Dan Ariely, a famed behavioral economics professor at Duke University, conducted an experiment on our control over the choices we make; or lack of in this case.
Economist magazine offered subscriptions with an erroneous price for Print Subscription. Print and Print + Web were the same price.
When Economist realized its mistake, the price was fixed. Ariely decided to see which choice most people would make, so he offered this as an experiment to MIT students.
Happily, no one chose the middle option. However, if there is an option that nobody wants, you omit it, right? So, Ariely conducted the experiment again, but without the middle option and the results are nearly flipped.
Even though the middle option (Print Subscription) was useless in that no one wanted it, it was extremely important because it helped people understand what they wanted relative to the other choices. Print alone for $125 made Print & Web also for $125 look like a fantastic deal.
It’s arguable that consumers are not in control of their decisions because of the many external factors that influence choice. In this case, you actually want to have an unfavorable package(s) to make the other one(s) look good.
Reference: Ariely, D. (2014) Dan Ariely asks, Are we in control of our decisions? TED YouTube.
Ariely is not the only one who utilizes this strategy. Trader Joe’s in Union Square NYC plays the same game. Which set of eggs are you going to buy?
Wait. What? This circles back to the title of Ariely’s topic, Are We in Control of Our Decisions?
Did you pick the jumbo? Maybe not all of you, but most of you probably did. This is not Jedi mind control. This is psychology. Want to learn how to do the same? Check out the book here or read other sections below.
Other Sections
- What are You Worth?
- Psychology of Choosing
- Choosing is Painful
- Create Photographer Packages that Sell – New
- Secrets on How to Handle Discounters
- How to Make Discounting Work – New
- How to be Fearless in Pricing
- How to Name Your Packages
- Increase Your Perceived Value Easily – Coming Soon
Your traveling friend,
Lawrence Chan
P.S. I love eggs. Do you like eggs? If so, what is your favorite way to eat them?
Read more about this rewritten 2nd edition pricing e-book HERE.
Or …
[price-item item_number=”2″ category=”pricing ebook”]
My favorite way to eat eggs is poached. I LOVE a leaky yolk. Get some toast and … mmm.
LikeLike
What if you meet the client and they ask “why do we have the same pricing for packages B and C?”. What’s the best answer?
LikeLike
Haha. That would be confusing. However, I think you missed the strategy, Ben. Read the post again 😉 If you don’t catch it, let me know and I’ll clarify.
This post might help as well:
http://www.tofurious.com/marketing-tips/marketing-goals-strategies-tactics/
LikeLike
Interestig, as always.
Perhaps I am misunderstanding this one but I think the conclusion that no one was interested in PRINT is flawed. Perhaps most people actually wanted the PRINT edition and very few people (ie. close to 16%) wanted the WEB only edition.
So given the choice between PRINT ONLY for $125 and PRINT & WEB for $125, it makes sense that those who were interested in PRINT (ie. nearly everyone) might as well select PRINT & WEB.
Ernst
LikeLike
Oops. I initially read this on my phone and missed the other charts. Please ignore my earlier comment 🙂
LikeLike
Not a worry, Ernst 🙂
LikeLike
Eggs…the wonder food. If I said my favorite way to eat eggs was cake, would that count? No? Ok…how about over medium with all the white cut off served with pastured bacon and sourdough toast…mmm..I’m hungry now.
Also, I love your posts!
LikeLike
LOL!!! Yes, cake counts. Haha this was a belly-aching humorous comment. Thanks for the chuckle.
Eggs, bacon, and toast is a close second.
LikeLike
Hello!
Your debut promotion indicates 50-100%….how do we earn the chance to win this at 100% off?
What does random codes sent by July 25th mean?
Thank you!
LikeLike
Sorry for any lack of clarity. Basically, share with a tag and my assistant will email you a discount code. You must do so by the specified date. Thanks, Kerri!
LikeLike
glad I found this I remember it from your CL talk, but now I can email the graphic to a friend!
LikeLike