Price Divisibility

Customers prefer prices that are divisible by the purchase quantity because it helps them imagine using these products.

Set Bulk Prices With a Divisible Quantity-min

Set Prices That Are Divisible By Purchase Quantities

Sometimes I see specific prices for durations, such as $63.46/hour or $13.45/month. But are they effective? This week's study might shed light. See my LinkedIn post which expands on this idea.

Use Duration Prices That Are Easy to Multiply

Time Windows

"Jan 1 - Jan 6" feels shorter than "Mon - Sat" because the time window is shorter in a monthly scale.

Monday to Saturday is large portion of a weekly scale, but Jan 1 to Jan 6 is small portion of a monthly scale

Time Intervals Seem Shorter in Calendar Dates

Time Intervals Feel Shorter in Calendar Dates

New research shows that time windows seem shorter in a calendar framing (Jan 1 to Jan 6) compared to a days-of-the-week framing (Mon to Sat).

You repurchase the same brand if this new purchase resembles the previous purchase (e.g., same retailer, same weekday, same basket size; Koll & Plank, 2022).

Same Cues, Same Purchases

Even 15 years later. But the effect was less relevant for tech jobs (Malik, Singh, & Srinivasan, 2023).

Attractive MBA Grads Secure Better Jobs

They rely on God, not people. This effect happened in various contexts (e.g., applying for government aid, asking for favors, requesting donations from crowdfunding; Liu, 2023).

Religious People Are Less Likely to Seek Help

Rationalizing Behavior

Otherwise customers might infer that products are unappealing. 

End of a product catalog with "Can't Decide?" and relevant links (e.g., Take Our Quiz, Talk to an Expert)

Justify Why Customers Reached the End of a Catalog

If customers reach the end of a catalog, they contemplate the reason. One hypothesis? They didn't like the products. Therefore, shift this rationale.

Whether it's a gas-guzzling car or raunchy movie. Renting feels less guilty than buying because we're not owning the questionable product, which would tarnish our self-identity (Kang, & Park, 2023).

We Prefer Renting Unethical Products

Men are worried that other people would perceive them negatively, whereas women share negative gossip to gain comfort (Carbone, Loewenstein Scopelliti, & Vosgerau, 2024).

Men Are Less Likely to Share Negative Gossip

Customers choose the same option or flavor if they pay with cash. Why? Because cash payments are painful. Customers feel more pressure to justify their purchase, so they choose options that are easier to rationalize (e.g., their favorite; Huang, Siddiqui, & Ghosh, 2023)

Cash Payments Reduce Variety

Present Tense

These actions feel like they're still happening.

Home inspection summary: porch is stable, faucet looks good, I don't see termites

List Completed Actions in the Present Tense

List Completed Services in the Present Tense

A recent study confirmed that language is more persuasive when framed in the present tense.

Researchers tested payment vibrations (e.g., none, low, high) in a mobile app. Ironically, low vibrations were most painful. Customers felt like they were losing more money (Manshad & Brannon, 2021).

Low Vibrations Increase the Pain of Paying

Researchers replicated the QWERTY effect: Right-handed people prefer words that contain letters from the right side of a keyboard (e.g., jump, milky, nylon). Something about them feels right. Pun intended.

The QWERTY Effect

Customers behave properly in front of humans. But in front of AI? They lie, cheat, and steal. People are more likely to cheat on their taxes if they use software (vs. human advisor; LaMothe & Bobek, 2020).

AI Leads to Unethical Behaviors

Writing this email

Padding and Price Effect

More space activates our experience with physical stores, where real estate is expensive.

Two assortments of products. The spacious assortment looks expensive

Products Seem More Expensive With Padding

Products Seem Expensive With More Padding

In a digital catalog, the amount of padding can influence the perception of prices, based on our experience with physical stores.

I added new research to my tactic on prices and font sizes. It offers more guidance on how to use this technique.

Prices and Font Sizes

In a study with 30,000 banking customers, people spend more if they get paid more frequently. Regardless of the amount. If you get paid more frequently, you believe that you possess more funds to pay for goods and services (De La Rosa & Tully, 2022).

Frequent Paychecks Increase Spending

They prefer sharp fonts, logos, products, app icons, and other design elements (Chen, Jiao, Fan, & Li, 2021).

Lonely Customers Prefer Angular Shapes

Removal of Humans

If you don't need someone to exemplify the quality of your product, show the product by itself.

Removing a person from the product image for a blender

Remove Humans From Product Images When Possible-min

Remove Humans From Product Images When Possible

A new study found that humans in product images reduce conversions because it triggers a lack of ownership. It's their product, not my product.

Prices seem cheaper when you reduce the left digit (e.g., $49). Turns out, this effect reduces speeding too (e.g., 49 km/h). Drivers are anchored to this lower numerical bracket (Rubaltelli et al., 2021).

