i think that videos and/or demos of products are hugely important. itazura's rezzhud is something for example that you don't grok just how cool it is until you've created your own multi-object scene and stuffed it in, and realize, "wow, this goes anywhere i do and i can rez it anywhere," but you can't get that without trying it.

same with any type of vehicle/dwelling that costs money, give us a rezzed demo or a non-copy demo that dies in 5 minutes or something. just so we can see the product in use.

They forgot an option: others IM you that they want to show you something that think is exactly fit for you. =d

Word-of-mouth... yes! I forgot.

-ls/cm

I think this is very, very important to pursue as a poll as scientific as you can make it under our poor circumstances with anonymity and alts and such.

I've got a similar poll about what brings people to make purchases and most do reply that "inworld search/places" is what leads to sales. This is my firm conviction having asked gadzillion customers about this since I started my business. Search/places is the most used thing -- not search/all, not even classifieds, though they are used.

Then follow other things like random flybys, or word-of-mouth, or somebody's Picks, or a forums post or whatever.

Different sectors of the economy sell things in different ways, which is why geeky widget-makers often fuss and fume on the forums that only word-of-mouth or "I want one" that they've seen in a "viral spread" works, and search/places or search/all are "gamed by traffic and worthless." In fact, people ignore the gaming in the first few slots and use it to order their searches.

Seeing something on someone is probably the most rapid way to get to the "I want one" stage by asking them or looking at their picks. Shopping is social, it's a world, not a web page.

One thing I particularly hate are those talking chats from tools. I loathe having people land and chat out that either their Xcite product is still running or that they have the Multi-Gadget from Timeless Prototype. I once asked him if he couldn't turn off that crap or enable it to be turned off as it is annoying in public meetings. And he said he put it in deliberatley for "viral marketing". It's just spam and annoying and will make me NOT buy something, instead of buying it.

Being able to get massive and accurate results to these questions you have asked are actually vital for most businesses and the Lindens, if they are in good faith, to improve the economy.

And yet even when presented with the facts of search/places/sort by traffic as an engine of sales, you get people in boutiques or selling widgets to a finite elite group of customers constantly screaming that no, word of mouth or site or chat inworld drives sales. It may *for their niche*. The overwhelming number of products are sold by search inworld. Using third-party catalogues is important, too, but used later and less than inworld search.

I suppose I should up the stakes... any scientist who conducts such a poll will be the recipient of my undying respect, gratitude, and (if they provide me with a Paypal address) a nice cup of coffee from the provider of their choice. (Well, except for those Zogby pricks. They can't tell their ass from a hole in the ground every four years.)

"Different sectors of the economy sell things in different ways" - I had in my mind products and fashions, didn't think of land and such... a true survey would break things up into different products and services categories.

With M standing for Marketing, I'd think that one, whether run through a third party or done through logins voluntarily, can't be too far down the horizon.

I am looking forward to such a serious poll and I'm sure I'll be surprised by the results.

Actually, quite a few things will prompt me to buy something.

If I have a need for something specific, I will search in-world first, then on SLExchange (the search for which returns much more of value than the in-world search).

If I see someone wearing something that is interesting and it has an attachment, I'll inspect the attachment to get the creator profile, then check their picks for a location.

A store location in someone's picks tab, if it's interesting, will prompt me to check them out.

Just randomly coming across stores, if the pictures rezz fast enough to catch my eye before I move on, that will prompt a quick look. Especially if the store is architecturally interesting looking so it draws me in, I've been to a few stores that looked like they might be something else and looked interesting on the map or from a distance in world.

Occasionally I'll see something on a blog, or hear people talking about it in world, or be looking for something else on SLExchange and run across another item that looks interesting.

Isn't "Seeing others with it" and "Seeing others with the stuff" the same thing?

I used to read a lot of fashion blogs, would see something and think, "Wow, I want to get that!". Sometimes I also see someone inworld wearing great hair or a lovely dress and I right-click, "Inspect", note the creator's name, pull up a profile, and hope there's a store I can TP to. However, if I want something specific, I look for it using in-world search, or ask in the official SL forums or in Plurk.

Generally, clothes are the only thing I buy without demos or seeing them in-world first. Everything else I need to see before I buy.

Price is actually a fairly major factor when it comes to whether I want to buy something. This is partly because I'm on a budget, due to currency exchange rates and stuff (I'm not from the USA). So I often look at the product and ask myself whether I think it's worth that much. For example I'd never buy Stiletto Moody shoes because, no matter how great they are, they're just too darn expensive.

Isn't "Seeing others with it" and "Seeing others with the stuff" the same thing?

Um... yes. My bad. Oh well. pollhost.com is gonna have fun with my redoing this poll and resetting the numbers.

Thanks,
-ls/cm

Other: I have been influenced by "meeting" a creator/vendor off-world on a social networking site, liking them, and then wanting to support their business.

"Chat notices when someone turns on a tool" I'd like to vote that -1. It does influence me, by making me not buy it...