What is the Rule of 7?
The Rule of 7 is an old marketing concept, which states it takes 7 exposures of a marketing message before a consumer will remember it or be inclined to make a purchase.
I’m not here to argue whether 7 is the golden number or not, but I think we can all agree that it takes a good number of product exposures before someone is willing to make a purchase. The number of exposures required may be relatively higher especially for products which have inherent financial and social risk (aka high risk purchases).
Products with high financial risk are expensive products such as cars, vacations, computers and home entertainment systems. Consumers tend to spend more time doing research and consider more factors before making the final purchase.
Products with high social risk are publicly visible products susceptible to personal criticism or judgement from peers, such as cars, mobile phones and clothes.
At the other end of the spectrum are low risk purchases such as candy from a convenient store or soda from a vending machine.
With consumer behaviour changing and the importance of online and social media marketing increasing so quickly, does the Rule of 7 still apply online?
Yes and No.
Yes, because for high risk purchases, a consumer will still conduct a fair amount of research online, be it on a company website, review sites and/or on social media, before committing to the purchase. However, I think the number of exposures required now, is fewer than what it had been with only traditional media. My reasoning is because the impact and influence of online content is much higher than traditional print ads, TV commercials, billboard ads or radio spots. Consider the influence of an online review vs a print ad, a friend’s Facebook Like vs a radio spot, the multi-media used on a company website vs a print catalogue.
Could the Rule of 7 become the Rule of 1, online? A Rule of 1 would see consumers being more impulsive with their online purchases. This may be less likely for high risk purchases, but possible for lower risk purchases like:
- Consumers who see an about-to-expire Groupon deal to a restaurant they have never heard of
- Consumers who use UrbanSpoon may choose a restaurant simply because of a recent, positive review.
Have you ever made an impulse purchase of an unfamiliar brand, online? Share with us your reason for doing so or a situation where you might make an impulse purchase, online.
Victor
Digital Strategist
Photo Credit: ttarasuik
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Tags: concepts, marketing, rule of 7, what if
