Cooling-off period
Summary
- Set a later review time for a nonessential purchase that can wait. Leave the product page and decide then.
- Review reasons to buy and not to buy when the wait ends. Time passing does not mean it is time to order.
Ways to apply
Time pressure can be a cue to postpone the purchase decision
Research-backed
In a simulated online shopping experiment in the general population, participants chose a product, then watched a two-minute video. Under “limited-time offer” or “high-demand” prompts, their subsequent urge to buy was lower than among those who did not pause(Sin et al., 2022).
Continued exposure while waiting may make buying more likely
Proposed in research
A natural experiment at supermarket checkouts found that longer exposure to tempting products while queuing increased the likelihood of buying them on impulse(Houser et al., 2021).
Where the wait happens therefore matters. Leaving the product page or display area is an application of this finding.
Review reasons to buy and not to buy after the wait
Research-backed
In the same online shopping experiment, listing reasons to buy and not to buy reduced the urge to purchase under positive-review prompts. Waiting alone had no clear effect(Sin et al., 2022).
Under “only a few left” stock-scarcity prompts, none of these methods showed a clear effect compared with the no-intervention group.
Evidence
References (2)
- Randomized trialDark patterns in online shopping: do they work and can nudges help mitigate impulse buying?Sin, Harris, Nilsson, Beck (2022). Behavioural Public Policy
- Cohort studyChecking out temptation: A natural experiment with purchases at the grocery registerHouser, Liu, Reiley, Urbancic (2021). Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization