How would you promote yoyos when you are running a yoyo shop at a retail centre mostly consist of otaku and hobbyist shops? Because people seemed to be scared of yoyos when I offer them to give it a spin, they automatically says “Nevermind I’m just watching” even though they watched for a good 30 minutes.
Maybe they’re intimidated. What are they watching? Show them easy stuff they can do.
Or get a cute cosplay model to casually “walk by” amd want to try one of your yoyos!
When marketers want to pass out free samples, they use pretty young ladies to do it. Definitely sexist and exploitative of the young ladies who are getting well-paid to simply hand out items. It is also equally effective. A few well-built, handsome guys thrown in for good measure may expand your selling opportunities as well as security for the ladies.
Just a totally sexist thought that has proven enduringly effective over the centuries…
Well if it an area heavily surrounded by Otakus and such try catering to their interests as well. Many people put together Gundam figures for a hobby so possibly stocking those and similar items might bring in customers.
The best way, from a purely psycholigical perspective, of getting people to step in and try is to have someone else there who appears to have already taken up your offer. In other words, get a friend to pretend like a stranger who is not very good, but is trying. Or better, get more than one.
The problem is not that the people are not interested. They probably do want to try and that’s why they watched. The issue is that they need assurance that they won’t be the only one.