Milking for all it's worth

In my humble opinion, people-watching remains one of the most entertaining modes of consumer research.

My wife had some dress shopping to do, and I had some work to do. So yesterday, I drove her to Mall of America in Bloomington, about 45 minutes from our home. She could shop to her heart’s content, and I could hit the Caribou Coffee shop (a rustic version of Starbucks, for those not familiar), and work until she finished her mission.

Electrical outlets were at a premium this day, as the shop was particularly busy. (Locals, evading a summer heat wave, tourists touring this monument to consumerism, and parents shopping for back-to-school.) After waiting a few minutes, though, a table opened-up near a prized plug-in, and I was able to get down to business analyzing some qualitative research.

While my focus is usually pretty strong on projects like this, I consider the Mall of America to hold “Fourth Place” on my list of favorite places to people-watch. It is only behind Pier 29 in San Francisco at #3, any commercial airport at #2, and New York’s Times Square, which enjoys the first-place position as my favorite of people-watching venues.

Back at the coffee shop, I noted a gentleman fussing-about, looking for tables near a plug-in just as I had been a few minutes earlier. He was asking folks who were obviously wired whether there was an open outlet they would share, so that he could charge his cell phone. He was one of those louder-than-most folks—maybe even trying to be a bit flamboyant or “noticed”—and lacking in the art of respecting peoples’ personal space. He finally made one couple sufficiently uncomfortable that they abandoned their table, which he nearly jumped on, since it was close to a power socket. After settling in with his gear, he asked a young lady nearby if she would mind “watching his stuff” while he proceeded to the counter to buy his beverage. She shrugged in consent, and he left for the counter.

He returned with 1) the cup of tea he had purchased, 2) the pitcher of milk that is intended for customers to dilute their tea or coffee, 3) an empty cup, 4) the shaker of cocoa designed to let customers modify a beverage to their liking, and 5) several packets of sugar. Then, he proceeded to concoct an extra beverage that he had not paid for, pouring enough milk and cocoa and sugar into the cup to yield a large glass of chocolate milk. (Not what the baristas had in mind when making the milk, cocoa and sugar available, I presume.)

Humans are fascinating people.

Implications: I suppose it would be inappropriate for me to indict the gentleman who grabbed an “extra beverage” composed of free ingredients. After all, the coffee shop had given the man an extra cup (on request), and provide the milk, sugar and cocoa customers use in modifying their beverage to taste, at no extra charge.

At that same time, while waiting for my wife to finish her shopping, I bought a cappuccino and “plugged in” without a second thought, using the shop’s electricity “for free.” (And with considerable presumption; I didn’t even ask.) I have a few mini-shampoos in my drawer that are labeled with the name of this hotel or that, and more than one pen in my desk that likewise displays the logo of some convention center or other host facility. I’m not sure how they ended up in my possession, as I don’t recall being told, explicitly, to take them.

In other words, exploiting a value-added freebie is not a matter of guilt or innocence… it is more likely a matter of degree. Almost everyone will exploit a value-added item that is provided as a courtesy of the vendor and as a convenience to the customer. It’s just a matter of how often or how much.

In this economic environment, are your customers more likely to “milk it?” Are there loopholes in your gift-with-purchase or courtesy program that need to be tightened?

Mike Anderson