Left-Digit Effect Reduces Speeding

South Korea tried to reduce overspending by sending a text message after every payment. But ironically, it increased spending. People no longer felt obligated to remember past transactions because they could delegate these memories to their device (Kim et al., 2023).

Mobile Payment Notifications Increase Spending

Some people touch products to feel more confident in buying them. New research shows that touchscreens (vs. a traditional mouse) can satisfy this need (Hattula, Herzog, & Dhar, 2023).

Touchscreens Satisfy the Need to Touch

Empty Space Effect

Customers believe that marketers were unable to fill this space with additional benefits.

Customer review and list of benefits with empty space crossed out in each

Remove Empty Space Below Sales Copy

Messages are less persuasive when they're surrounded by empty space, especially toward the bottom. 

Apple just launched iPhone 15. If you bought iPhone 14 (like me), you might feel distant. Research shows that new versions are detrimental to owners of the previous version, reducing their likelihood of buying the brand in the future. Brands need to reinforce their relationship with these customers (e.g., special promotion; Jung, Peck, Palmeira, & Kim, 2022).

Customers Feel Left Behind With Product Upgrades

Some products resemble humans (e.g., toaster with eyes). We develop stronger relationships with these products, so it's harder to discard them. We typically sell them for higher prices (Kim & Swaminathan, 2021).

We Sell Anthropomorphic Products at Higher Prices

People received a restaurant suggestion from their device. They were more persuaded when they heard it from Alexa or Siri, compared to reading this text on the screen (Flavián, Akdim, & Casaló, 2023).

Voice-Based Recommendations Are More Persuasive

Customer IDs and Tolerance

Customers feel less human, numbing them to service failures.

Waitress spilling drink on customer who stays smiling

Customers Ignore Failures With Ids

Customers Tolerate Bad Service When They're Given ID Numbers

A new study found that customers feel less human when they're given ID numbers, numbing them to bad service.

A large European hotel surveyed 85,000+ guests. Turns out, guests who remembered an exceptional staff member were more likely to cancel future reservations. They felt a communal relationship with the hotel, as if they would understand and forgive the cancellation (Shuqair et al., 2022).

Close Relationships Are a Double-Edged Sword

Participants performed better with a golf putter when they assembled it themselves, compared to an identical pre-assembled putter (Köcher & Wilcox, 2022).

Self-Assembled Products Increase Performance

Researchers are closer to a treatment for severe procrastinators. Activating the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex reduced procrastination in individuals by increasing the perceived value of the outcome (Xu, Zhang, Zhou, & Feng, 2023).

The Neuroscience of Procrastination

Tolerating Failure

Scientific Backlash

Scientific rationales feel misplaced in emotional contexts, so they weaken perceived benefits.

Chocolate bar that claims to use nano technology

Don’t Use Science to Sell Emotional Products-Chocolate

Don't Use Science to Sell Emotional Products

Science is persuasive, unless you sell emotional products. Then it feels unexpected and misplaced, weakening the perceived benefits.

Humans need social interaction to improve their well-being. But this goalpost is nearby. Based on research with 180k participants, a moderate amount of social interaction fulfills our intrinsic need. Afterward, these interactions produce diminishing returns (though it doesn't slope downward; Ren, Stavrova, & Loh, 2022).

How Social Do We Need to Be?

We're more likely to buy unhealthy food with credit cards because we feel less pain. Cash payments are more painful, which pushes our focus toward the guilt and risks associated with these purchases (Park, Lee, & Thomas, 2021).

Cashless Payments Fuel Unhealthy Purchases

People saved more money when they saw an image of cash with humanlike traits. It felt more vulnerable, as if it needed saving (Wang, Kim, S., Zhou, 2023).

Anthropomorphic Money Increases Savings

Science backlash effect

Discount Proximity to Products

Customers are more likely to buy adjacent products if they don't compete with a discounted product.

Discounted yogurt between two yogurts. A similar yogurt on the left suffers, while a dissimilar yogurt on the right benefits.

Place Discounted Products Next to Dissimilar Products-min

Place Discounts Next to Dissimilar Products

A new study shows that customers are more likely to buy dissimilar products that are next to a discounted product.

Women aren't perceived differently from their posting frequency (Edelblum & Warren, 2023).

Men Seem Feminine When They Frequently Post on Social Media

Most stories depict a main character who embarks on a journey. New research shows that people find more meaning and purpose when they conceptualize their life from this perspective (Rogers et al., 2023).

Perceive Your Life as a Hero's Journey

Cash seems more powerful because it's closer and more tangible (Zhou, Ye, & Liu, 2023).

Cash Feels More Valuable Than Digital Money

Product Shelf Psychology

Ugliness Premium

Customers believe that unattractive people are more competent.

