How exclusionary ads can win over the right customers

Imagine you are searching for a new mattress online and find something surprising. The retailer displays an ad featuring a “Mattress Comfort Scale” running from 1 (soft) to 10 (firm), followed by the message that if your firmness preference is at either end, this mattress is not for you. Wait . . . what? A retailer telling someone not to buy its product? No way!

Why would a company tell potential buyers that the product might not suit them? Our team of professors—Karen Anne Wallach, Jaclyn L.