Mind the retailer’s sneaky nudge
OPINION: If you’ve ever played organised sport you’ll be familiar with the phrase ‘‘just one more’’.
Coaches love to get you to do 10 press-ups, and then add a couple more. And it works. You’ve made it to 10 – why not 12?
Kids are onto it too: ‘‘Just one more story before lights out.’’
Companies have refined this knowledge into a science. They call it nudge marketing, the theory behind getting you to buy one more thing – chocolate dip with your icecream or a muffin with your coffee. Sometimes that’s a good thing, sometimes not so.
Many health and insurance companies use nudge marketing to help get you healthier.
Notice how your Fitbit or similar activity tracker tries to get you to walk a few more steps each day? By nudging your target up, you get fitter and are more active in the long term.
Traditionally, nudge theory was about driving people to make good decisions instead of bad.
For example, some supermarkets in the United States successfully experimented with trying to get shoppers to buy healthier products.
In one cruel but effective experiment, mirrors were attached to the front of trolleys so shoppers were constantly looking at their own reflection.
As a result, they spent more money in the produce section. I suppose it’s hard to buy junk food when you’re looking at the extra rolls on your belly and chin.
The idea behind this kind of marketing is to nudge you to have an internal dialogue with yourself rather than feel like you are part of a marketing campaign.
The mirrors were a brilliant idea because it’s difficult to feel you’re being manipulated by your own face.
Behavioural economics research shows that nudges are effective in influencing consumers. But watch out for the sneaky moves to nudge you into making a different choice.
A classic ploy is the restaurant that lists a fish entree at an overpriced $40 on its menu. It is not interested in selling the entree; the fish is there as a decoy to make other, more profitable items, appear attractive.
I recently bought a 2degrees mobile plan for my son’s phone. There were three plans on offer, two at the same price but one with more benefits. The other plan was clearly there to validate the price of the one I purchased. ‘‘This must be good value; it’s so much better than the other one.’’
Discounts are your classic nudges. If a price is slashed we’re more likely to buy. Think of Briscoes’ eternal sale, or Kathmandu, whose high prices indicate quality but are slashed in their heavily marketed sales so we feel like we’re getting a good deal.
And then there’s the social nudge, regularly found online. As we’re perusing a product a pop-up window says ‘‘shoppers who bought this also liked this’’.
It’s been proven repeatedly that people buy because others liked it. Because, while we all like to think we are unique, there’s a lot of research to show we’re really more like sheep. We follow others.
Most people know what is happening, but are happy to go along with it, as often they are getting a better deal, or it is helping them be healthier, so being ‘‘nudged’’ is OK.
However, not everything about nudge marketing is rosy. Marketers need to be careful to make it feel like they’re helping us and not trying to rip us off and, in doing so, damaging their own reputation and credibility among their customers.
The message for businesses? Nudge away but don’t annoy us, especially over the holiday season. Happy holidays everyone.
In one cruel but effective experiment, mirrors were attached to the front of trolleys so shoppers were constantly looking at their own reflection.