The not-so-subtle art of persuasion: the case of Atlantis spa products.(Instructor's Note)

Sigmar, Lucia S. ; Lee, Renee Gravois

CASE DESCRIPTION

The primary subject matter for this case involves the sales approach of a kiosk vendor, selling nail and skin care products, in a suburban American mall. The dialogue contains diverse persuasive appeals and customer responses. This case was designed for use in undergraduate business communication, marketing, or personal selling courses, particularly courses that address analysis of persuasive appeals and/or personal selling techniques, and development of persuasive communications.

The dialogue format is central to the case. Through the various ways the sales representative presents the product information and approaches the sales call, and the various ways the buyer responds, the dialogue is ripe with analytical opportunities for the students.

The case could be taught in two 50-minute or one 75-minute session(s) and is expected to require two hours of outside preparation by students. It can be used as a follow-up to class discussion of persuasive appeals or a range of personal selling techniques, or as a preliminary assignment to a written persuasive appeal or persuasive role play.

CASE SYNOPSIS

While shopping at a local mall, Lana Thompson is approached by a young woman dressed in a white dress shirt, black slacks and black apron, who offers Lana a slice of colorful soap wrapped in tissue paper. Lana slows her pace, accepts the gift, smells the soap fragrance, then turns toward the kiosk that features a variety of skin and nail products. The sales associate, Salima, selects another colorful soap sample from her tray and offers it to Lana who stops to accept it. This "hook," effective in its appeal to the senses, entices the customer, and the ensuing sales exchange focuses on the exclusive, mineral-rich beauty products from the Dead Sea. The sales call also demonstrates a number of other classic persuasive appeals, including scientific, emotional, rational, character, comparative, vanity, and sensory. The dialogue also stimulates class discussion of selling techniques including the hook, non-verbal and verbal selling techniques, features and benefits, customer care, responding to objections, and closing the deal.

INSTRUCTORS' NOTES

Recommendations for Teaching Approaches

The case gives students the opportunity to critically evaluate the choice of persuasive messages and selling practices employed by the Atlantis Spa Products sales representative. The case stimulates classroom discussion on a myriad of appeals (e.g., emotional, rational, character), language use (e.g., repetition, word choice, figurative language, testimonials, puffery, ethical issues), and other communication issues.

For business communications courses, we use this case with Mary Ellen Guffey's Basic Business Communication (8th edition) in conjunction with classroom coverage of persuasive messages. This case enhances student understanding of the persuasive strategies in composing a written appeal that conforms to building AIDA (attention, interest, desire, and action) in a message. Because the case is written in dialogue format, students can experientially enact the sales behavior and encode the dialogue with paralanguage and other non-verbal communication which emphasizes the influence that such encoding can have on communication outcomes.

For marketing courses, the case works particularly well in advertising or marketing communications courses in which students critically evaluate the effectiveness of various persuasive messages. In addition, students can use the case as a departure point for creating their own persuasive appeals across different media for Atlantis Spa Products. For personal selling courses, the case gives students many opportunities to evaluate the seller's techniques used in each stage of the sales process.

ASSIGNMENT IDEAS

In addition to in-depth class discussion opportunities, this case lends itself to a number of hands-on experiential classroom activities including written persuasive communications, advertising agency exercises, and role play exercises.

Written Persuasive Appeal

Following discussion, ask students to reflect on some of the differences between oral and written transmission of a persuasive (sales) message. One possible assignment is for students to write or develop a sales package (brochure, price list, illustrations) or a persuasive appeal for Atlantis Spa Products using the information in the dialogue.

Since written persuasive appeals are generally more effective when they are presented in indirect order, encourage students to overcome potential resistance by thinking of reasons and explanations for using/purchasing the product prior to the sales request.

Specifically, the opening paragraph of the persuasive appeal must get the audience's attention using any of the following: offering something of value; enumerating benefits; asking an open-ended question; providing a quotation or testimonial, fact, compliment, startling statement, or providing a personalized action setting.

The body of the letter must build interest and desire for the product by reducing resistance. A dual appeal (emotional and rational) is recommended for this particular persuasive request. Instructors can explain to students that emotional appeals typically appeal to sensual feelings, status, and ego. Emotional appeals are sometimes effective when the product is not essential. Rational appeals, on the other hand, appeal to security and financial success and are usually used when the product is expensive, long lasting, or important to one's health. In the case of Atlantis Spa Products, the product is both.

Finally, the closing paragraph must motivate action. Students might consider offering a gift, promising some sort of incentive, limiting the offer, or offering a guarantee.

