Psychologist and behavioural economist, Dan Ariely, and colleague Kristina Shampan’er examined the power of the word FREE. They undertook a series of experiments involving two scenarios: Scenario 1 – a quality chocolate priced at 15 cents and a cheaper chocolate priced at 1 cent Scenario 2 – a quality chocolate priced at 14 cents and […]

Psychologist and behavioural economist, Dan Ariely, and colleague Kristina Shampan’er examined the power of the word FREE. They undertook a series of experiments involving two scenarios: Scenario 1 – a quality chocolate priced at 15 cents and a cheaper chocolate priced at 1 centScenario 2 – a quality chocolate priced at 14 cents and a cheaper chocolate priced FREE In the first scenario, the quality chocolate significantly outsold the cheaper one. In scenario 2, sales of the cheaper chocolate significantly exceeded the quality product. This was despite the fact that: The same chocolates were used in both scenariosThe price difference was identical in both scenarios This experiment provides a compelling insight into the power of the word FREE and the concept behind it. Surprising or not, this finding also demonstrated: The fact that human beings are irrationalThe power of consumer insight research Volumes have been written on consumer insights gathered…