Ugly faces and attractive faces generate more sales

Ugliness-Premium

Ugly Faces Increase Sales

Everybody knows that beautiful faces are persuasive, but ugly faces are surprisingly persuasive too.

Some organizations encourage healthy eating by drawing faces on fruits. But these designs reduce consumption because we don't want to hurt the food. It feels immoral (Schroll, 2023).

We Eat Less Food When It Looks Human

Females search more than males for product information on social media (Kol & Levy, 2023).

Men on a Mission, Women on a Journey

At first, the title said "unattractive" to avoid offending anybody. But it shouldn't matter. Research shows that we can't tell if we're ugly, so nobody should feel offended (Greitemeyer, 2020).

Ugly People Don't Realize They're Ugly

Touchable Cues

Touchable cues activate your muscles, making nearby actions seem easier.

Insert Haptic Cues Near Desired Actions-min

Insert Haptic Cues Near Desired Actions

A recent study found that motor actions (e.g., signing up) are easier with nearby haptic cues.

When you receive attention online, your perspective becomes egocentric. You believe that other people in the real world are staring at you (Hall, 2023).

Digital Spotlight Effect

Researchers asked people to spend 20 minutes with 2-3 strangers in a room. Some groups could use their phones; other groups needed to remove their phones beforehand. When people removed their phones beforehand, they enjoyed the interaction more. If people could use their phone, they did. And they were less happy with the experience (Dwyer, Zhuo, & Dunn, 2023).

Do You Really Need to Use Your Phone?

Sellers want flashy cars and expensive watches to impress their clients, but it backfires. Clients prefer sellers who display a neutral status (Moyal & Garcia, 2023).

Sellers Shouldn't Flaunt Their High Status

Incompleteness Effect

When customers acquire one item in a bundle, they're motivated to acquire the remaining items.

A "casual night" bundle of clothes with a shirt that has already been purchased and pair of jeans that hasn't been purchased yet

Insert Past Purchases Into Incomplete Bundles

Bundle Past Purchases with New Products

When restaurants are awarded a prestigious Michelin star, their reviews get worse. Why? Because it creates unrealistically high expectations (Rita, Vong, Pinheiro, & Mimoso, 2023).

Michelin Star? More Negative Reviews

Businesses generate more revenue when they suggest relevant products, rather than top selling products (Donnelly, Kanodia, & Morozov, 2023).

Which Products to Recommend: Relevant or Profitable?

Based on data for 10k+ product launches, products perform better when they're launched during a recession (especially in the later stages; Talay, Pauwels, & Seggie, 2023).

Launch Products During a Recession

Separated Discounts

All else equal, coupons are more effective than visibly reduced prices.

A $90 blender on sale for $80 vs. a $10 coupon with no visible reduction

Integrated Discounts

Separate Your Discounts When Possible

A new study shows that customers prefer larger purchases when they don't see the final price from a known discount.

Men don't show a preference, but women prefer to buy female-made products to support other women. And this tips the balance (Schnurr & Halkias, 2022).

Customers Prefer Products Made By Women

Female CMOs are more risk averse (e.g., they launch fewer products) under male CEOs because they fear scrutiny. But this effect reverses under female CEOs, perhaps because it inspires confidence and freedom (Varma, Bommaraju, & Singh, 2023).

Female CMOs Make Less Risky Decisions

Patients are 8% more likely to choose branded medication because they think it's superior to generic medication, even though the ingredients are identical (Hermosilla & Ching, 2023).

Bad Medical News? You Prefer Brand Name Drugs

Final Price Neglect

Durations vs. Dates

Durations (e.g., 5 days) feel sooner than calendar dates (e.g., July 12) because they are moving closer.

"in 5 days" feels closer than an equivalent date of "July 15"

Durations Feels Sooner Than Calendar Dates

A new study found that durations (e.g., 5 days) feel sooner than equivalent calendar dates (e.g., July 12).

Entrepreneurs seem patient, considering they invest time and money for future benefits. But new research suggests the opposite. People are more likely to become entrepreneurs if they discount future time investments (e.g., prefer to save 1 hour now rather than 2 hours later). Why? Because entrepreneurs conceptualize time as "Moving Observer." They imagine themselves moving through time, so the future seems farther away (Gutierrez, Sloof, & Crilly, 2023).

Who Becomes an Entrepreneur?

Review photos can be matching (e.g., they illustrate the text) or additive (e.g., they give new information). Based on 7.4 million reviews from Yelp, customers prefer matching photos because they ease readability (Ceylan, Diehl, & Proserpio, 2023).

Reviews With Matching Photos Are More Helpful

Moka seems healthier than Mokanupo. Subconsciously, a smaller name feels like it will contain fewer ingredients with smaller portion sizes. It just feels lighter (Motoki & Pathak, 2023).

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