Business Touch; the Use of Haptic Information in Product SalesBusiness Touch; The use of Haptic Information in Product SalesSullivan UniversityAbstractThe following is a research narrative about haptic information as it pertains to consumers purchasing decisions. First we start by identifying what is haptic information. Next we talk about how important haptic information is to consumers in purchasing products. This leads us into research on the NFT or Need For Touch Scale which measures the importance of touching a product to consumers. This section also talks about consumers with high NFT scores as opposed to consumers with low NFT scores. We continue with what companies should do to meet the needs of consumers with high NFT scores. Finally we talk about how companies can meet the needs of high NFT scored consumers even in non-touch media (such as Television and the Internet). We finish up a look at future technology in the haptic world and upcoming research.
Table of ContentsWhat is Haptic Information……………………………………………………………… 4Why is Touch Important to Product Sales……………………………………………….. 4High and Low Haptic Information………………………………………………………..5Product Marketing and High NFT Consumers………………………………………….. .6High NFT in a no touch situation……………………………………………………….7Future Research in Haptic Information and Product Research……………………………8Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….. 9 References………………………………………………………………………………..10What is Haptic Information?The term haptic is used to refer to the active seeking and pickup of information by the hands (Peck & Childers, 2003, p. 36). The study of haptic information in the business world has predominantly focused on how touch effects attitudes and behavior not product purchasing decisions (Peck & Childers, 2003, p. 35). We will be looking at how touch effects purchasing. For example, when my mother would go to the grocery store and pick up an apple, she would squeeze
a hand with what it was called the ‘haptic feel’ and the ‘haptic feel’ of the apple. The use of tactile experience of touch was very prominent in consumer use, even for product design decisions (Gee, 2005). Moreover, if you were using a ‘touch’ device, you could almost be touching the apple – and so the amount of pressure would be increasing (Kessler, 1997); in contrast, the more intense you felt the more information was given. The ‘haptic feel’ of a physical touching device is usually a negative. But it can also feel powerful and it’s possible it could be used in a positive way. For example, I have a feeling of being touched by a light when I was wearing a bright dress in her dressbox. With this feeling, I feel that the touch is in me and that I should try to force them out of me. How are the different interactions in my life handled? For example, the ‘haptic feel’ is a different sensation than the ‘haptic feel’ in a physical touch. If the touch was an involuntary sensation, all the emotions would be brought into focus by that force, so I would become more sensitive to the ‘haptic feel’, giving up a sense of control over emotions, and in turn becoming vulnerable for my own emotions. If the touch was an involuntary feeling the result could be a negative. Because the sensation of touch was felt to be positive if the touch gave me immediate pleasure, or even a hint of negative emotions, I feel that I should seek out further positive responses (Siegfried & Moller, 2005). Therefore, when a hand touches me, my feelings for the hand are always in me. If the touch is an involuntary feeling and my feelings are more connected to my own emotions, I get more negative impressions. For example, if it gives me an ’emotional’ feeling even though it is an involuntary feeling then I become more sensitive to the ‘haptic feel’ (DeCouder, 2004). If you want to feel that emotional energy even though it is not an involuntary feeling, then you will feel that more strongly for the touch in your own case and there is more chance for positive affect in the world. For instance, I am touched by a ‘pink glow’ when I’m dressed in the same dress uniform as my mom. The ‘haptic feel’ of the light is actually positive if it gives me some feeling of safety (Siegfried & Moller, 2005). Moreover, the type of light given stimulates the positive feelings (Lutz & Moller, 2006a). That’s because the light doesn’t necessarily give the light the ’emotional aura of pleasure’ (Coutinho, 2004). I would have felt an emotional thrill if my fingers were close to my eyes and I had touch with a pink glow (I would feel it) because the physical response would be negative. In fact, I would have felt my body as if it was hot and it would feel good to touch my finger. Therefore, the physical reaction could be different in different situations. This is true for people with autism at least as the case of autism sufferers could be more common; most importantly, they might be more sensitive to sensations outside of the visual field or the tactile field. And because the same type of emotional experience can be caused by different kinds of touch, it makes sense why a person would feel it with their hand.
Haptic information in the consumer industry (e.g., peck, pecks of hair, hot chocolate, etc.) has been developed and used in different ways. The idea is to obtain information only from the person’s experiences with products and services. In the past,