Consider The Parking Factor
Sometimes It Explains The Seemingly Inexplicable Choices We Make
I knew I wanted to become more involved in marketing research when I saw the interesting assignments my friend Ross was handling. Ross was a clinical psychologist who moved into brand research. He genuinely cared for people and wanted to know why they made the choices they do, even once persuading families to let him into their homes and their closets to explain why they purchased the clothing they did.
It was Ross who introduced me to the parking factor.
He claimed that convenient parking was not to be underestimated in building a successful psychotherapy practice. That is to say, allowing patients to easily zip in and out for sessions made them more attractive as therapists whatever else they offered in terms of talents and skills.
Knowing him and his sense of humor, I took this as simply the witty comment it was intended to be. But as I thought about it, I realized there’s more than a little truth to it.
It’s not always clear, even to ourselves, why we make the choices we do. We frequently purchase brands for entirely different reasons than we admit to, including reasons that can seem trivial or illogical if we stop to think about them.
In terms of choosing a psychotherapist, would you rather see someone who invariably made you spend five or 10 minutes looking for parking each visit, or one of roughly equal talents who lets you park and walk right in? If you’re a busy person, you might even be willing to pay extra for a therapist who offers easy access, or you may be open to see a therapist with less impressive credentials for the sake of convenient access.
But how many patients will admit to role of parking in choosing a therapist? Not many, I suspect. They’re more likely to cite other qualities he or she possesses such as impressive academic credentials, specialized expertise or their rapport with patients.
I believe the parking factor played a role in the recent presidential election, as it does in many close elections. A surprising number of people were not engaged until the final days and, when forced to choose, did so for reasons that looked logical and socially acceptable – which is to say, did not embarrass them -- but were not exactly the result of thoughtful analysis.
Over the years, I’ve been involved with many marketing studies researching why consumers purchase the brands they do. I have sympathy for the beleaguered consumer who is asked continuously to explain why they purchase one brand over another and have usually found consumers to be generous with their time and sincere in wanting to honestly answer the questions they’re asked. So sincere is their desire to be helpful, in fact, they will offer easy opinions rather than particularly thoughtful ones.
I've found that consumers often don't think about why they purchase one brand over another. It may be simply they grab whichever brand is the cheapest that day, or is closest to the cashier, or simply that the brand isn't important enough to warrant much consideration so just about any will do.
This may, at least in part, explain some of the challenges in political polling we have faced in recent years. Many people are simply not paying attention through lack of interest, lack of time, or they’re distracted and then find themselves scrambling to justify their decision at the last minute.
I don't see this as evidence that consumers are trying to deceive researchers, but rather that they wish to present themselves in as positive of a light as possible, which is understandable.
This is not to overemphasize the role the parking factor plays in decision-making. Certainly, other and often more relevant factors can and do come into play. But the parking factor may explain the public's decision-making, especially with decisions that may otherwise leave us perplexed as to their motivation.
For further thoughts on brand decision making, you might check out a previous piece I wrote, The Burden of Choice which discusses how having abundant choices can be a problem.
Access = Demand.