סמינר בשיווק

Steven Dallas, PhD candidate, NYU

 Abstract:

We examine how consumers respond to pseudo free offers—offers that are framed to consumers as free, but have real costs for them. Across six studies, we find that consumers respond to pseudo free offers as if they have no costs. When presented with an offer that is framed as “free” but has a real cost—such as being forced to download an airport’s app, complete a five minute survey, or attend a day-long sales presentation—consumers are significantly more likely to accept the offer than a comparable non-free offer, even when the cost of the pseudo free offer exceeds its benefit. We provide evidence that this happens because consumers naturally tend to make positive attributions for why the firm makes these offers. However, when consumers make negative attributions regarding the pseudo free offer because they are dispositionally suspicious (study 3) or induced to make negative attributions (study 5), the pseudo free effect disappears, and consumers’ preference for pseudo free offers is reduced.