Round Up Benefits for the Shopper

To portray longer-lasting benefits, describe aspects of the product by using round numbers. Based on their findings, researchers at University of Texas-San Antonio say that, for instance, an energy drink touting “200 mg caffeine” will be perceived as working for a longer time than one touting a higher “203 mg caffeine.” A no-iron shirt claim will garner higher trust if it’s said to last for 40 washes rather than 39 washes.
     The researchers attribute this to round numbers feeling more stable. Researchers from University of Florida and National University of Singapore give a related explanation for their similar findings: Rounded numbers, like 10 or 200, are encountered in daily life more often than non-rounded numbers, like 9 or 203, and familiarity builds trust.
     This effect doesn’t apply as reliably to time quantities, such as for the duration of the benefit itself. For this second purpose, the use of fine-grained quotes has a different effect depending on the context. In a University of Michigan study, consumers chose between two GPS units, the first described as giving excellent guidance for two hours between recharges and the second, a somewhat more expensive unit, described as doing this for three hours. But for some of the study participants, the descriptions were stated in minutes instead of rounded hours. This made a difference. With the group given the estimates in rounded hours, 26% selected the less-expensive unit, while for the group given the estimates in the more fine-grained minutes, 57% chose the less-expensive unit.
     In a study producing different results, researchers at Ghent University in Belgium and Tilburg University in the Netherlands asked consumers to compare the advantages of a seven-year and a nine-year warranty on a retail item. To one group, the duration was stated as seven years compared to nine years. To another group, the identical duration was stated as 84 months compared to 108 months. Those consumers presented the months figures saw the difference between the warranties as larger than did the consumers hearing the comparison in years.
     The primary rule is to give time estimates in measurement units familiar to the shopper. Other research from Ghent University indicates that if you were to start talking about warranty lengths in hours or minutes or caffeine boost in fractions of a week, your shoppers would consider this odd enough to think less of the retail offering overall.

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

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