Payment logic: Why should users give you money?

In this world, it is not easy for a person to make money. So, when he pays the bill, he always has to find a reason to make him pay voluntarily.

The most difficult thing is to get people to take money out of their own pockets. Users are the most savvy people, and "pay" is the word that is most likely to make them alert. The more you want them to pay for products and services, the more they will keep a close eye on their wallet balances. It seems that all behaviors that seek benefits for users are delusional.

However, no matter who you are, you are performing economic activities of one kind or another every day. We can regard users as a collection of demands or as an active pool of funds. The only question is whether there is an outlet for funds to flow to you.

The answer to the question is: if you can grasp the payment logic, then payment will not only become easy, but it will even be difficult to prevent users from paying.

According to the difference between products (services) before and after payment, they can be divided into two types:

• Free payment means that there will be no substantial return after payment.
• Paid payment means that the products (services) obtained before and after payment are different.

Paying without asking for anything in return

Let’s talk about the first type first. This is a payment behavior in which the user knows in advance that there will be no return. If the user does not know this in advance, it is a scam and is not within the scope of this article. You might be wondering how this could possibly work?

In fact, such forms are not uncommon. Rewards, sponsorships, donations, etc. all belong to this category, and the payment logic of this form is based on user psychology.

As I wrote before, "How to Use the Other Party's Ideas to Persuade the Other Party" and "Psychological Routines that Make Users Can't Stop", their essence is to start from the user's own psychological needs to guide and stimulate the user's behavior to achieve our desired goals.

Therefore, free payment is no exception. The Social Animal is known as the Bible of social psychology. One of its main points is that "human behavior patterns are affected by social situations" . Extending to the logic of payment, users think that this is their individual independent behavior, but in fact it is very likely triggered by external factors. Let us give two examples:

Example 1:

If no one sends gifts in a live broadcast room, new users will not be willing to spend money to send gifts. However, if the entire screen is filled with flowers and sports cars, more people will be encouraged to send gifts.

So, what do live streaming platforms do to stimulate users?

• First, they create a false prosperous live broadcast scene, using fake accounts to give gifts to the anchors who have settled on the platform. The anchors respond positively, which arouses jealousy among some users.
• Secondly, the ranking list of gift giving is displayed in the live broadcast room and adjusted dynamically according to the real-time consumption situation, satisfying and stimulating the vanity and competitive spirit of wealthy users.

Since users are more sensitive to spending money, RMB is converted into points, and then the points are exchanged for different virtual gifts (Porsche, cruise ships, rockets...) according to different values, weakening users' perception of real money.

Example 2:

Theaters will not set different prices based on the differences in the viewing experience of each seat. Whether you are facing the big screen or watching in a corner, the fee you pay is the same.

However, cinemas only set different prices for the last row of the theater. The price of a couple's seat is often slightly higher than the sum of two ordinary seats. The reason is simple: both parties need to show that they are willing to spend money. Even if they are not a couple, as long as there are people of the opposite sex, both men and women will be more likely to spend money than in situations with only people of the same sex.

Payment of the difference between special occasions and the amount paid for the same service under normal circumstances is also considered as gratuitous payment.

It is worth noting that the so-called "free" is limited to the object of providing products (services) without any substantial feedback, but it does not mean that there is no difference in experience before and after consumption for the paying subject. For example, in the simplest reward behavior, users can gain a variety of psychological experiences:

1. Expressing love and recognition (I love you so I will spend money on you)
2. Gaining a sense of satisfaction (e.g. displaying on the wall, to distinguish yourself from the spectators who don't give rewards)
3. Close the distance between you and the person you are rewarding (the key is the feeling, it may not be the reality)
4. Expecting to achieve longer-term benefits (such as giving gifts to influencers , making friends with self-media through long-term rewards)

Therefore, studying how to enhance users' willingness to pay is to study how to activate a certain psychological experience of users . If you can trigger the user's psychological needs in specific situations, you can make the user willing to pay for it.

Many people believe that since it is a gift without any reward, users should be allowed to customize the amount. In fact, people will gradually reduce their willingness to pay because of hesitation about the amount. Faced with a blank reward input box, novice users really cannot make a quick value judgment .

For example, WeChat official accounts can set several fixed reward amounts in the background, and users can choose the corresponding buttons according to their financial situation.

However, after Apple banned the reward function of WeChat official accounts , most media put a QR code for receiving payment at the bottom, throwing this confusing issue to users again. However, some self-media posted QR codes with fixed payment amounts, allowing users to choose the QR code of the corresponding denomination (to identify rewards), such as IT commentator Keso.

Payment for equivalent transactions

Next, let’s talk about the second more universal type of payment, where users hope to get at least equal value in return for their payment.

