Price is a feeling
To consumers price isn't merely price.
To consumers price is a signal that gives them little hints and bits of information.
In 2011 JCPenney hired *with great fanfare* a guy called Ron Johnson as their new CEO.
Ron was the former Senior Vice-President for Retail at Apple.
Ron Johnson made Apple stores the envy of the retail industry.
And this was why JCPenney's board of directors decided to hire Ron.
They had big hopes Ron could do his magic and make JCPenney cool again.
JCPenney was legendary famous for its coupons, deals and in-store discounts.
But Ron got rid of all that.
You see, Ron had a big vision for a new JCPenney.
And that big vision included no more coupons. And no more 590 sales a year.
Ron's big vision was simple.
The new JCPenney was all about “fair and square” pricing.
You'd think that “fair and square” would be a very good pricing strategy, right?!
After all, who doesn't like honest, predictable, low-prices, all-year long?!
So JCPenney launched an aggressive advertising campaign. It's job was to tell America about JCPenney's new, fair, low-prices.
The problem was America hated the new JCPenney.
In fact, it was a huuuuuge disaster.
And in 2012 JCPenney lost $985 million.
How could this possibly happen?
Here's the thing Ron got completely wrong.
Consumers don't want low prices, they want bargains.
Low prices make us feel like we're tightwad bastards (Scrooge McDuck style).
But bargains make us feel good, special and smart.
And bargains allow our brains to change the narrative to "I didn't spend $60, I saved $45".
That's why everyone loves a good bargain (even millionaires). Because bargains make us feel like “we know something others don’t”.
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》”Dangerous” Ideas”
1/ Price perception (and not the actual price) is what truly influences buying decisions.
2/ Consumers use heuristics to make “good enough” buying decisions.
The truth is, the human brain uses heuristics because they help us make quick decisions.
And heuristics tend to work well (not always, but most of the time).
For example, when consumers know nothing about a product and see expensive price tags they automatically assume it’s high quality. And in most of the cases this assumption is spot on.
3/ Create clarity through contrast
PS. When writing copy have in mind that: Price headlines work, but use them very carefully.
Scroll down to #8 and see my price related headline formulas.
Your pal,
🚀 Founder & Chief Copywriter: Teardwn ↬ “Hire me to give voltage to your website copy”
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