Ahead #11 | Touch = Sell?

Hi {{ first_name | default: }},

You need a new sweater. It’s Saturday afternoon. You’re walking through a store with a friend. Your eyes scan the racks, your hand lingers on a cashmere sweater. Nice color, perfect fit. And then, something subtle happens.

You pick it up.

You feel the fabric. Soft, warm, luxurious. Without realizing it, your brain starts justifying the purchase. “This feels really good.”

That’s the power of haptics — marketing through the sense of touch.

A new meta-analysis (Krishna et al., 2024) brings together decades of behavioral science on the role of touch in consumer behavior. It shows that touch — both physical and virtual — directly impacts:
• product evaluation
• purchase intent
• willingness to pay
• brand attitude

The paper reviews over 40 studies and experimental settings — from in-store observations and touchscreen interactions to velvet folders, AR and VR.

But why does it work so well? And how can you apply this psychological effect if your webshop is 100% digital?

What this means for your product pages (and how to test it yourself)? Read on.