Labelling lone bananas as 'sad singles' pulls at empathetic shoppers’ heartstrings

A simple sign showing a banana with a downturned mouth, and the message 'we are sad singles and want to be bought as well', encouraged compassion in customers, who were moved by the idea of abandoned bananas longing for a home

Researchers have found that labelling lone bananas as "sad singles" pulls at shoppers’ heartstrings, boosting sales by over half.

Retailers discovered that giving loose, unsold single bananas an emotional spin can drive customers to pick up the often-ignored fruit. By placing a sign with a banana sporting a sad face next to the message "we are sad singles and want to be bought as well", retailers could stir compassion in buyers, making them sympathetic to the idea of lonely bananas yearning for a home.

Experts at the University of Bath observed how "sad singles" signs fare against "happy singles" labels for solitary bananas and tomatoes. The study revealed that while both emotive approaches worked better than emotionless signage, it was the depiction of sadness that really soared in performance.

On average, single banana sales jumped from 2.02 to 3.19 per hour when accompanied by the sorrowful illustration – aNincrease of 58%. In contrast, "happy singles" signs only nudged hourly sales from 2.02 to 2.13 (5.4%), rendering the melancholy messaging about 50% more effective.

Dr Lisa Eckmann from the Bath Retail Lab explained, "As far as we know, this is the first study comparing happy and sad expressions on bananas separated from their bunch to look at the impact on sales,".

"The plight of the single bananas is really relatable, and the findings have very practical applications for boosting sales and reducing food waste from our supermarkets.

"The need to belong is one of the most basic human motivations, and applying sadness to single, stray bananas evoke a compassionate response from shoppers."

"Labelling bananas with sad facial expressions sounds cute, but there’s very much a serious purpose."

"The study shows it’s an easy, low cost, effective intervention for retailers and policymakers."

Separated from their bunch by shoppers discarding one banana too many, or by transport, single bananas are part of the problem of picky consumer preferences that helps to account for 131 million tons of waste in the retail sector. Previous research has shown single bananas have been shown to account for the highest amount both of climate impact and of food wasted at retailers.

The researchers carried out the experiment in a major German supermarket chain observing purchasing behaviour of single bananas of 3,810 customers over 192 hours. The retailer had previously labelled bananas as singles wanting to be bought but had not added the emotional element.

The in-store study was adapted to an online experiment that asked 745 shoppers to imagine they were going to the supermarket intending to buy bananas.

A further online study with 1,990 participants replicated the setup for tomatoes, and 995 online participants took part in a final study to investigate the effect of price discounts on bananas. "Food retailers could apply a step-wise intervention approach where they first use anthropomorphism as a sales-boosting strategy before turning to price discounts," said Dr Eckmann.

"We don’t know whether consumers might get emotionally numb to sad bananas in the long term, but it’s an idea that certainly draws people in, and is easy to act on."

"I wasn’t aware of how single bananas accumulate to such a big food waste problem, and now I always look out for loose, single bananas when I’m shopping."

The researchers say that future research could examine under which conditions sad expressions are not more effective than happy expressions, for example when produce is deformed or slightly damaged. – The study, Anthropomorphic sad expressions reduce waste of "single" imperfect food, is published in the journal Psychology & Marketing.