Will the Brain See Your Face-outs?

Will Your Shoppers Look and Not See?

Perception is reality is an old saying. Normally this is referenced in relation to your worldview or philosophy of life. However, this also applies literally as what you perceive (or truly see) makes up your reality. Sight is limited in the sense you can only take in so much at a time and remember what you saw. Understanding how sight works is important to marketing and End Of Arms are an excellent example of this. How people perceive visual information is a key aspect of POS displays that rely heavily on a visual element.

How People See

The brain perceives things seen by the eye on multiple levels. A recent study shows that a visual image is perceived by three separate parts of the brain. One part takes note of colour, the other shape, and the third movement and overall location in the physical world. There is a fourth aspect at work, past experience. The brain sorts things based on past experience and knowledge to create a mental image of they expect the world to be. For example, if you see a recently released automobile you may not recognise the model line (especially if the manufacturer has radically updated the design) but based on past experience you recognise that you are looking at an automobile and it fits your preconstructed mental image.

This internal model or mental image is highly important from a marketing perspective. The reason is that it is entirely possible for someone to see a thing, be aware of it, and not remember anything about it or acquire any new information. End of Arms are meant to communicate information and if they become simple ‘background noise’ then the message is lost.

Internal Models And End Of Arms

The internal model is a generalised concept of an object, thing, or event. Unless you have some reason to this mental construct will not update itself automatically. To simplify you need new information to change your internal models. End of arms, therefore, need to catch the viewer’s attention. They need to notice that this particular item is unique so they will stop, notice it, and remember the information the end of arm is communicating.

Think of the general layout of a store’s clothing department you see the common elements such as aisleways, displays, end of arm displays, signage, and so on. End of Arms should be the first or second thing a shopper notices. However, if your end of arm displays are too generic then they just mimic what the viewer expects and simply fade into the background. Remember just because you see something does not mean you remember it. It’s easy to drift through your day on autopilot, think of the daily drive to work if nothing unusual or expected happens very little will be actually remembered. Uniqueness is key. An end of arm needs to stand out as something more than a preconceived notion about a store.

Conclusion

When implementing end of arm displays take a step back and think if you were walking past this would it stand out to you in any way? Creating face-outs that are functional but innovative takes an expert touch. DisplayMode has the years of experience and creative thinking needed to make EOAs that will not get lost in the background. Contact DisplayMode today to learn more.