By Kelly Spors
In today’s recession, many small businesses may think it’s wise to tie their marketing to money and value to appeal to cash-strapped consumers. But perhaps they should tie it to something else of considerable value: time.
A new study by researchers at Stanford Business School, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, found that it’s generally far more lucrative for businesses to reference time and personal experiences in their marketing than focusing on monetary value.
“Because a person’s experience with a product tends to foster feelings of personal connection with it, referring to time typically leads to more favorable attitudes—and to more purchases,” says Jennifer Aaker, a Stanford marketing professor and one of the co-authors of the study, according to an article on Stanford’s Web site. One example the researchers point to is Miller beer’s “It’s Miller Time” – compared to say Stella Artois’s “Perfection has its price.”
To test their theory, the researchers set up a lemonade stand — staffed by two six-year-olds for authenticity — and tested the effect of three different signs. The first sign said “Spend a little time and enjoy C&D’s lemonade.” The second one said “Spend a little money and enjoy C&D’s lemonade.” And the third one said “Enjoy C&D’s lemonade.” Customers were asked to pay any amount between $1 and $3 for a cup of lemonade and then were questioned afterward about their impressions of the lemonade.
The experiment showed that the sign that stressed time brought in twice as many passersby who ultimately paid twice as much than when the signing stressing money was posted. Those customers who bought with the sign mentioning time also reported liking the lemonade more than the others.
In another experiment, the researchers asked college students about their Apple iPods. One group was asked how much time they spent on it and another group on how much money. Those asked about time expressed liking their iPod a lot more than those asked about the money spent on it.
The researchers uncovered one exception to the rule. When companies market items purchased for prestige, such as luxury cars, jewelry or designer jeans, focusing on the monetary value can be more effective than time and experience. They think it’s because the owners value just owning those products more than the time spent with them.
So what are the takeaways for real businesses? Prof. Aaker told Stanford GSB News that the results suggest businesses should spend more time thinking about how their product or service improves the lives and happiness of their customers and draw their advertising and marketing campaigns around those attributes rather than tying marketing to money.
But even just using the word “time” in marketing, and steering clear of mentioning money, can make a difference. “In the context of a real business, conducted among a variety of consumers, this experiment shows that merely mentioning time rather than money in a product’s marketing materials can make the very same product more alluring and better liked,” the authors note.
Readers, have you found focusing on time and experience is more effective than focusing on low cost or value?
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