After completion of the assignment, students should be able to distinguish the differences between a face-to-face sales interaction and a written persuasive message, but should also be able to articulate the similarities of the two approaches. Instructors can take this opportunity to discuss the importance of audience awareness in tailoring oral and written business messages.

Mock Advertising Agencies

Another approach is to group students into teams and have them work as advertising agencies for Atlantis Spa Products. Possible assignments could include:

* Have students create thumbnails of print advertisements, critique the thumbnails, and vote on the most effective persuasive appeals presented by their peers.

* Assume the client has been using the "healing properties of the Dead Sea" approach for several years and is ready for a change. Have students develop a new persuasive approach for the client's marketing.

* Different nail and skin care products appeal to different kinds of consumers, and consumers' reasons for purchasing these products vary widely. Assign students to identify the market segments they believe exist for this product category and briefly describe each segment using demographic, psychographic, and behavioral segmentation variables. Have students create a separate promotion message for each of these segments.

* Part of the strength of the Atlantis approach is the person-to-person sales interaction. However, only mall visitors walking in this section of the mall are likely to be exposed to the Atlantis kiosk. Assign students the task of recommending promotional tactics to drive more customers (both mall and non-mall customers) to visit the Atlantis kiosk. Instructors could also have students create mall signage, hand-bills, and/or incentives designed to get mall-goers to stop by the Atlantis Spa Products kiosk.

* Personal Selling Role Play

For personal selling courses, or units in other courses that address buyer-seller interactions, having students role-play the interactions between buyer and seller is an effective method for them to try out various selling appeals and techniques. Depending on the professor's time available in class for role play, students could role play any number of selling techniques, such as the approach, the demonstration, feature and benefit presentation, handling objections, and closing. Encourage students to use concrete expression in these role plays. For example:

* Have students prepare and role play alternate ways to get the buyer's attention.

* Have students identify one persuasive appeal the seller did NOT use that would be effective for selling Atlantis products. Students can write a segment of the dialogue that could occur between the seller and buyer to illustrate use of this appeal and can role play the appeal in class.

* Students can prepare for a role play in which the buyer introduces an objection not in the script, and prepare the seller's response to that objection.

* Students can assume the role of sales trainers. Their job is to accompany associates on sales calls and to give them constructive critiques and suggestions on strengthening sales skills. Assume that today the sales trainer accompanied Salima on this sales call. Have students make a list of six concrete suggestions for improvement.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

1. How does Salima initially get Lana's attention? What additional attention-getting approaches does she use?

Salima's initial "hook" is the sliver of scented soap she hands to Lana which appeals to the senses. Then, she quickly asks to see Lana's hands and goes into the nail buffing demonstration. Other attention-getting techniques are non-verbal (smiling, positioning her body to draw Lana into the pitch) and verbal (asking questions, repetition of Lana's name, stating the unexpected, compliments, praise, and describing the problem).

2. One of Salima's primary persuasive appeals is scientific. What are some ways she uses this appeal to persuade Lana? Evaluate the specific way she presents the scientific claims. Are the medicinal properties of the product believable? Is this information and/or the sales associate credible? Why or why not?

Salima emphasizes that "scientific studies" have proven the benefits of Dead Sea minerals for body, skin, and health. Some of the specific product benefits that she mentions in reference to scientific studies include:

* "help to balance the water and moisture level in your skin"

* "heal your skin tissue which is damaged by sun and chemicals"

* "make the skin anti-allergic"

* "protect our skin against these pollutants in the air"

* "neutralize these toxins [that our bodies produce]"

* "help you relax ... relieve stress"

* "help you with problems with stress, or fatigue, and even sleeplessness" [also arthritis, aches, poor blood circulation, heal wounds, wake up hair roots, eliminate dermatitis and dandruff, stop headaches and migraines, stop skin allergies, and stop eczema, skin rashes, and dandruff]

* "make your skin more beautiful and elastic"

* "heal and strengthen your hands and nails"

* "protects against UVA and UVB rays . . . [and contains] linoleic acid and alpha-linoleic acid, which are the essential fatty acids for younger-looking skin"

Students may notice that Salima makes numerous claims about the scientific studies, but that she offers little evidence or support for the claims. It is important to draw students' attention to the lack of support for the claims. For example, when the seller emphasizes that the products help with relaxation and stress reduction, she does not offer scientific evidence, but instead gestures to a photo of a woman in a bikini floating calmly on the waters of the Dead Sea.

3. In addition to the primary scientific appeal, the seller uses a number of other persuasive appeals throughout the course of the sales call. What are some of these other appeals? Give specific examples from the dialogue that illustrate each appeal, discuss whether these appeals are more rational or emotional in nature, and discuss the effectiveness of each appeal.

