Advertising Is Good For You

How restaurants get you to spend more

Marketing research has proved that restaurant goers will spend more if the menu shows prices as numerals without dollar signs or forgoes numerals altogether and spells out the prices.

Why?

The researchers are assuming that dollar signs serve to promote thrift by reminding restaurant customers that they're spending money.

And spelling out the prices makes doing math in one's head more difficult, thereby discouraging diners from focusing on how much they will be spending.

I know this is the kind of thing that makes many consumers hate advertising. Personally, I find it fascinating. It's tidbits like this that inspired me to study advertising/marketing.

Image source:  Jenny Downing            Source: The Consumerist

Most popular cents-off coupons

According to coupons.com, the ten most popular online coupon categories printed in April were:

1. Cereal

2. Baking ingredients

3. Entertainment

4. Nutrition and diet

5. Bathroom tissue

6. Eye care

7. Soap and body wash

8. Feminine hygiene

9. Pizza

10. Juice

 

In case you didn't know, coupons.com is a site from which consumers can print manufacturer coupons for savings on popular name-brand products.

The average American consumer has less than 50% of holiday shopping completed

What's more, 41 million consumers have yet to even start their holiday shopping.

My guess is people are waiting for retailers to mark down their prices even more -- which they will almost certainly do.

Read more at cnn.com.

Image: Saquan Stimpson at flickr

Even call girl rings use marketing

Don Imus had New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd on his radio show yesterday. I caught the tail end of a conversation about the Eliot Spitzer scandal.

Ms. Dowd was referring to a report that the prostitute Spitzer is alleged to have hired bills out at a premium rate. At $5,500 per hour, her rate is much higher than that of most of the other prostitutes offered by the escort service that employs her.

I remember reading about that and wondering what was so special about this woman that she gets to charge extra. Is it her looks? Her masterful technique? Her willingness to experiment?

Thankfully, Ms. Dowd had wondered the same thing. So she asked her contacts in law enforcement and others in-the-know, what 'added value' did this prostitute offer that allowed her to charge extra? The answer was, nothing. Customers just assume they're getting better service when they pay extra.

Ka-ching.

This is a screen grab from the website of the escort service that Spitzer allegedly used. Don't bother googling for it; it's been disabled.

Do, however, notice that it was obviously created by professionals -- professional advertising/marketing people, that is.

An organization that's able to charge top dollar for its services was also smart enough not to ask their neighbor's sister's talented teenage nephew to create its website.

Top Ten Consumer Fraud Complaints, according to the FTC

The Federal Trade Commission today released it's list of top consumer complaint categories for 2007. Here it is, beginning with the reason for the largest number of consumer complaints:

1    Identity Theft   
2    Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales   
3    Internet Services   
4    Foreign Money Offers
5    Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries 
6    Computer Equipment and Software 
7    Internet Auctions   
8    Health Care Claims
9    Travel, Vacations, and Timeshares 
10    Advance-Fee Loans and Credit Protection/Repair
11    Investments   
12    Magazines and Buyers Clubs 
13    Business Opportunities and Work-at-Home Plans 
14    Real Estate (Not Timeshares) 
15    Office Supplies and Services 
16    Telephone Services   
17    Employ. Agencies/Job Counsel/Overseas Work   
18    Debt Management/Credit Counseling   
19    Multi-Level Mktg./Pyramids/Chain Letters   
20    Charitable Solicitations

Source: FTC

Subliminal nodding

Boing Boing has an interesting post on how a waiter's nod can encourage customers to purchase a particular item (presumably the most expensive item on the menu).

Image: suckamc

Two surprising facts about people who read financial news online

More than 50% of people who read online financial news are 45 years old or older.

4.13% of people who read online financial news are 17 years old or younger.

Source: Media Post's Center for Media Research

Lots of people have DVRs but they're not using them much

According to a survey reported by Media Post's Center for Media Reseach:

• One in every thirteen US households has a DVD
• However, 95% of TV viewing continues to be live

Americans watch an average 8+ hours of TV per day.

Click image to enlarge.

Source: The Economist

Knocking a penny off a $10 price tag STILL works to increase sales.

I'm almost embarrassed to be writing about this... It seems such a schlocky topic. Yet it's fascinating, too, that our brains can be so easily snookered.

According to Marlene Jensen, author of Pricing Psychology Report, $9.99 is perceived by our brains as being much lower than $10. So much so that dropping a price from $10 to $9.99 typically results in 10% to 20% more sales.

As for all you people who think evil advertisers trick the poor innocent public into buying things, please remember that you read about this 99¢ thing on the Internet where the information is available to anyone with a PC or a library card.

On a typical weekday, Americans spend 40% of their spare time online.

That's according to a new report from Media-Screen.

The report also says that sending email and visiting websites for personal reasons are more popular than watching TV.

Source: Media Post's Center for Media Research

Apparently, no one is taking the freebie sports bottles being given away every day at American trade shows.

Whenever I'm brainstorming premium ideas with a client, someone invariably suggests giving away sports bottles emblazoned with the client's logo. I'm always against this idea. My reasoning has been that no one wants them and no one uses them; I always assumed Americans prefer the convenience of simply buying another plastic bottle of water when they need another drink rather than going through the hassle of rinsing and refilling a reusable bottle.

Sadly, I was right.

This photo shows 2.5 million plastic bottles, the same number used in the U.S. EVERY HOUR.

Source: BoingBoing

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In another albeit less shocking example of waste, Consumerist reports that grocery store delivery service FreshDirect has a habit of wasting cardboard, as in the case of this pound of butter FreshDirect packed and mailed in this absurdly large box.

Why do advertisers get away with it?

The people behind Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality have done what I've always thought about doing -- and they posted the results.

Their website compares photos of how certain fast foods look in ads and how they look in real life.

You remember the bowl of saturated and trans fats known as KFC Famous Bowls? First is the advertising version; below it is what you get when you actually buy a KFC Famous Bowl...

I think most consumers understand and aren't bothered by a little difference between the food in an ad and the real thing. After all, the food in the ads was fussed over by a team of stylists and photographer's assistants, while the food you get to eat was most likely prepared by someone making minimum wage.

But a discrepancy like the above example?

Yet, for the record, the popularity of KFC Famous Bowls is making a mint for KFC.

And THAT answers the question, Why do advertisers get away with it?

For more -- though less dramatic --  examples, visit  Fast Food: Ads vs. Reality.