Often I've remarked about the bizarre nature of customer psychology. Here's another aspect of it that I came across recently, that I will give you an example of. I call it the "Truth Or Dare" syndrome. It works like this. A customer picks up an item that has been marked down for clearance. They see the product is something that's still very good, and the price is a steal. Instantly, they get suspicious.
"How come this is marked down so much? Is there anything wrong with it?"
Now, here's the catch. Often I try to tell them the truth, where the product is perfectly fine and we're only clearing it out to make way for some other model or type that we decided to carry in its place. When I tell the truth, they refuse to believe me. They think I'm pulling something over on them, and look at me like I'm some kind of used car salesman who has just been released from prison.
"No, really. What's wrong with it?"
"Ma'am, it hasn't got anything wrong with it. Really. We're just changing product lines." The customer puts the item back, and says "never mind."
When I tell a lie, an interesting thing happens. "Well, ma'am...the delivery truck was involved in an accident on the highway, and ran into another truck that was carrying toxic waste. A small amount of the waste spilled onto the product, but by the time the shipment arrived, we couldn't tell which ones had been touched. So we just clearance priced the whole lot to get rid of it....." My nose grows longer by the minute.
"Oh -- is THAT all that's wrong with it? I can clean it off in no time. I'll take one!"
Oh well...c'est la vie.
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