A fascinating study from Tel Aviv University and published in the January 2014 issue of Psychological Science showed that some warning labels actually promote sales! It seems to depend on when a manufacturer attempts to make a sale. When potential buyers are given full disclosure about the dangers of drugs, cigarettes or even artificial sweeteners, at the time of disclosure few people will purchase these products. However, when these same potential buyers are offered the same products, if they were informed about the dangers of using them, they purchase them as much as 5 time more!
These researchers set up an experiment where they put smokers in one of two groups. One group was given full disclosure of the potential risks of smoking and the second group was not. When the two groups were given the opportunity to purchase the cigarettes just after the disclosure, the group that read the warning label purchased the product far less often than those not given the warning label. However, when these same groups were given the chance to purchase these cigarettes 3 months later, the group that read the warning label purchased the cigarettes 486% more than the group that had not read the warning label!
What's going on here...Dr. Len and Nurse Vicki discuss the reasons why they believe this happens...
