Once upon a time there may have been some connection between the cost of production for high cost items and similar products on the low end of the scale. These days that may not be true. We know that factories making generic cans of fruit and the like just retool to change the labels for the different brands.
When it comes to wine I know I have bought many bottles of reasonably expensive wine that were less enjoyable than some other bottles that I like which are much cheaper. But then I don't get any kick to my self esteem by buying wine that has a high price. Don't misunderstand, some more expensive wine is superb and well worth splashing out for on occasion. I think the lesson here is to make choices based on what you really like and not what you think you should like.
A few years ago a TV channel did a testing panel of champagne and champagne styles with some Melbourne Cup racegoers. Now this is a time of year when people like to drink some champagne and have fun. Many of the tasters were inclined to put strawberries into the champagne anyway so not exactly wine connoisseur. What transpired was that the favourite bottle of champagne turned out not to be a vintage French real McCoy, but a domestic dry bubbly that retailed for about $14.
Red Wine Price Versus Enjoyment Test
"We blind-tasted three cabernet sauvignon wines, one of which (the most expensive) was described by Wine Spectator as "extremely well done ... with style and panache." Our response was somewhat different."
Vox wrote an article on this you can find it here - Expensive wine is for suckers
It's little wonder then that research into human behaviour can allow marketers to use those same patterns of human behaviour to sell more products using psychological tricks to make us buy more, eat fast and get out of a fast food restaurant (it is no accident that fast food chains are all garish red and yellow colour combinations), buy the more expensive option or in some way affect our decisions around purchases.
This article on Mental Floss goes into some detail to show how menus presented a certain way will drive sales of particular items that might otherwise not be our first choice. They limit options, since more choice adds more confusion and can make it harder to make a choice at all.
Like this one:
"One way to encourage you to spend more money is by making price tags as inconspicuous as possible. “We get rid of dollar signs because that’s a pain point,” says Allen. “They remind people they’re spending money.” Instead of $12.00 for that club sandwich, you’re likely to see it listed as 12.00, or even just 12. One Cornell University study found that written-out prices (“twelve dollars”) also encourage guests to spend more. “Your pricing format will set the tone of the restaurant,” says Rapp. “So $9.95 I’ve found is a friendlier price than a $10, which has attitude to it.”
Packaging follows a similar strategy with "fresh" and images of rolling hills with contented cows in stylized artwork make us think of farms and rural life, that is nothing like the product it represents which many times may have no natural ingredients that came from anything like the image depicted.
Spoil Yourself Anyway
All this is not to say that there are not times when it is okay to splurge and some things really are worth a premium price. That vintage bottle that has been aged and stored for years in the right conditions to reach its peak right now when you buy it to drink may well be worth the extra price for what you get.
But if you can remember that price alone may not be an indicator of the product being worth that much, then you might start to discover some bargains that are just as enjoyable because they really do taste better to your palette.
After all. We are all unique and so too our taste can be out of step with those educated to prefer a particular style different from our own.
It's little wonder then that research into human behaviour can allow marketers to use those same patterns of human behaviour to sell more products using psychological tricks to make us buy more, eat fast and get out of a fast food restaurant (it is no accident that fast food chains are all garish red and yellow colour combinations), buy the more expensive option or in some way affect our decisions around purchases.
Shopping Is Like A Minefield
This article on Mental Floss goes into some detail to show how menus presented a certain way will drive sales of particular items that might otherwise not be our first choice. They limit options, since more choice adds more confusion and can make it harder to make a choice at all.
Like this one:
"One way to encourage you to spend more money is by making price tags as inconspicuous as possible. “We get rid of dollar signs because that’s a pain point,” says Allen. “They remind people they’re spending money.” Instead of $12.00 for that club sandwich, you’re likely to see it listed as 12.00, or even just 12. One Cornell University study found that written-out prices (“twelve dollars”) also encourage guests to spend more. “Your pricing format will set the tone of the restaurant,” says Rapp. “So $9.95 I’ve found is a friendlier price than a $10, which has attitude to it.”
Dotted lines leading from the menu item to its price are a cardinal sin of menu design. “That menu was introduced before modern typesetting,” says Allen. “It was a way of keeping the page looking properly formatted, but what happens is the guest reads down the right side of the menu and then looks to the left to see what the lower price point can afford them.” The solution?“Nested” pricing, or listing the price discretely after the meal description in the same size font, so your eyes just glide right over it. "
Planned Environments
The way stores feel, the temperature to which the climate control is set, the light levels, the music that is playing in the background, even the visual cues like fresh flowers at the entrance to the grocery store are not there to sell flowers but rather to get you geared up to buy the fruit and vegetables you will find when you pass them and enter the store. Welcome to Neuromarketing.Packaging follows a similar strategy with "fresh" and images of rolling hills with contented cows in stylized artwork make us think of farms and rural life, that is nothing like the product it represents which many times may have no natural ingredients that came from anything like the image depicted.
Spoil Yourself Anyway
All this is not to say that there are not times when it is okay to splurge and some things really are worth a premium price. That vintage bottle that has been aged and stored for years in the right conditions to reach its peak right now when you buy it to drink may well be worth the extra price for what you get.
But if you can remember that price alone may not be an indicator of the product being worth that much, then you might start to discover some bargains that are just as enjoyable because they really do taste better to your palette.
After all. We are all unique and so too our taste can be out of step with those educated to prefer a particular style different from our own.
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