Shoes of Prey was a darling of the Australian start-up set in the early 2010s.
Riding the product personalisation wave, their unique approach allowed customers to customise their footwear.
Consumers loved it and word-of-mouth spread rapidly.
Early success led to scaling opportunities, and soon they were partnering with established retailers David Jones and Nordstrom.
So why did Shoes of Prey topple over like Bambi in heels?
They asked customers what they wanted.
According to CEO Michael Fox, “our market research indicated they wanted a better option, they wanted to customise. Unfortunately when we delivered the product, we learnt that wasn’t the case.”
He goes on:
“If I ever find myself in a position where I’m attempting to change consumer behaviour, I will ensure I’ve peeled back the layers to truly understand the psychology of my target customer.
While our mass market customer told us they wanted to customise…what they were consciously telling us and what they subconsciously wanted (to be inspired by trends and shown by celebrities and influencers exactly what to wear — down to the style and brand) were effectively polar opposites.”
Polar opposites.
This is the Say vs. Do Gap. People say one thing and do another.
The problem is that humans are poor predictors of our own behaviour. We're unreliable witnesses. We underestimate the impact context, emotion, habits, and unconscious biases have on our behaviour.
That means asking people what it would take to influence their actions gives us answers, but not necessarily accurate ones.
The better way?
Anticipating behaviour based on how humans are wired.
And for that? Behavioural economics.
More on how the Customer Insights Landscape fits together.
🌟 If you found this interesting, let me know! Buy me a virtual coffee ☕ or forward this email ↗️ to someone who also might like it. Your support means I can keep sharing ideas about behavioural science for free.
💪 Find out where your team can do better (influencing diagnostic)
📈 Take your team to the next level of influence (team development)
🧠 Learn the science of Influencing Action (online course)
Hey, are we connected yet?
