The sun changes consumer behavior: « Live across the country »

Valdimar Sigurðsson, director of the RU Research Center in Marketing and Consumer Psychology, says the sunshine has a significant impact on the consumer behavior of Icelanders. This is something that retailers are aware of and examples are that prices will rise on certain products when the weather is good.

« When publishing lives across the country, it is quite clear. People get in a better mood, go out to eat, the barbecue smells over the neighborhoods and the sales of summer products are rising, » says Valdimar in a conversation with mbl.is.

The weather affects how people think about money and what they think is necessary to buy. Sunny weather encourages people to spend more on things related to outdoor and summer moods, barbecue meat, outdoor furniture and even bicycle helmets.

« There are products that people would not have necessarily bought if it was cloudy and cold, » says Valdimar.

The sunshine certain marketing opportunity

Valdimar points out that commercial and marketers are well aware of this effect on the weather on consumer behavior. Many stores set up summer products at the entrance as the sun begins to shine and sales figures are expected to change.

This also affects pricing, and Valdimar says that there are examples of soft drinks automatically rising drink prices when the temperature increases.

« This just shows how the market plays on the weather. However, it is a question of how moral it is, but I have not kept my eyes on it for a long time, » he says.

It is important that the good weather arrives early

Good weather early summer can affect the number of companies. If sunny days do not come until August, it can simply be too late for many summer products selling summer products, because Icelandic summer is short.

« The opportunity to sell tents, barbecue and outdoor clothing has then run its course, » says Valdimar.

Much sunshine in Iceland can also have a negative impact on the sale of foreign trips. Airlines and travel agencies often respond to boring weather with special campaigns, but when the weather lures people to the outdoors here at home, the need to flee the country decreases.

Finally, Valdimar says that the key to successful marketing is to be prepared, whether the sun is shining or not. « Those who are ready and can respond quickly to weather changes are the ones who are most successful. You can control a lot in marketing but you do not control the weather. »