Persuasive Advertising - J. Scott Armstrong [44]
Imagine that you are lying on the beach on a hot day, and all you have to drink is water. For the last hour you have been thinking about how much you would enjoy a nice cold bottle of your favorite beer. A friend gets up to go make a phone call and offers to bring back a beer from the only nearby place where beer is sold—stated for half of the subjects as a fancy resort hotel and for the other half as a small, run-down grocery store. He says that the beer might be expensive, and asks how much you are willing to pay for it. He will only buy the beer if it costs as much as or less than the price you state. You trust your friend, and there is no possibility of bargaining with the bartender or the storeowner. What price would you tell him if the beer was from the fancy resort, and what price if from the run-down grocery store?
1.5.2. Feature a sales channel when it is impressive
Clark’s, a U.K. shoe manufacturer, wanted to turn its desert boots into a fashion statement. It hired a renowned photographer, Helmut Newton, and took his ad photos of the boots to fancy shops in London such as Woodhouse, Jones, and Harrods, to ask if the boots could be advertised as being sold there. They agreed and these locations served as endorsements. This low-budget, successful campaign received an IPA Advertising Effectiveness award (Feldwick 1990).
Featuring an impressive sales channel (e.g., store or location) is especially important for high-status products. An impressive sales channel also builds on the issue of fairness: People are willing to pay more because the seller’s costs are higher.
When selling exclusive high-status goods, such as clothing, advertise that they are available only at fine stores, such as one located on Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles. The buyer can tell her friends about the shopping event and enjoy the clothes more because of that.
Another example: In a Wall Street Journal ad in 2004, Cartier advertised its watches by using a photograph of its store located on “Fifth Avenue at 52nd Street” in New York City. The photo covered about half of the quarter-page ad.
When Sears merged with Kmart in 2005, Nike pulled its products from Sears stores. Nike did not want its brand to be associated with a low-price, high-volume store which it felt would reflect poorly on its image.
Evidence on the effects of advertising the channel of distribution
Now let’s look at the results for the beach-beer problem. On average, subjects were willing to pay 73 percent more if the beer came from the fancy resort hotel than from the run-down grocery. They believed it was fair to pay more because the sellers’ costs are higher (Thaler 1985).
Similar findings were obtained in a lab study involving subjects who were asked what would be a fair price for a brass picture frame being sold in a gift store before or after the store was remodeled. They stated a higher price for the picture frame purchased from the remodeled store (Grewal and Baker 1994).
Do you like Absolut Vodka for its taste or because it comes in a nice bottle?
1.5.3. Use the package to enhance the product
If you can’t sell the product, sell the package.
Old adage
In early 1978, in preparing for an advertising pitch in New York, Gunnar Broman, from Stockholm, brought some bottles that had a medicinal appearance. Those at the meeting agreed that it would not matter what vodka was put into the bottles; it would become a success. Thus, Absolut was born (Hamilton 2000).
The design and quality of the packaging can help to communicate product features such as safety, freshness, size, and portability. It can enhance the image of a product. The Absolut Vodka bottle conveyed an image of drinking strong alcohol in a socially acceptable manner.
Assume that a customer is concerned about receiving a product quickly after having ordered it on August 10. Should you give a delivery date (e.g., September 10) or