How is the Diderot Effect Used by Businesses?

Customer paying at mobile store

What is Diderot Effect?

Imagine yourself purchasing an iPad. After it is delivered to you, would you be happy with just that purchase, or in the excitement would you look for a tab cover, a tab screen protector, a pop socket and the list goes on. This is basic consumer behavior after any kind of purchase and was first recorded by Denis Diderot. Just look back and analyze all your Amazon or Flipkart purchases. You would have voluntarily or involuntarily followed this behavior.

How is Diderot Effect Used in Marketing?

The present-day business people are knowledgable. With knowledge, comes the deduction of various ways to make extra revenue. The more the revenue, the more the profit. Let us assume this is the simple equation they follow. By exploiting the consumers’ Diderot Effect behavior, businesses aim to generate sales and profit.

How is Diderot Effect Helping Businesses Make Profits?

Consider any product-based company. Let’s take a laptop for example. Now, the customer buys a laptop either online or from a shop. He (for ease of use, I am going with ‘He’) starts working on the laptop. After working for a few hours, he notices these:

  • Laptop heats up a bit, especially while gaming.
  • His neck aches, as he has to bend to make proper eye conact with the screen.
  • Though the sound is good enough, there is a craving for additional bass and volume.
  • The keys on the keypad are soft and great to use. There arises a fear of breaking a key while gaming or from typing pressure.
  • The screen captures fingerprints and dust quite easily.
  • Dust and food particles accumulate in between the keys on the keypad.
  • The laptop mouse, though convenient, is not right for gaming.

and many more! These are very basic and natural observations any user would have.

Customer purchasing items

No, what’s the solution?

Each one has a solution readily available in the market, from the same company of the laptop.

  • Cooling pad
  • Cooling pad wiht multi-angle adjustment
  • Bluetooth speakers
  • External keyboard
  • Screen guard/protector
  • Keypad cover/protector
  • External mouse (wired/bluetooth)

The customer who purchased the laptop initially ends up purchasing all these for the overall comfort and ease of use. More often than not, customers tend to purchase these from the same brand as their laptop, for uniformity and compatibility.

A person with currency notes

In reality, by selling a laptop, the same company has a high probability to make more money through the mentioned 7 additional purchases. This is how the Diderot Effect in consumers is exploited by businesses, especially product-based businesses.

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SBS Dayaabaran, best content writer in India

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