Displays are more effective than price cuts

A study by Ogilvy's shopper marketing arm says that in-store displays drive more impulse purchases and more brand selections in considered purchases than price cuts.

OgilvyAction's research from the spring indicates that 29% of U.S. shoppers impulsively buy from categories they didn't plan to when they entered the store. Of that group, 24% said they were influenced by secondary displays (away from the product's usual aisle), 18% by in-store demonstrations, and only 17% by price promotion.

The study also found 39% of U.S. shoppers have a category in mind but pick their brand in store, and of those, 31% were influenced by in-store demonstrations -- more than the 28% by price promotion and the 27% influenced by some other form of consumer promotion.

I'm always suspicious of surveys based on what shoppers say influenced their decision, but this seems like a reasonable result, and is in line with previous studies I've seen. Most studies I recall, however, indicate that the best results come from combo actions, e.g., display + price cut or, better yet, ad + display + price cut.