Character Appeal. Salima emphasizes that smart, alluring women like Cleopatra have known about the healing properties of the Dead Sea minerals for centuries. The implication that Cleopatra endorses this key product benefit (Dead Sea healing minerals) forms the character appeal.

Comparative Appeal. Salima uses a price comparison by emphasizing the high cost of a salon manicure versus the Atlantis manicure package. In addition, her demonstrations of before-and-after use of the nail and skin products serve as physical comparisons of the products' effectiveness.

Vanity Appeal. The seller emphasizes the desire to look and feel younger, to look better for yourself (self-esteem), and to look better for others. As an example, Salima states, "[p]eople are gonna think you had a face lift." She further stresses that the product "firms skin ... makes you look younger, fresher and has anti-aging properties."

Sensory Appeal. Sensory appeals the students might identify include: appeal to senses of smell and sight by holding out a soap sample; appeal to sense of touch through each product demonstration (applying nail products, eye serum, face cream); appeal to sense of smell by having the buyer smell the lotions and asking her which lotion she likes best.

4. In addition to the traditional appeals listed in the students' textbook (such as character, comparative, etc.), sellers create a variety of situation-specific persuasive messages that build desire for the product. What are some other persuasive messages that Salima uses in her pitch?

Gift. The small soap samples are for mall-goers to keep, regardless of whether or not they stop at the kiosk. Some customers may feel obligated to stop and listen to the sales representative after accepting the "gift."

Exotic/Exclusive. The products are associated with the exotic and exclusive qualities of the Dead Sea. For example, millions of people travel to the Dead Sea to experience its tranquility and its "miraculous and healing effects." Salima states, "People from all over the world come to Jordan for these products and now we bring them to you." In addition, the association with Cleopatra may also appeal to some hidden fantasies in the customer.

Pampering and Relaxation. Salima notes that the products help customers relax and help relieve stress, fatigue, and sleeplessness. To reinforce the point, she asks Lana, "Lana, do you have stress in your life?", to which Lana responds affirmatively. Near the end of the dialogue, Salima states, "So pamper yourself now with these products. . . . Do something nice for yourself." A related appeal is that Atlantis Spa Products are made from natural minerals, not from chemicals, and are therefore healthier.

Life Changing. Salima states that the face products will "change your life seriously." While she doesn't go into any depth explaining this claim, she suggests that improving your facial appearance will make the customer look and feel better--for herself and others.

"Your Face is Most Important." The seller goes to great lengths to stress that a person's face is her most important asset. She emphasizes that the face is a "calling card" and gives others a first impression, so it's important to take care of it. The products can reduce the lines, wrinkles, and under-eye circles, and can help maintain a youthful appearance.

Save Money/Time. Salima tells Lana that she can save both money and time by using the products instead of going to the salon and that, by using these products, there is no need to go to the trouble of going to the salon. A related message is that the products will last for one year, saving Lana money over the course of a year. The lifetime warranty for the sides of the buffing block further adds to the appeal for how the product is long-lasting.

5. In what ways does Salima connect to her customer's desires and needs? We all want to be more beautiful, to stay eternally young, and we all want faster and easier ways to be more beautiful and youthful. Salima taps into these core human desires repeatedly throughout the sales call. In addition, she connects to the desire to explore uncharted territory by offering to bring the benefits and exoticism of the Dead Sea to Lana. On a more rational level, many customers want price deals, and Salima fulfills this desire for the "deal" as well.

While Salima does connect to some basic customer needs and desires, she does little to tailor the sales call to Lana's specific needs. Instead, Salima builds her sales call around generic issues that any customer might have. This weakness--the lack of tailoring the sales approach--is very important to highlight to the students.

6. How does Salima build interest in the product?

In addition to the persuasive appeals noted above, other specific interest-building techniques include proving the product's merit, using facts, statistics, expert opinion, providing specific details, relating the direct and indirect benefits, anticipating objections, and offering counterarguments. Salima also involves Lana in the product demonstrations and continually evaluates the effect of the product on Lana's skin.

7. In what ways does Salima anticipate resistance? Evaluate the techniques she uses to handle the buyer's objections and evaluate her effectiveness in handling objections.

In anticipating resistance to product cost, Salima compares the cost of salon treatments to the cost of the manicure set and emphasizes the savings compared to purchasing multiple beauty products throughout the year. When Lana objects to the price, Salima returns to the cost comparisons. She also emphasizes the multiple products included in the price--buffing block, nail file, cuticle oil, and lotion. As Lana continues her objections, Salima emphasizes a lengthy list of features and benefits such as beauty and health benefits, the ease of product use, the products' exclusivity, the long-lasting nature of the skin treatments, and personal customer service and customer care.

