Shoppers Are Suckers For Stats
From gigahertz to bogomips, dot pitch to DPI, it’s hard to exist in the electronics age without getting bombarded by figures that are supposed to help you understand what, precisely, you’re getting for your money.
But really, how many of us understand the implications of a few extra megahertz in the memory interface on a graphics card? A study released by the Journal of Consumer Research suggests it doesn’t really matter: everyone just wants bigger numbers.
As the researchers found, it doesn’t even matter if those numbers don’t line up with personal experience, or even if they’re completely made up.
The research was focused on the gap between how we perceive an item based on experience, and how we view the item based on what we know about it.
For example, we can have experience using a digital camera, and think it takes great pictures; in marketing jargon, this is termed a “hedonic preference,” which the authors parenthetically defined as “liking.”
The first test involved megapixels. The authors took a single image, and used Photoshop to create a sharper version, and one with more vivid colors; they told the students that the two versions came from different cameras. When told nothing about the cameras, about 25 percent of the students chose the one that had made the sharper image.
The paper wraps up with advice for both marketers and consumers. For marketers, the message was simple: if your product doesn’t already have some numeric measure associated with it, try to find one and popularize it.
For consumers, the authors suggest that the only real solution is to try to put numbers out of their heads, and get hands-on time with the product before making a choice.
Photo by surely.
Jaclyn on October 29th, 2008 1:14 pm
This isn’t true with everyone-not realizing what the clerks at stores are talking about in terms of megapixels, megabytes, etc. Like myself…i am big into computers along with my mother, and we do know the difference it will make to have more megabytes, or more ram in our computer. not everyone is just into bigger numbers, in fact when it come’s especially to computers…it is my experience that almost everyone know’s at least one computer “geek” who know’s everything about computers and advises on exactly what they want before going into a store.
Viriya on October 29th, 2008 7:46 pm
This is not true for everyone but it is prominent nowadays
Marketers try to digitalise the message. Once a brand say one, the other must say two (or in some case, zero!) and you’ll win.
I know marketers are smart and they know this kind of game will often lead to lose-lose situation. You need more investment on research and more ads expense.
But most consumers are drawn to the number game because they have short attention span and 2 is more than 1. They have less time to evaluate many factors and features but there’s a way.
For marketers, talk to the product development team more and if you think you talk much already, talk more or even join the team. Develop a product that speaks for itself.
Who cares if the other mp3 player brand has double the capacity of iPod?
For consumers, yes, take the numbers out of your head and buy from your gut, trust your feeling. If it does not work the way you want, out it in eBay!
cassy on November 8th, 2008 11:00 pm
When im not particular with a thing, example I want to buy a new computer and I dont know what kind or brand is best, I ask advice to trusted people who knows best about computers. Its better to ask than pretending you know everything.
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