REACH OUT AND TOUCH THE JOY OF THE PHYSICAL IN THE DIGITAL AGE 17/03/2020 12:33 Welcome_3 THE THINGS WE TOUCH MEAN MORE TO US. We become attached to them. We understand them more deeply, rely on them, gravitate towards them. Print is a haptic experience. This publication – with its thought-provoking essays, eye-opening statistics, powerful illustrations and tactile pages – takes you on a journey to discover how the power of touch changes the way we think, feel and behave; and ultimately, infuences how we spend our money. Print is an enduring force in the digital age. We remember text and recall brand advertising more when we encounter them in print. We trust the printed word more than the pixellated one. Print excites the senses in a way that no other medium can replicate. Reach Out And Touch is published as a partnership If print were invented now, you would be amazed at this haptic medium – between Sappi Europe it’s a wonder format you can touch, carry and feel. Reading a magazine, book and John Brown. or newspaper – even a leafet or menu – is an experience that engages more of our senses by virtue of the paper’s physicality. As such, print can be a physical manifestation of a brand and our perception of it – it is trust, quality and value come to life in three dimensions. 8 Baldwin Street, Leading global paper manufacturer Sappi and award-winning content creator London EC1V 9NU. Tel +44 20 7565 3000, John Brown are passionate about paper, storytelling and engaging consumers in [email protected] a way that surprises and delights. This is why we have teamed up to create the www.johnbrownmedia.com haptic experience you now hold in your hands. We hope you enjoy the unrivalled trust, value and intimacy that you get from something you can touch. 166 Chaussée de la Hulpe, 1170 Brussels, Belgium Tel +32 2 676 9700, [email protected] www.sappi.com Sappi North America 255 State Street Boston, MA 02109 www.sappi.com COVER SECTION_Sappi Haptics North America_Sappi 71-74 Contents_5 06 Selling point How feel a ects purchasing decisions 10 Hello world The infl uence of touch from the womb onwards Katerina Ian Birch Joann Peck 14 Icons of touch 46 The importance of packaging design Fotopoulou Ian Birch is former Joann Peck, PhD, is Editorial Director an Associate Professor Dr Katerina 22 Changing lives Fotopoulou’s research of Hearst, where he of Marketing at the How sight loss transformed an architect’s career focuses on topics that oversaw brands such as Wisconsin School of lie at the borders Cosmopolitan, Esquire, Business, University between neurology Harper’s Bazaar, Men’s of Wisconsin-Madison. 28 Feeling hands-on and Her research is and psychology. Health Good Introducing next-generation prostheses She is founder of Housekeeping, and primarily in the 28 the International Emap, where he helped areas of nonverbal Association for the launch Red, Closer and communication 30 Let’s get physical Study of Afective Grazia. He is the and psychological The enduring appeal of analogue technology Touch (IASAT) author of Uncovered: ownership. She began and Secretary of Revolutionary Magazine her career with a focus 36 Haptics in numbers Covers – The Inside on haptics, specifcally the International Facts and fi gures Neuropsychoanalysis Stories Told by the People product touch. Society. Who Made Them (Cassell). 38 My favourite Five leading creatives enthuse about their most treasured tactile experiences 48 44 See me, feel me, touch me 1414 A ground-breaking ad that excites the senses 46 Total recall New research in text comprehension 48 Good on paper Chris Downey Charles David Sax A paper engineer on her medium of choice As one of the world’s Spence The author of few practising blind Professor Charles bestselling books The 50 The power of print architects, Chris 10 Spence is the head Revenge of Analog: Real How the printed word remains a success, as a Downey, AIA, of the Crossmodal Things and Why They key part of brands’ multi-channel campaigns, consults on design Matter (PublicAfairs), Research Laboratory and in the rise of independent magazines for the blind and at the University Save the Deli visually impaired. of Oxford. He is (Houghton Mifin) He teaches at the interested in how and The Tastemakers 56 Keep in touch University of California, people perceive the (Public Afairs), David The rise and rise of the greetings card industry Berkeley, and is on the world around them; Sax is a writer and Board of Directors reporter who in particular, how our 58 The revolution will be printed for the LightHouse for brains process the specialises in business Exciting advances in paper technology the Blind and Visually information from each and culture. Impaired in San of our senses to form Francisco. the rich experiences 64 References that fll our daily lives. 