Can showing competitors’ prices online ever work?

This is an interesting article. It discusses the practice of showing your competition’s prices alongside your own. The idea is that if a browsing customer can see your competitor’s prices, they’ll be less likely to leave your site. It’s based on the assumption that people are going to comparison shop anyway, so why not give them the information they are seeking while keeping them on your own site.

I agree with assumption. People are going to comparison shop, especially on the web. But I think there is a missing component – price isn’t always the determining factor in a purchase. (If it is, then you have what’s called a ‘price-taker,’ and those people don’t make very good customers anyway.)

If prices are equal, then a consumer will start to use other criteria for the decision to buy. The criteria range from previous purchases to payment methods to look-and-feel of the site. Even complex programming capabilities could influence the buy decision. I know I’ve personally bought several books from Amazon just because they recommended them to me as I was buying something else.

Keep that in mind. People are going to comparison shop, but prices aren’t the only factor affecting the buy decision.

Here’s a very interesting article on the idea of ‘free choice.’

“Free choice” may not be as free as it seems

The article explains that the subjects decision to press a button was made well before they were conscious of the decision.

This isn’t discussed in the article, but there’s another takeaway. If you are a marketer, sales person, or someone else involved in changing minds, it’s hard to rely on a person’s own accounting for their decision making. Because there are so many things occuring at a subconcious level, it’s hard for us to say which specific details were responsible for our decision.

Who knew that a simple change in the weight of an object would have an effect on humans?

Link:

Weight as Persuasion WAC

If you are reading this blog, you probably already know many of these things. Just in case…

Body Language 101: What does it say?

The title uses persuasion, but it isn’t really about techniques. It’s about medical studies and their use of questionable methodology tactics when registering their trials. It’s fascinating, if a bit disturbing.

Link:

Why Persuading on Health and Safety Is So Difficult

An article discussing aspects of Cialdini’s book and it’s application to patient compliance in clinical care. Influence has many applications.

Link:

Patient Compliance And Behavioral Economics

There are many, many discussions and arguments written about healthcare. There should be. This will be a historical change.

In the midst of these discussions, errors of logic and reasoning creep into the fray. Sometimes, these ‘mistakes’ seem like devices meant to antagonize the talk-show guests or to boost ratings. Other times, they feel like devices meant to help convince the audience to agree with the speaker’s argument.

So I spend too much time debating the fallacies than understanding the issues. Here’s a post walking through many of the same things I’ve experienced with teaching fallacies.

Link:

When it comes to health care, which nation do we want to be?

In the previous post, we discussed 2 headlines and why they worked. I’ve already mentioned the benefits in the headlines, so you should read that post first and make sure you understand it. .

Today I want to discuss the use of logic in the second headline. And I don’t mean the common usage of the word logic, like ‘Oh, that’s logical.’ I’m talking about the formal definition of logic – the use of AND and OR in structuring the offer.

The second headline uses the phrase ‘and/or’ several times through it. You can presume that the writer wasn’t intending to confuse the reader.(At least, let’s hope that’s the case.)  That leaves us with the idea that the phrase was to suggest the flexibility of the offer.

Did it work? Was the flexibility shown? I don’t think so.

Here’s why – When someone is reading a headline, you can assume that they are in a hurry. You have a few precious seconds to make a connection or you’re in the weeds. The reader will turn the page, leave your site, or throw your piece in the trash. You want the headline to be appealing and uncomplicated. By introducing the ‘and/or’ phrase, you create this convoluted array of combinations that’s confusing.

Imagine that the reader is humming along, reading your headline. Then she gets to the ‘and/or’ part and she stops to think,

‘Wait, does mean that it is included or that it isn’t included?’

More importantly, the language makes her stop just long enough to say,

‘This sounds like some type of trick. They are making it unclear so that they’ll have a loophole to get my money.’

And after that, she’s gone. One more prospect who’s left you.

Don’t add complications to the headline. Make it simple.

I’m reading a book called “50 Case Histories on How to Write and Design Ads that Work.”  So far, it’s interesting. The editors of the book reviewed the results from successful ads (both consumer and business) and reported on the aspects of the winning letters. I’d change some things in the book, but it’s interesting nonetheless. You could get a great list of ideas from this book.

Here’s one of the examples tested for an ad on insurance:

Headline 1: “Great new insurance plan pays hospital, surgical expenses”

Comment: Not great, but it’s short and direct. And the benefit is obvious. 

Headline 2: “Now great new insurance plan offers you protection for hospital, surgical, and/or doctors’ bills and/or lost income.”

Comment: This headline has no rhythm or flow, but it does offer more benefits. 

The first headline pulled in double the response. (That’s not surprising. It is easier to read and it flows.) The editors claim the second headline should have done better, since it’s providing more benefits. More benefits equals higher results, right? In general, yes.

In this case, there are two flaws in the copy. 1 – The underlying story going on in the customer’s head. 2 – The use of logic (specifically, the word ‘OR’).

Let’s talk about the first one. Stories.

Every person on the planet is living in their own reality. Even you. Now, I’m not talking about the crazy people you see in the insane asylums or the people who have been hit with demetia. I mean every person on the planet – even the sane – is living in their own reality. They have their own history, language, experiences, and stories. Any experience is filtered through this lens of reality.

By the way, this means you, too.

As you read the headline above, you are running through an internal story. In the first headline, the story is – “Well, I know I have to pay hospital bills and they sometimes get expensive, so it would be nice to get money to pay them off.” The basic idea is ‘Free money’ or ‘Free hospital care.’ 

That’s a fairly compelling benefit. 

In the second headline, the same benefit is described as ‘protection from …..” Although logically equivalent, the story going through someone’s head is different. The reader is thinking, “Protection!?!? I need protection from the hospital…? Are they the mafia? Do they mean protection from disease? Am I going to get sick if I go to the hospital? Wait, what if I die?” and so on….

By using the word ‘protection’, the story inside a reader’s head becomes, ‘The hospital is going to do something to me that forces me to need protection.’ 

That’s not really the best motivator. In fact, I bet this headline scared more people away from the hospital.

Just because you are adding more benefits doesn’t mean that the reader is interpreting them as such. Always pay attention to the story going on in your reader’s head. Remember, you are writing for their reality, not yours. 

As for the second attribute – Logic – I’ll cover that one tomorrow.