Whether the mini February heatwave got you fearful over climate change or reaching for your sunnies and hunting for the nearest pub garden, one thing that can’t be denied is that weather can significantly impact behaviour and specifically, in relation to the world of consumer behaviour, our purchasing behaviour.
According to the British Retail Consortium, weather is actually the second largest influence on consumer behaviour after the state of the economy. On some level this is hardly surprising; it’s beyond question that the forecast can influence the appeal and necessity of certain products, the most obvious of which include the likes of umbrellas and sun-cream. In fact, weathertrends360 created a model called “The Profit of One Degree,” to demonstrate the drastic impact a 1°F change in temperature has on consumer behaviour. According to the model, a decrease in 1°F increases sales of portable heaters by 20% and electric blankets by 10%. On the other hand, an increase in 1°F sees an 11% increase in sun-care products.
However, the impact on consumer behaviour goes far beyond increased ice-cream sales on a hot day. It doesn’t just influence the appeal of certain products and services, it can also affect our behaviour via other mechanisms such as our mood. It’s no secret that a bit of sun can dramatically lift spirits, whereas an overcast, rainy day can make us reluctant to leave the house. In some instances, the powerful relationship between weather and mood can even result in seasonal affective disorder.
People often (but usually unknowingly so) use mood as a cue to assess how they feel about something. As a result, a weather-induced change in our mood can subsequently influence consumer-related behaviours (e.g. how we process information, and our willingness to buy products, even those that are seemingly unrelated to the forecast). For example, one study revealed that, after being exposed to sunlight, consumers were willing to pay 37% more for green tea, 56% more for a newspaper subscription and 29% more for an airline ticket. A common explanation for such findings is that the weather affects our mood which then influences our attitude towards the product in question. In other words, a positive mood due to sunlight exposure is misattributed as a positive attitude towards the product, which subsequently influences our willingness to buy it.
Our mood can also influence the way we process information. A positive mood makes us more likely to interpret information in a favourable way. So our susceptibility to marketing communication can be weather affected too.
Implications for marketing
Understanding the relationship between weather, mood and purchasing behaviour can help companies leverage their marketing and increase sales. A common way retailers do this is by using bright halogen lighting to replicate the effect of sunlight within stores. Companies can also use weather intelligence to inform stock management and ensure they are promoting their products at the most impactful time. For example, a dynamic campaign by B&Q used live data to automatically change the product it was promoting; when the temperate increased, the creative changed to a BBQ or garden furniture.
Implications for research
The relationship between weather and consumer behaviour is just one example of how influential context and people’s frame of mind is on their behaviour. Crucially, these influences typically work at an unconscious level; people are unlikely to be aware that they’re often willing to pay more for products when it is sunny. At Shift, we understand the importance of these unconscious influences when exploring behaviour. We use interviewing techniques that enable us to account for each respondent’s context and mood when exploring their behaviour to ensure we deliver psychologically valid insights.
Anna Angell