38 Sources for statistics and studies 6_Selling point TOUCH CAN BE AN ALMOST IRRESISTIBLE URGE FOR HUMANS. JOANN PECK EXPLORES WHAT THAT MEANS FOR CONSUMERS AND HOW WE CAN HARNESS THE POWER OF THIS FASCINATING SENSE PHOTOGRAPHY BY ELIZABETH WEINBERG/TRUNK ARCHIVE 8_Selling point The importance of touch should not in their purchase decisions when they’re a sweater or the softness of a pillow may be underestimated. ‘Keep in touch’ and unable to do so. These ‘high need for be critical to the purchase decision. SIMPLY TOUCHING A ‘on the other hand’ are two of the many touch’ people are the ones ripping open While we know that people touch to phrases that refect its historical primacy. packaging in stores in order to assess get product information, what may be less In marketing, touch has numerous the feel of products. While a magnifed obvious is that they also like to touch for PRODUCT INCREASES implications, yet it has lacked the visual may give ‘lower touchers’ the the sake of touching. They enjoy the attention it deserves. Internet shopping information they seek, it can frustrate interesting texture of paper, the silkiness OUR FEELING OF accounts for less than 9 per cent of global ‘high touchers’ as they will be even more of a soft shirt and the luxurious feel retail sales; one of the many reasons for motivated to touch. of cashmere. Even when they aren’t this is the absence of touch online. This Diferent product categories can also planning to purchase, the lure of some OWNERSHIP, WHICH powerful sense infuences customer infuence this desire. As touch is so products rewards touchers with a positive decisions in ways we may not realise. efective at assessing texture, softness, experience. They are touching for fun. INCREASES THE VALUE weight and temperature, if a product What are the consequences of all What motivates customers varies on one of these attributes, this touching? Some are obvious, while to touch? customers are more likely to touch it others are less so. One important insight OF THE PRODUCT Spending countless hours observing before deciding whether to buy. For is that if a customer merely touches a shoppers in stores has given me many example, they may select the most chilled product in a store, they are more likely insights. A key fnding is that there are bottle of wine if they plan to drink it to purchase it impulsively. In one large large individual diferences in how much soon. In buying a laptop for travel, they grocery study, I placed a sign encouraging people touch. Some love to touch and may pick up several to feel which is the touch (‘Feel the freshness’) by the become frustrated and less confdent lightest. And determining the texture of peaches and nectarines. This sign not only increased touching of the product, increases how much they are willing to example, a beautifully textured business people often keep more than one pair. it also led to a signifcant increase in pay for an object, since ownership leads card increases perceptions of the quality Free trial periods make customer unplanned purchases. So, simple touch to valuation. We ran several studies and of the business, as well as customer purchases more likely because they can increase sales. found that the valuation of a product satisfaction, while a higher-quality paper can obtain product information can increase as a result of touch. This brochure increased ratings of both a bank through touch and it increases their The endowment effect is partly because a customer may obtain and a health club. We also have some sense of ownership. Enabling customers to touch a product some information through touch that evidence that having a tangible touch cue It is simpler to encourage touch in also increases the valuation, or the they would not otherwise have. Think at the end of an experience is especially a store than online. A display or packaging amount they are willing to pay for that about the packaging of pens that allows persuasive. Business cards being given out with interesting textures may compel product. Forty years of research has a customer to feel the grip prior to at the end of an exchange, or a restaurant a shopper to reach out and touch a shown that an object’s value increases purchase. This additional information bill being delivered on pleasant-feeling product. For example, placing soft once a person has taken ownership of it adds value, and hence increases the paper or encased in a textured folder, sweaters centrally in a customer trafc – the endowment efect. In other words, amount a customer is willing to pay may boost customer evaluations of the pattern will encourage touch exploration.