influence

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.

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.

In one of the most overlooked areas of marketing, picking the right words can either skyrocket a campaign or bury it. Many times, changing a word or two is the difference between acceptable results and stellar, out of this world results. But the language is rarely scrutinized at the same level compared to the other components of a campaign. Why is that?

There are 3 main reasons:

One – it’s hard. Writing and editing is time consuming. It takes effort and discipline. Most people (except for professional writers) don’t want to take the extra time to refine their copy. 

Two – people don’t get it. Most business owners and marketers don’t realize the effect that changes to their copy will have.

Three –  people don’t believe. Of those that are don’t about the power of language, many don’t believe that a few word changes will make a difference. (Personally, I can relate to this viewpoint. I shared it for many, many years. )

Don’t underestimate the words you use. Spend time going through your campaign looking for words that aren’t carrying their own weight. Change them immediately. Even a few changes will make a difference.

A heuristic is a mental shortcut we – all humans – use in our decision making process. We develop heuristics because the costs associated with considering and evaluating EVERY decision would cripple our mental processing. We would constantly overheat our brains trying to make the simplest of decisions.

For example, if you are in a busy building and you are leaving, you don’t stop and carefully calculate which exit is the most efficient route to save you time. You also don’t stop and evaluate the relative safety of the door opening and the frame around the door. You also don’t stop to consider the possibility that you will become lodged in the door never to escape. There are a million other things you don’t evaluate.

What happens in your brain is something like this-

You: I want to leave the building.

Brain: Follow the other people leaving the building.

And, just like that, we’re outside.

A heuristic is not inherently good or bad, it just is. However, social psychologists and behavior specialists are coming to realize that there are some heuristics that can lead us down faulty decision making paths.

And that’s where the fun begins.

Why should you spend time studying influence? It takes lots of time and reading the research reports certainly isn’t the best use of your time. Right?

There are three big reasons you should be paying attention to influence, persuasion, and human behavior.

1. It helps you in your business. By understanding the nature and idiosyncrasies of buying behavior, you learn to improve your marketing, messaging, and product in order to make more sales.

2. It helps you recognize your own behavior. When you understand influence and persuasion, you can instantly see the techniques being used on you. This gives you a chance to put more thought into your decision. You may decide that you want to the buy the item, but at least you are making a conscious decision.

3. It provides a foundation for discussion and eliminates hand-waving. More times than not, a business owner will adamantly insist on a particular campaign or the wording of a phrase. Alternatively, they will summarily dismiss some ideas that are put on the table. In both situations, the owner believes that they have ‘insider’ knowledge of their industry and they know better than anyone else. By studying influence, you can discuss the specific techniques and research behind your campaign ideas.

And, for me, there is a fourth reason. I find this stuff insanely interesting. I’ve always been interested in learning how things work. Learning how the brain works is a natural extension to this curiosity.