Black Hat Methods Of Influence And Mind Manipulation

[FleshJoe]

Hi there, I didn't invent any of this myself, just quoting from a blog I read.

So this is not really black hat, but knowing this will give you a huge advantage over other people. Let me demonstrate by example w/o at first explaining what is going on:

Suppose you land on a web page that is selling you an ebook. The following is the price structure:

* Ebook: $47
* Ebook + MP3 seminar: $97

Which one will you choose?

Now let's change things around. You land on the same web page where they're trying to sell you the ebook, but now you see the following offers:

* Ebook: $47
* MP3 seminar: $91
* Ebook + seminar: $97

Which one are you likely to choose?

Studies show that in the first pricing structure, most people spring for the $47 item, whereas in the second pricing structure, a larger percentage of people buy the $97 item. Why? Because the $97 combo offer has a high perceived value, you get a $47 item and a $91 item for "only" $97...

This method of pricing is called "the decoy offer". The MP3 seminar for $91 is only there to raise the perceived value of the $97 price point. Is the MP3 by itself really worth $91? And does the marketer who made this page really expect to sell any of the standalone MP3s at that price point? No way -- theyre just trying to manipulate you into spending more money.

Just thought this was interesting enough to bring up here. While we're all concerned here about dominating this and hacking that, controlling the mind of the buyer and molding the buying process to go where we want it to is *THE* most profitable "blackhat" method of all.

Discuss and comment:

 

[premiumsource]

That's very interesting. I must admit, that's a nice trick.

Hi there, I didn't invent any of this myself, just quoting from a blog I read.

So this is not really black hat, but knowing this will give you a huge advantage over other people. Let me demonstrate by example w/o at first explaining what is going on:

Suppose you land on a web page that is selling you an ebook. The following is the price structure:

* Ebook: $47
* Ebook + MP3 seminar: $97

Which one will you choose?

Now let's change things around. You land on the same web page where they're trying to sell you the ebook, but now you see the following offers:

* Ebook: $47
* MP3 seminar: $91
* Ebook + seminar: $97

Which one are you likely to choose?

Studies show that in the first pricing structure, most people spring for the $47 item, whereas in the second pricing structure, a larger percentage of people buy the $97 item. Why? Because the $97 combo offer has a high perceived value, you get a $47 item and a $91 item for "only" $97...

This method of pricing is called "the decoy offer". The MP3 seminar for $91 is only there to raise the perceived value of the $97 price point. Is the MP3 by itself really worth $91? And does the marketer who made this page really expect to sell any of the standalone MP3s at that price point? No way -- theyre just trying to manipulate you into spending more money.

Just thought this was interesting enough to bring up here. While we're all concerned here about dominating this and hacking that, controlling the mind of the buyer and molding the buying process to go where we want it to is *THE* most profitable "blackhat" method of all.

Discuss and comment:

 

[gifmore]

Heh, fleshjoe,

Except that mp3 or audio files in general, make it very difficult for a person to skim through the material; zoom to sections or paragraphs that you want to read, or pick out important URLs...... etc.

I figure access to the information in an mp3 is serial, it has to be 1 segment after another, whereas in a PDF, you can access the info in parallel e.g. read page 23 and look at the index page at about the same time

That's why in my case, if I have the choice of just getting the PDF without the mp3, I'd go for it in a heartbeat

Just my 2 cents worth

Cheerio

 

[jazz99]

Interesting and yes generally true. It's like buying 1 tee-shirt for $7.99 or getting 2 for $10. Most people will spring for $10.

 

[MontyzPython]

Unless, like gifmore said, you hate sitting through audio or video.

Still, I realize that was just an example. You could do e-book volume I = $29, e-book volume II = $29, both volumes together = $39 or something.

 

[gifmore]

Guilty... this tactic, I've been sold on

Unless, like gifmore said, you hate sitting through audio or video.

Still, I realize that was just an example. You could do e-book volume I = $29, e-book volume II = $29, both volumes together = $39 or something.

 

[Syed_Ikhwan]

yes, i agreed with you. it is the term of physiology of price.