screens near relevant products, or through mobile apps that sync with in-store displays.

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9. Ensure Consistency Across Channels

Psychological Principle: Cognitive Dissonance

Design Guideline: Maintain consistent messaging, pricing, and design elements across all retail media channels (e.g., in-store displays, mobile apps, online platforms). Inconsistencies can create cognitive dissonance, leading to mistrust and reduced sales.

Example: If an item is promoted online at a certain price, ensure that in-store displays reflect the same price and offer to avoid customer dissatisfaction.

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10. Facilitate Easy Decision-Making

Psychological Principle: Decision Fatigue

Design Guideline: Simplify choices for the shopper by clearly highlighting the best or most popular options. Too many choices can lead to decision fatigue, where the shopper becomes overwhelmed and may avoid making a purchase altogether.

Example: Use “Top Pick” or “Staff Favorite” labels to guide shoppers towards products, reducing the cognitive effort required to make a decision.

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Additional Design Considerations

A. Colour Psychology

Design Guideline: Use colours strategically to evoke certain emotions or behaviors. For example, red can create a sense of urgency, while blue can evoke trust and calmness.

Example: Use red or orange for clearance sales to create a sense of urgency and action.

B. Typography and Readability

Design Guideline: Choose fonts that are easy to read from a distance and in various lighting conditions. Font size, style, and spacing should all be designed for clarity and legibility.

Example: Use sans-serif fonts for main headings and serif fonts for body text, with sufficient contrast between text and background.

C. Behavioural Nudges

Design Guideline: Incorporate subtle cues that nudge shoppers toward desired behaviours, such as directional arrows leading to promotions or colour-coded sections for product categories.

Example: Use green arrows to guide shoppers towards healthy food options, leveraging the colour’s association with health and sustainability.

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Conclusion: Designing Effective Retail Media

By incorporating psychological principles into the design and deployment of retail media, you can create more effective, engaging, and persuasive in-store experiences. This not only enhances shopper satisfaction but also drives sales and loyalty. When designing retail media, always consider the shopper’s perspective, prioritise simplicity, and align with human cognitive and emotional processes to achieve optimal results.

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About Phillip Adcock

My name is Phillip Adcock: I have more than 30 years of human behavioural research and analysis, and have developed a unique ability to identify what it is that makes people psychologically and physiologically 'tick'.

Would you like to know more about how shoppers and consumers think? Download my FREE guide now. Alternatively, check out www.adcocksolutions.com, where there are more FREE downloads available there. Or why not simply email me with what's on your mind?

If you think there is value in this article then please, please share it, thank you.

Phillip Adcock

Phillip Adcock CMRS
Psychology & Behaviour
Change Consultant

Phillips Signature

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