Offer Clarity with Percentages Over 100

Southern Methodist University marketing professors Matthew Fisher and Milica Mormann write that a Black+Decker vacuum cleaner claims to last “125% longer” than competitors’. Their objective in reporting this is not to sell us the item, but rather to caution that people often misinterpret such a benefits statement to mean the vacuum lasts 25% longer than the competition. Off by 100%!
     It's an example of how shoppers generally have difficulty correctly mentally manipulating percentages. It’s also an example of specifically how, in this case, there’s a confusion between “125% of the length,” which does add only 25%, and “125% more than the length,” which requires thinking about the typical length of the competitors’ vacuum cleaner life span and then thinking about how different that would be when doubling it plus adding another 25% of the competitors’ typical length. Complicated!
     Use of percentages somewhat higher than 100 was shown by the researchers to do more damage than cancelling out the advantage of large differences in benefits. They make the benefit look inferior to a statement using a percentage somewhat lower than 100. Consumers told of a 102% increase judged it to be of smaller magnitude than did another group of consumers told of a 98% increase. It operates in the other direction, too. Consumers told a phone used 108% more power than their current phone expressed greater interest in purchasing the phone than did the group told the phone used 92% more power.
     The researchers suggest using a multiplier term instead of a percentage when the difference is over 100%. The “125% more” becomes “2.25 times as much,” or better yet, in my opinion because of simplicity, “More than twice as much!”
     Another option is to present the actual numbers along with the percentage. Usually, percentages are easier than raw frequencies for shoppers to understand and remember. If ease of comprehension is important, the percentage format offers advantages. This would be especially true if your statement has lots of elements aside from the frequencies themselves. Also, including a percentage greater than 100 in marketing messages does indicate an impressive difference. Still, to ensure the awe, give actual numbers in addition to the percentage.
     Then, to maintain credibility as well as clarity, double-check your calculations. The Southern Methodist University researchers report a benefits statement for a Toto toilet: “Wide 3-inch flush valve is 125-percent larger than conventional 2-inch flush valves.” Flawed math!

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