Page 66 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

66 CHAPTER 4 INFLUENCING THE MESSY MIDDLE

While handing out freebies and upgrades worked well with expensive
transactions, the power of free also proved itself with lower-cost, everyday
purchases. A buy-one-get-one-free (BOGOF) offer was the second most
effective expression of a bias in transferring brand preference in the detergent
category, while free popcorn at the cinema also achieved a second-place result.

In the short-haul flights category, we see an interesting example of how
biases sometimes combine, with a free checked bags offer both expressing
the power of free and an important category heuristic (figure 11). This

is an issue to which our simulation participants obviously brought a lot
of baggage, as the offer proved the most powerful expression of any
behavioural bias in the category.

Figure 11

1st choice brand 2nd choice brand

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100 36 63
75

50 64

25 37

0
Stated 1st choice brand Introduction of 2nd choice brand 2nd choice + stronger expression of power of free

Power of free executions tested: “free checked luggage” and “free hot drink”. Transfer of preference from first
choice to second choice brand – “power of free” analysis, short-haul flight category.

Source: Google / The Behavioural Architects. 10,000 simulated short-haul flight purchase scenarios. n=1,000 category buyers, UK online shoppers, aged 18–65.