The decoy effect is a widely used marketing tactic employed by sellers of all types, ranging from large corporations to street vendors, to entice customers into purchasing more expensive products instead of their cheaper alternatives. This clever strategy involves manipulating the consumer’s buying preferences by introducing a “decoy” product into the product lineup, strategically priced to make the more expensive option appear as a better value.
Let’s consider a scenario at the movie theater to illustrate the decoy effect better. You are presented with two choices: a small bucket of popcorn priced at $5 or a large bucket priced at $10. At first glance, the large bucket may seem overpriced compared to the small one. However, if a medium-sized bucket of popcorn is added to the options, priced at $9, suddenly, the large bucket starts to appear more reasonable.
This is because the comparison is no longer solely between the small and large buckets but rather between the intentionally overpriced medium and large buckets. In this way, the negative sentiment initially associated with the large bucket is shifted towards the medium bucket, which serves as the decoy. While the small bucket remains a good value, the presence of the decoy makes the buyer more inclined to choose the large bucket over the small one.
Alternatively, there might be an even larger extra-large bucket available for $15, which would make the $10 large bucket seem more reasonable. Based on the given text, the discussion seems to revolve around the decoy effect in marketing and its impact on consumer behavior. However, the last paragraph of the text appears unrelated to the topic and instead discusses the value of paying extra for premium features in the context of the iPhone 14. It suggests that, for most people, paying extra for these features may not be justified as they are not essential and do not significantly enhance the user experience.
Related Stories:
https://medium.com/@contentkuba/the-tricks-apple-uses-to-fool-you-into-buying-more-9b1ecbe80a3c
https://www.8ways.ch/en/digital-news/6-techniques-apple-uses-influence-you
https://www.makeuseof.com/how-apple-uses-the-decoy-effect/
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