Here are some questions that arise:

1. How to make users demand this value
2. How to build trust after there is a need
3. Why the price is reasonable and acceptable

The first problem is the stage of guiding users from unknown to known about the product (service). For operational projects that do not have their own exposure channels , especially cold start projects, it is necessary to invest a lot of money to purchase users' attention and "educate" them within the user's tolerance range. Boring and long-winded speeches cannot establish effective user cognition.

I won’t go into details about the battle for user attention in a small space. The core is the word "appropriate to the situation". The pure pursuit of display volume will only result in a declining return on investment . For example, reading products are more suitable for advertising on official accounts rather than in Moments or other information flows . Only when the product itself is integrated into the environment can it prompt users to generate demand.

For those products that already have a halo effect, the key is how to import their own traffic advantages into new products. For example, it is easier for NetEase Cloud Music to guide users to buy headphones. Forcing users into products that are not genetically compatible is bound to result in high churn.

Once people have a certain understanding of the product, the second issue arises: trust.

The key to gaining trust is "effective experience" , which allows users to have a clear understanding of the product before paying. The most direct way is to try it out.

Therefore, we often see new product tasting activities in shopping malls. The same is true online. Many Internet applications have membership services. If some functions are opened or services are enjoyed within a limited time, users' willingness to buy will be much stronger than simple text descriptions.

For example, iQiyi 's VIP resources can be tried for free for 6 minutes for non-member users, Thunder 's high-speed download channel can be tried for 120 seconds, and a certain dating platform allows non-member users to chat with each other for 5 minutes.

The advantages of doing this are: on the one hand, it allows users to experience the real effects of membership without paying; on the other hand, when users enter the "enjoyment" state, they may encounter forced interruptions in the experience such as the video coming to an abrupt end, the download speed dropping sharply, the dialog box being muted, etc. At this time, users with low psychological tolerance can only recharge in order to continue the experience.

Just like when you and your friends are playing " Honor of Kings ", when the battle is intense, you will not pay any attention to the call from the delivery guy, even if you ordered your favorite food.

However, not all products are suitable for "trial". On the contrary, most e-commerce consumption scenarios cannot be tried. In this case, it is still necessary to grasp the "effective experience", which tests the operator's ability to connect the user's mind and product characteristics.

For example, many businesses like to use exaggerated adjectives to describe their products - perfect, excellent, outstanding... This type of copywriting makes it difficult for users to have a real perception. Since they cannot try the product, they should fully mobilize the user's imagination to focus on the aspects that they already care about.

For example, if the copy of a pair of headphones is "stereo sound quality, first-class quality", users will hardly be impressed after reading it. If it is changed to "be on the scene and listen to every detail", the product effect experience will have a clearer and more perceptible picture.

After overcoming the two huge obstacles of cognition and trust, the next step is payment. If users have expectations for the product (service), the biggest obstacle at this time may only be the price. It is necessary to design a pricing strategy based on the acceptance level of most users. (You can refer to the general level of competing products and the industry to set prices, which will not be elaborated here)

The key to motivating users to pay quickly at this moment is not whether the price is really lower than the industry standard , but to make users think:

1. I saved money and got satisfactory service.
2. Urgent need, even high price is not a deterrent

When dealing with the first type of users, you should constantly create surprises when approaching the payment stage , such as limited-time discounts, full-reduction activities, buy one get one free, etc. Usually, users' sensitivity to prices is limited by the pricing at the time of purchase. For example, a 50-yuan T-shirt priced at 99 yuan is 20% off for a limited time of 24 hours and comes with a pair of socks, which makes you more likely to pay for it.

The recent resurgence of Taobao Affiliate Program is also due to the so-called "internal coupons". As the saying goes: what users need is not the truth, but selfish perception.

For the second type of users, the high level of demand relaxes the restrictions on prices , just like a terminally ill person who urgently needs an effective treatment plan, or a thirsty tourist on the top of a mountain who is willing to buy a bottle of Nongfu Spring for 10 yuan.

For example, the anxiety of the middle class is a highly tense pain point. Anything that can have a slight placebo effect on the psychology can be negotiated at a reasonable price. Therefore, there are paid columns of 199, 299 or even thousands of yuan (even if the content is copied from a 60-yuan classic book). They purely need the psychological experience of taking medicine in groups and the spiritual comfort from the petty bourgeoisie, perhaps mixed with a sense of face. It is this part of the demand that supports the premium space of knowledge, not just the desire for knowledge.

Final Thoughts

Payment is a very broad concept, which includes both gift-giving behaviors such as rewards and, of course, transactions. Rather than discussing how much users’ purchasing power has increased in this round of consumption upgrade, it is better to talk about the changes in the payment logic and social psychology of users from different classes .

People have a hundred reasons to buy luxury goods, including identification with the brand concept and pursuit of quality life. This logic is exactly the same as paying for idols (identification, following).

Therefore, please help users find reasons to pay before they pay, just like the core idea of ​​the Golden Circle Rule - start with "why" instead of being obsessed with how cool your own product (service) is.