Price Pain: Myth or Phenomenon? Lessons in Conversion Optimization After 100+ A/B Tests
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Every time an amount is debited from your account, small or large, it still hurts a little in your wallet. But is that the only place where you feel it? Or do we actually see this pain in our brain? In this article I will answer this question and reveal what the biggest lesson is after running 100+ A/B tests.
Do prices really hurt?
Yes! Every time we humans spend money, we experience a feeling of pain. Brain researchers have repeatedly shown that just looking at a price activates the insula , the brain region that is also activated when experiencing physical pain. In other words, looking at a price tag elicits the same neural response as hitting your thumb with a hammer.
And the higher this price pain, the less likely we are to purchase a product.
Luckily, there are all kinds of psychological techniques that (web)shops can use to take the focus away from the pain (price) and focus on the gain (product). In this article I share one of the insights that we see time and time again and with which we achieve an average uplift of 5% with our customers!
The biggest lesson: use cognitive embodiment
Cognitive embodiment holds that physical concepts influence mental concepts. Since that probably sounds a bit abstract, let me first elaborate on what it means.
Simply put, our physical experiences influence our mental experiences. As Tim Zuidgeest states in his article: “That is exactly the reason why I am more than happy to offer potential customers a warm cup of coffee or tea. Because I know: feeling a warm cup of tea makes me a bit warmer and nicer as a person in the eyes of that customer.” This was shown by research .
When we zoom in on prices, you can imagine that prices in list of qatar consumer email font size 40 mentally feel larger than prices in font size 12. Moreover, prices that are literally longer also feel larger. Bol plays on this well by adding decimals to the old price in the case of a discount: 249,- versus 329,00.
Also read: Psychological tricks in marketing: how color use influences purchasing decisions
Avoid price pain by adding extra decimals
Screenshot of sphere
This is not only true for physical numbers, but also for the 5 key steps for the foundation of your marketing plan length of the word. The fewer syllables, the better. That is why one-euro-seven-ten feels less pleasant than one-euro-eight-ten, even though the first amount is rationally cheaper.
But what about discounts?
A discount is attractive when the old price feels a lot bigger than the discount aleart news price. So, you need to make sure the old price is bold and has a larger font than the new price. Also, by creating a greater physical distance between the two prices, you create a greater mental distance.