When Lana continues to resist the price, Salima begins offering a series of progressively-better deals, including price reductions, free product with purchase, buy-one-get-one-forless, and offering her employee discount.

Near the end of the sales call, Salima becomes openly exasperated that Lana continues to object and she exclaims, "What is money? This is your skin we're talking about. I'm gonna help you." Her comments suggest that Lana is focusing too much on the money aspect and too little on her skin. Further, in offering Lana her employee discount, Salima gives the impression that she is investing in Lana's well-being.

8. What persuasive techniques does Salima use in her closing? How does she motivate action? What are some of her trial closes? Evaluate the effectiveness of the seller's trial close and closing practices.

Salima places the products in a bag and gives Lana the bag to hold; she moves toward the cash register; she uses testimonials of product effectiveness from passersby; she repeatedly asks Lana if she will use the Atlantis products and urges her to throw her other beauty products away. Trial closes include: "Which products will you use?" and "You like these products?"

9. List and evaluate specific ways the seller uses non-verbal communication and touch.

Paralanguage (how the message is conveyed rather than what is conveyed specifically) conveys the exclusive messages in this exchange. For example, Salima lowers her voice to emphasize that one side of the buffer is "pure silk" and to emphasize the lifetime warranty on the buffer. The seller also lowers her voice when she emphasizes that she is giving the buyer a special price.

Haptics (touch) is a powerful non-verbal cue. Salima engages the customer by using touch during each product demonstration (e.g., holding the buyer's hand while buffing nails, applying lotion to hands, applying eye serum and wrinkle cream to face). Salima also encourages the buyer to hold or take ownership of the products (e.g. holding the lotion , applying the product, and placing the products in a bag for the customer--having the customer accept and hold the bag). This action implicitly conveys that the seller is expected to purchase what is in the bag.

Salima's facial expression communicates intense concentration as she studies Lana's nails intently to assess the problem (poor condition of her nails). When she determines the solution (Atlantis Spa manicure set), she knowingly nods her head, to convey authority. She also squints her eyes and uses her facial muscles to indicate concentration when determining the price deal. Salima makes direct eye contact throughout the presentation. (An interesting side discussion is to have students critically reflect on Salima's use of eye contact outside her native culture. Perhaps she purposefully makes eye contact to connect with a North American customer. Ask students whether her use of eye contact might be different if the customer were Asian).

Kinesics (gestures) communicate emphasis and physically lead the customer to make conclusions about the product. Salima points to ridges on the nail that need to be smoothed. She points to wrinkles and under-eye circles before and after product application. Similarly, her hands and body expressions call attention to some of the "aha" moments. For example, she positions Lana's hand under the kiosk light and then ceremoniously removes her finger from Lana's nail to reveal the shinier nail. Similarly, later in the sales call, the seller says, "[c]over this side of your face with your hand. This is before." She then dramatically gestures to Lana's left facial area and says, "And this is after. Now, Lana, move your hand." Such theatrics are not only for the benefit of the customer but for the benefit of the onlookers.

Salima employs proxemics (distance) in her initial approach towards Lana. Both she and Lana are "squared-up" with each other indicating that both are receptive to what the other has to say. (Students might reflect on the implications of subtle and aversive body positioning on the communications outcome.)

10. How does Salima use language to build the persuasive message? What are some specific techniques she uses, such as repetition, word choice, and figurative language? Does her language border at times on puffery or stray into unethical behavior?

Salima uses the words "magical" and "amazing" in referring to the healing properties of products from the Dead Sea and in reference to the silky side of the buffing block. Tranquil images associated with the Dead Sea further support the exotic and exclusive nature of the products. Salima also repeats that the products will "change your life seriously." Both the magical and life-changing claims are examples of puffery. In addition, the unsubstantiated medical claims could raise some questions in the customer's mind about the validity of the claims and the credibility of the company.

Examples of repetition include using Lana's name repeatedly, counting 1-2-3-4-5 to emphasize the ease of use of the products, and reiteration of key selling points such as the natural and healing minerals of the Dead Sea.

Examples of figurative language include likening moisturizing lips to moisturizing nails. Salima tells Lana that, "[p]eople are gonna think you had a face lift." This metaphor underscores the products' capability to change dramatically Lana's appearance. An implied analogy is that customers who use Atlantis Spa Products will be like Egyptian queens.

EPILOGUE

Despite Salima's extensive sales efforts, Lana Thompson was simply unable to spend hundreds of dollars on the products. Lana finally purchased a manicure package for $19 and two bars of soap at $5 each from the Atlantis Store.

Lucia S. Sigmar, Sam Houston State University

Renee Gravois Lee, Sam Houston State University