68 people were shown photos of shopping environments, either with or without plants. They were then asked about the environment’s percieved restorative power.

Those who saw the biophilic environment reported a higher restorative effect on wellbeing than those without plants.

Use nature to restore consumer attention and boost dwell time (Lee et al., 2015).

Even a short exposure will reduce mental fatigue. Where are the most stressful points along a customer journey? Focus on ‘biophying’ these areas first. 

Leaf the stress behind.

‍Research (Ulrich et al., 1991) suggests that having restorative green spaces in the workplace reduces stress, even though 58% of office workers still have no plants (Human Spaces, 2014).

Seeing plants from a worker's desk lowered self-reported sick leave next to those without a bio-optimized view (Bringslimark et al. 2007).

Start small and slowly work your way down the  list of biophilic enhancements. 

Create familiarity through nature.

‍Use natural references to ground marketing of technologically-complex or abstract products to boost understanding and brand warmth (Rafaeli and Vilnai-Yavetz, 2004). 

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195 students were asked to fill out a lunch order survey in return for a free lunch. They were split into two groups and  asked either a few hours prior to or just before lunchtime.

Those asked with the delay made food choices 11% lower in calories than those just before lunch.

Adapt with time-to-delivery.

Online grocers could change what’s shown to the user based on how many days out their delivery slot is, showing more aspirational goods in the week prior and impulsive goods the day before. 

Build around customers’ goals.

Have them make a preference on your site for their future self i.e. that they want to lose weight or save more money this year. Then, have this preference dictate what products are shown to them online, along with a subtle reminder that you’re helping with their bigger goals.

Encourage “future lock-ins.”

‍Banks could improve consumer savings by allowing pre-registration for a future savings account. Consider locking in other types of ‘should’ decisions that will benefit the consumer’s future well-being, as well as reducing your costs through better demand forecasting.