What do you feel when buying a personal product online?

When buying a personal product in a store or in a pharmacy – do you blush? Do you avoid an eye contact with a pharmacist? And how do you feel buying the same product online? 

An interesting related research was published recently by University of Michigan. A professor of marketing A. Krishna made a conclusion that some people feel embarrassed even buying things online. Products that cause embarrassment are mostly impotence drugs or incontinence pills. 

Krishna says, that people think of embarrassment as a social emotion.  It means that to be embarrassed you need someone to watch you buying those products. But the research showed some interesting result. Even in private atmosphere, people can be ashamed of their own behavior. The same embarrassment you feel in a usual pharmacy you can experience in private if you feel your self-concept was violated.

The research made by professors of University of Istanbul and a professor K. Herd ( from Indiana University). It was the first experiment in series of further studies devoted to the feeling of embarrassment when buying private products or potency drugs online. The result of the research published in the Consumer Psychology Journal. 

The article describes embarrassment as an emotion that can be experienced in a private atmosphere, even without witnesses. It arises because of self-judgment. This kind of embarrassment called private and usually occurs in stressful situation – when an adult person wets a bed, or when a person overeats in its own kitchen.

To provide a clear result an experiment took place. There were two groups of people buying Viagra Generic for different purposes. In the first group people were buying Viagra for enhanced performance. In the second group people were buying the product for impotence.  People of both groups buying Viagra in a physical store were embarrassed equally. They felt embarrassment because of other people looking at them. In case with online pharmacy a group of people buying Viagra for impotence were embarrassed even more.

The conclusion scientists made says that embarrassment depends on the purposes of the buyer and not people around. Purchasing Viagra Generic for potency is more embarrassment than for performance.

In this situation, a seller of private products has to do his best to make buyer feel comfortable while making a purchase (in a physical store or online).

For instance, promotion of kits for sexually transmitted diseases will not be the most effective way customers attraction. A person seeking for help does not have to be ashamed of buying the drugs. Marketers should concentrate on reshape of self-concepts and on change of cultural norms related to STD in society.