Desirable Difficulty Example: McDonald’s
Sometimes making things easy for the buyer is the right idea. But there are times when you want to make things a little hard. And it has everything to do with buyer psychology.
Tale Of Two Barber Shops
For years I’ve been going to the same barber shop and getting my hair cut by the same person, Dana. Their service has never been complaint worthy but I’ve always found them a little expensive. The accountant looking over my transaction history has no way to knowing I am dissatisfied, all he sees are monthly transactions of $25 through a …
Chirstmas Gift Finder
Alfred Dunhill started playing with their eCommerce environment last year and they have already unearthed a pretty neat and engaging interface. Click on the image below to see the ‘live’ tool: Not everything about the gift predictor is perfect though: the interface is heavy, they don’t mention price and matches are a little weak but all in all, it’s a …
Is There A Thing Known As Too Many SKUs?
OfficeMax discovered that by keeping too many products in their store they started losing margins because associates were spending inordinate amounts of time helping customers find products. More choice was causing lower satisfaction levels (an idea eloquently described in ‘The Paradox of Choice’). Does this apply online too?
What Heinz Discovered
Marketers who understand buyer psychology can dramatically improve conversion rates. This is possibly my favorite buyer psychology story and it comes from Heinz, the ketchup brand.