Arrange Discounts in Tiered Amounts

Reaching one threshold makes it easier to enter another threshold.

$5 off $20 then $20 off $50, then $50 off $150

Overview

Suppose that customers get $50 off when they spend $200.

In this scenario, customers need to spend $200 — which might be tough to imagine. In order to make this discount more realistic (and thus enticing), businesses need to strengthen the mental imagery of spending $200.

How? They can offer tiered discounts.

$50 off $150
$20 off $50
$5 off $20

Customers might struggle to imagine the $150 threshold, but the lowest tier — $20 — is easy to imagine.

And now it gets sneaky: Once they imagine spending $20, it becomes easier to imagine the next threshold of $50. Then $150.

Lower tiers provide a sequence of mental images that gradually transform a high threshold into a feasible reality.