The decoy effect: how consumers are influenced to choose without really knowing it
Gary Mortimer considers some real world applications of one of marketing’s favourite tricks – the decoy effect – in this crossposting from The Conversation.
Price is the most delicate element of the marketing mix, and much thought goes into setting prices to nudge us towards spending more. There’s one particularly cunning type of pricing strategy to get consumers to switch from one option to a more expensive or profitable one.
It’s called the decoy effect.
Imagine you are shopping for a Nutribullet blender. You see two options. The cheaper one, at $89, promotes 900 watts of power and a five-piece accessory kit. The more expensive one, at $149, is 1,200 watts and has 12 accessories.
