Anchor Frequency Estimates to Individuals

When selling a product to a prospect, don’t make them think they’ll be using the product often, since that can kill off their interest in buying it.
     This strange conclusion is one way to interpret findings from research at University of Maryland-College Park and Georgetown University. And, as you’d expect, the conclusion is only partially right. But the part that is correct provides useful guidance for handling usage frequency estimates with shoppers.
     The experimental study began with asking university students to say how often they played video games. One set was asked the question in the form, “Please tell us how often, using a scale that ranges from ‘Less than once a week’ to ‘More than once a day.’” Among themselves, the researchers referred to this as the “high frequency scale.” The rest of the students were presented what the researchers called the low frequency scale: “… using a scale that ranges from ‘Less than once a year’ to ‘More than once a week.’”
     The students using the high frequency scale reported playing video games more often than did the students using the low frequency scale. Consumer psychologists call this an anchoring effect. When shoppers are given higher numbers as anchor points, they’ll give higher numbers as answers.
     The next part of the study is where things got really strange. Compared to the students who had previously been presented the low frequency scale, students who had previously been presented with the high frequency scale were less interested in trying out a new video game. When we put the two parts together, the college students who had said they play video games more frequently expressed less interest in new video games. The high-frequency-scale group was only half as likely to accept the offer of a free trial of a video game.
     Why? The researchers are convinced it’s because the high frequency scale made students think other students played video games very often, while a low frequency scale made students think other students didn’t play video games so often. When the anchor was set high, the students felt their frequency of use was relatively low, so they labeled themselves as not that interested in video games.
     The advice for retailers: When discussing predicted frequency of use with shoppers, talk about each shopper as an individual. Avoid comparisons to others. Especially with competitive consumers like university students.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Set Price Anchors with Price Adjacencies
Move the Customer to Accept Higher Prices
Know the “Don’t Know” Answer Frequency