Wednesday, December 17, 2008

The Psychology Of Selling.


Last night I was stocking ice cream. On the Blue Bunny package they have added a new blurb that says "More scoops." The fine print says 15% more than a 1.5 quart container. Really? That is amazing. You have more scoops because the package is bigger. What they don't tell you is you are not saving any money. The price per ounce is almost identical to the smaller package. Manufacturers love to do this kind of thing. Read all blurbs closely. Now if the package reads 50% more free, you are getting a bargain. This is done periodically by certain companies. The others are done hoping you will see the big print but not the fine print. Illegal? No. Unethical? The argument could be made but I wouldn't qualify as that. It is the same as advertising. With so much out there they want you to buy their product over the competition. It is the same as advertising or even the pictures on the package. When you fix something does it look like that picture? What matters the most is the taste of the product. After all, are you going to look at it or eat it?

Another thing that they do is instead of increasing the price they make the package smaller. They figure you won't pay more so instead they just give you less. We saw a lot of this a few months ago when gas prices were getting so crazy. Again it is just a sound business principle. They have to make money and will do what it takes to do that. Grocery does not have that large of a profit margin and they have to do what it takes to keep their product available. If it quits selling, the stores will find something that does.

3 comments:

glenn shawgo said...

Now Howie, you no there is no profit margarine......
Cousin Glenn

glenn shawgo said...

Oops...should have been "know" instead of "no"...

Jinxo56 said...

OK. We are even. I fixed that mistake. I have got to get a better editor.