The contrast principle

*I wasn't going to write more about this psychology, but since one person (Lillian) found it to be interesting, I shall continue.  My goal was two people, but oh well, one is good enough.

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If you were a sales person, would you show your customers expensive items first and move down the price range, or would you show them cheap items first and move up the ladder?

Before I go on, this is how the contrast principle works:  If you put your hand in a hot water first, and then put it in a lukewarm water, the water will feel as if it's much colder than it really is (relative to the hot water), but if you put your hand in a cold water first and then put it in a lukewarm water, you will be led to believe that the lukewarm water is actually much hotter than it really is.  Quite obvious right?

But what is super interesting is when you have a person put one hand in hot water and the other in cold water, and then have them put both hands in the same bucket of lukewarm water.  Logic tells them that the water is lukewarm, while their emotions tell them that it's not. 

So back to the sales question - what should you do?  Show the customers the expensive items first of course.  If they buy it, good.  If they reject it, then show them the cheaper item next.  They are more likely to buy the product, because the item will seem much cheaper than it really is - just like how the lukewarm water seemed to be colder after hot water.   



This is actually a real method utilized my many salespersons.  For example, a real estate company usually has bunch of "setup" properties, where they show their customers bunch of shady looking houses at a high price.  They never will sell these properties; it's just there for show.  After their customers have looked at couple of  "setups," the agent takes them to real houses on the market.  After watching bunch of dumpster like houses, the customers' eyes light up, even at a mediocre house at a decent price at best.







Still don't believe me?  Read this letter by a first year college student.  It's quite long, but it's worth it, I promise.


Dear Mother and Dad,

Since I left for college I have been remiss in writing and I am sorry for my thoughtlessness in not having written before.  I will bring you up to date now, but before you read on, please sit down.  You are not to read any further unless you are sitting down, okay?

Well, then, I am getting along pretty well now.  The skull fracture and the concussion I got when I jumped out the window of my dormitory when it caught on fire shortly after my arrival here is pretty well healed now.  I only spent two weeks in the hospital and now I can see almost normally and only get those sick headaches once a day.  Fortunately, the fire in the dormitory, and my jump, was witnessed by an attendant at the gas station near the dorm, and he was the one who called the Fire Department and the ambulance.  He also visited me in the hospital and since I had nowhere to live because of the burnt-out dormitory, he was kind enough to invite me to share his apartment with him.  It's really a basement room, but it's kind of cute.  He is a very fine boy, and we have fallen deeply in love and are planning to get married.  We haven't set the exact date yet, but it will be before my pregnancy begins to show.

Yes, Mother and Dad, I am pregnant.  I know how much you are looking forward to being grandparents and I know you will welcome the baby and give it the same love and devotion and tender care you gave me when I was a child.  The reason for the delay in our marriage is that my boyfriend has a minor infection which prevents us from passing our premarital blood tests and I carelessly caught it from him.  I know that you will welcome him into our family with open arms.  He is kind and, although not well educated, he is ambitious.

Now that I have brought you up to date, I want to tell you that there was no dormitory fire, I did not have a concussion or skull fracture, I was not in the hospital, I am not pregnant, I am not engaged, I am not infected, and there is no boyfriend.  However, I am getting a "D" in American History and an "F" in Chemistry, and I want you to see those marks in their proper perspective. 

Your loving Daughter,

Sharon

(from Influence, Science and Practice, p. 14)












Car dealers will often charge you 150 dollars for a mat that you can buy for $15 at Pep Boys.  Why?  Because after dealing with tens of thousands of dollars, 150 dollars doesn't seem at all important to a customer.  Of course, before you know it, all those small little options will have ballooned out of proportion. 

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From my personal experience, the contrast principle works - actually, it works very well on most people.  This is the strategy I exploited over and over while playing Monopoly.  I would first ask 1,400 for a property I would be content to trade for 800.  Most people would bargain to may be a thousand, and few would ever realize the meaning of my smirk after the deal is made.  The trick is not to over ask to a degree where they think you're crazy, or you're trying to severely rip them off. 

And for fundraisers?  Are you selling those dollar-a-piece candy bars?  offer them a useless, $25 item first, like a candle or something.  When they refuse, ask them to at least buy a friggin candy bar.  A dollar will seem like nothing after a $25 dollar candle.  At least you can eat it you know? 

Oh and after you've sold all your candy bars?  return the candles - with the original packaging untouched of course.