Do you feel embarrassed when you are buying condoms? Relax, so do others!
Do you think that the cashier is judging you every time you buy condoms? Well, that is because people react differently when buying condoms than when buying clothes.
Buying condoms in stores can be embarrassing. However, you should not be too hard on yourself if you feel like the cashier is judging you every time you are buying them - it turns out, most people are embarrassed when they do it. This study investigated whether people react differently when they are buying condoms as opposed to when they are buying other items, like clothes, as a function of employee visibility.
Previous studies indicated that customers preferred shopping in stores where employees are visible while shopping. But this may be the case only for buying ‘regular’ items - not when buying condoms.
To test this hypothesis, the researchers developed two experiments. In the first experiment, some customers were greeted by an employee while they were shopping for clothes. In the second one, some customers were greeted by an employee when they were shopping for condoms, an item they considered embarrassing.
Here is what it unveiled.
Firstly, this study confirmed earlier findings that customers entering a store where an employee was present reported higher levels of pleasurable feelings and satisfaction. In fact, people who were greeted by an employee upon store entry were so satisfied, they were more likely to revisit the store than those who entered it with no employee in sight.
However, this was not the case when buying condoms. People who were buying condoms were less pleased and satisfied when they were greeted by an employee upon store entry than those who shopped for condoms in a store where no employee was visible as they entered. Additionally, the former group of customers reported that they were less likely to revisit the store.
Given these results, this study suggests that when selling condoms it would be better for stores to focus on in-storage signage that will help clients navigate through the store without asking employees for help.
In the meantime, you don’t need to feel bad about being embarrassed when shopping for condoms. It happens to most of us, too.
Featured author
Tobias Otterbring