>Big "SALE!" signs and prices ending in 9 aren't benign: they're malevolent attempts at psychological manipulation, and they degrade consumer trust the minute customers recognize them as such. While it's likely impossible to fully counter the bias, I've started clutching my purse strings more tightly since those big glowing signs became less of a declaration of value, and more of a warning that "We don't have your best interests at heart"
You won't see this - someone has already tried before it and it nearly financially ruined the company.
The sad thing is it works and people are easily manipulated. Ron Johnson (former CEO of JC Penney) nearly bankrupted JC Penney with his "fair and square" pricing. Consumers are so used to being manipulated by fake sales and xx.99 pricing that having merchandise advertised without any gimmicks actually results in worse sales. [0]
I'm hoping one day people will turn around and be against being psychologically manipulated, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. After all, many people still defend advertisements. A socially accepted form of psychological manipulation that is intended to make you feel worse about yourself and your life unless you buy <product> because <product> will make you happier.
The fact people are okay with ads in any context completely baffles me. There are people who are totally fine with being emotionally and psychologically manipulated in return for something being "free". To the point where people in western cultures associate the colors red and yellow with food and don't question why.
He failed because sales for JC Penney fell, but in a sense perhaps he succeeded in preventing people from purchasing clothes they didn't necessarily need?
He definitely couldn't take a customer base used to and desiring sales and "convert" them to an alternative. To what degree you could seek out and train a customer base to non-sales non-negotiable prices is less clear.
I personally like the information provided by ads. It provokes me to do research. I view the first search results I get as similar to ads. It educates me on how to refine my search.
I think it is pretty clear that sales do attract customers, though, even when the "sale" price is the same as a non-sale price at some other time during the year. The interactions are complex, though - see [1]. For example, it's a well-used tactic for Amazon sellers to increase their prices slightly and then offer a discount to attract people who aren't tracking price trends since many consumers are somewhat addicted to "getting a deal" regardless of whether the "deal" is in comparison to the true base price of a product or just its current advertised price.
You won't see this - someone has already tried before it and it nearly financially ruined the company.
The sad thing is it works and people are easily manipulated. Ron Johnson (former CEO of JC Penney) nearly bankrupted JC Penney with his "fair and square" pricing. Consumers are so used to being manipulated by fake sales and xx.99 pricing that having merchandise advertised without any gimmicks actually results in worse sales. [0]
I'm hoping one day people will turn around and be against being psychologically manipulated, but I don't see it happening anytime soon. After all, many people still defend advertisements. A socially accepted form of psychological manipulation that is intended to make you feel worse about yourself and your life unless you buy <product> because <product> will make you happier.
The fact people are okay with ads in any context completely baffles me. There are people who are totally fine with being emotionally and psychologically manipulated in return for something being "free". To the point where people in western cultures associate the colors red and yellow with food and don't question why.
[0] https://www.cbc.ca/radio/undertheinfluence/the-real-reason-m...