Reading Time: 1 Minute
Hey all, this post is a video version of my most recent post (read here).
From a lot of the feedback I’ve received from the earlier post, I thought – it’s gotta be deserving of a video!
Hope you guys enjoy:
Transcript:
OK so did you buy anything from the Black Friday Sales? What about Cyber Monday?
If yes, chances are you’ve fallen for one of those tricky marketing tactics retailers use to make us part with our hard earned.
I felt compelled to do this video, because I think it’s super important we are all aware of the most common tactics used against us, as consumers, to spend.
Visual Pricing
This is where the aim is to minimize the appearance of the price.
For example, stores will price at $9.99 instead of $10.00, or label a product as “buy-one-get-one free” rather than 50% off. It can also be removing a comma to make a price seem lower e.g. $1,699 vs $1699
Intentional Language
This is where a good writer comes in handy, with words such as “exclusivity”, “premium”, “limited edition” typically used to position a product in a more appealing way.
Further, it could also mean using words related to a small amount.
E.g. words like “low maintenance” are more appealing than “high performance” even though we value both.
Brick-and-Mortar
A store’s layout is more deliberately chosen than you realize.
Having bright and colourful entrances to entice you to come in, playing slow tempo music, or putting essential items at the back of the store are all tricks to try and influence our behaviour.
You ever notice we have to wade through the chips and lollies just to get to the Milk at the back of Coles and Woolies?
Urgency
A false sense of urgency and phase-out discounts are included in this category.
If we believe we might miss out on a deal, we’re more likely to buy.
This includes descriptions like “only 3 seats left on this flight!” or “500 people have bought this product already” or “very limited stock”.
Compare and Contrast
The most common method is contrast in sales prices, e.g. “Was $50, now $30”.
Alternatively, you might have 3 items for sale, the small, medium and large.
The small might be priced at $3, the medium at $5 and large $5.50 – most people would go for the large as it is only 50c more expensive than the medium, the medium size is only there to boost the sales of the large.
Influencers
Nowadays, as we become more digital, influencer marketing is becoming more prominent.
Recently, I saw Miranda Kerr pop up on my Facebook feed about some kind of make-up or rather. I felt OBLIGED to click, on what I have no idea, but hey… Miranda Kerr.
Haha, anyway look, to be fair to the marketers, I’m sure in our heart of hearts we all know these tactics they use, one way or another.
We’ve probably fallen prey to many of these, I know I have when I bought some women’s makeup recommended by Miranda Kerr.
To be honest I could go on and on, but I’m sure there’s an Advertiser handbook for Dummy Consumers out there somewhere. Hope you enjoyed the video!
Did you enjoy this post? If yes, put your email in and click on the little “subscribe” button at the top right. You’ll also receive a free copy of the Complete Aussie FIRE e-book – The Ultimate Guide to Financial Independence for Australians.
Or you can follow me here:
