juneryhq

“Down Down” just went down in court.

The trick behind it is old. Show someone a price drop and their brain doesn’t judge the number. It judges the gap. The bigger the gap between old price and new, the bigger the deal feels.

That only works if the old price is real. Coles raised prices on hundreds of products, then dropped them back down and called it a discount. The gap was fake. The psychology still worked on shoppers. A federal judge ruled it worked a little too well.

Anchoring isn’t the problem. A fake anchor is.

Next time you set a “was” price, ask if it would survive a courtroom.

(junery)