Everyone should have had this feeling: when you are very hot, a slight breeze will make you feel very cool; if you are in an air-conditioned room, then this slight breeze will hardly cause any harm to you; this is the principle of sales promotion , using the huge contrast to give you the feeling of a big discount. The author of this article analyzes the principles of cognitive contrast. Let’s take a look at it together.

The book "Influence" mentions "cognitive contrast", which means the following: when two things are shown one after the other, we tend to think that the difference between the two is greater than it actually is, that is, based on previous experience, the same thing will give people different feelings.

For example: if you move a light object first and then pick up a heavy object, you will feel that the second object is heavier than it actually is; conversely, if you pick up a heavy object first and then a light object, you will feel that the light object is lighter than it actually is.

At the same time, the book also gives an example. In order to introduce this principle, psychophysicists conducted such an experiment: each student sat in front of three buckets of water in turn, one bucket of water was cold, one bucket of water was at room temperature, and one bucket of water was hot; the students put one hand in the cold water and the other hand in the hot water; after that, the professor asked them to put both hands in the bucket of water at room temperature at the same time, and the students would immediately show funny and confused expressions on their faces - although both hands were placed in the same bucket of water, the hand that had just been placed in the cold water felt it was hot water, and the hand that had just been placed in the hot water felt it was cold water.

The point the experiment is trying to make is that the same thing (i.e., water at room temperature) can appear very different based on the nature of previous events. This is the principle of cognitive contrast.

How to apply “cognitive contrast” to “promotion” and “sales”?

The most important principle is: through various comparisons, make customers feel "cheaper"!

The comparison can be made from the following aspects:

1. Time Dimension

1. Compare the original price with the current price

This is actually the use of the "anchoring effect" to compare the original price and show the crazy price drop.

For example: a certain gold necklace has been reduced in price three times. At the beginning, the anchor price was the market price of 25,000 yuan, then it was reduced to 9,998 yuan, then to 4,998 yuan, and finally to the lowest price in history of 998 yuan.

It challenges consumers' impossibilities step by step, refreshes our cognition, and easily shatters our consumption rationality.

Pinduoduo is very good at creating promotional copy by comparing prices.

Such promotional copy often appears in its push:

• The jacket originally cost several hundred yuan, but today it is on sale for 99 yuan.
• Sunglasses that originally cost dozens of yuan are now only 9.9 yuan.

In knowledge payment, such "routines" are often seen!

The course originally priced at 199 yuan is now 0 yuan, and only the first 1,000 students can attend the course for free.

If you want to achieve better results, you must add a deadline or quantity in front of it. Only by giving things with limited time and quantity can you arouse customers' sense of urgency and make them cherish "scarce" things.

I believe that many of my friends now watch live broadcasts to buy things. Why is Wei Ya, the number one anchor of Taobao live broadcasts, so popular? Everyone likes to go to her live broadcast room to buy things. It is because she often holds limited-time and limited-quantity promotions in the live broadcast room. If we do not buy within the specified time, the original price will be restored. At this time, we will feel like we have missed out on 100 million yuan; because compared to gaining, we are more sensitive to losing.

2. Spatial Dimension

Compare the counter price with the special sale price:

I remember one time when I was going home from get off work, I passed by a small shop. There was a sign hanging at the door with big words on it: Brand clothing sale, 35-55 yuan per piece, only on Friday.

Afterwards, I was attracted by the cheap prices and walked into the store involuntarily. I saw that the small store was crowded with women who came to choose clothes. I joined their team and saw that the clothes were really branded goods. They would cost hundreds of dollars in shopping malls, but only tens of dollars here.

The boss said: These are genuine branded goods. They are much more expensive in the counter, but in order to clear the inventory, we are having a special sale on the brand, so the price is a lot cheaper.

This is because the sales channel space is different, so the prices are different; comparing the counter price with the special sale price can not only highlight the quality of the product, but also attract consumers with a cheap price; if you do promotions online, you can compare the "offline supermarket price" and the "current promotional price" to highlight the discount.

3. Find a reference

1. Compare in order of promotion

In addition to comparing the original price and current price of the product itself, the counter price and the special sale price, there is also a comparison between different products.

Many salespeople who are good at sales understand the order of sales pitches, for example: a salesperson sells computers and other equipment, where the computer costs 8,000 yuan and the mouse costs more than 600 yuan.

If the salesperson first recommends a mouse that costs more than 600 yuan, you probably won't buy it because you think it's too expensive. But if he first recommends a computer that costs 8,000 yuan, and then recommends a mouse that costs 600 yuan after you buy the computer, your focus is no longer on the 600 yuan itself, but on the comparison between 8,000 and 600. Compared with a computer that costs 8,000 yuan, a mouse that costs 600 yuan is quite cheap.

The same is true for the sales of many large products with matching parts. This is a typical case of using "cognitive contrast". By changing the order of display, we think that the more expensive ones will be more expensive, and the cheaper ones will be cheaper.

In sales promotions, you can use the bundling method of "expensive products + cheap products" to encourage consumers to pay.

The most typical example is selling cars. A car may cost hundreds of thousands, but if it is sold with a bunch of related supporting products or services, it is like pork injected with water, and the price reaches 200,000. However, consumers are willing to pay for it because "a car worth hundreds of thousands is already a preconceived idea", so they don't think it is expensive if they buy some supporting products or services.

2. Make a value comparison

How to make dry promotional copy convincing? At this time, you can find "reference objects" to make value comparisons.

In her work "The Brainpower Decision Theory", "copywriting queen" Li Xinpin promoted "promotional book coupons" in this way: "1,000 yuan can't buy a pair of glasses, but it can buy Bill Gates' vision; 1,000 yuan can't buy a few visits to a psychologist, but it can buy EQ wisdom that will benefit you for a lifetime; 1,000 yuan can't hire a trend consultant, but it can buy future business opportunities from a popcorn report."

She used the high price of the physical object to contrast the cheapness of the spiritual object, and the strong contrast highlighted the value of the book voucher.

The same goes for the “One Dollar” series of copywriting that Luo Yonghao promoted when he opened an English training institution.

What can you buy with one RMB today?

Alternatively, you can also go to Lao Luo English Training and take eight classes for one dollar. The poster of the series is Lao Luo’s widely praised classic case “One dollar, eight classes!” The comparison of numbers highlights the great value.

Luo Yonghao teaches the class in person and provides further quality assurance. What reason do you have not to come? It's a great deal if you come here!

These copywritings cleverly use the "contrast of reference objects" to make people feel that they are getting great value for money. Not only are they vivid to read, they are also persuasive and achieve the purpose of promotion.

In summary, there are four ways to use the "cognitive contrast" method to promote sales:

1. Time dimension: compare the original price with the current price;
2. Spatial dimension: compare the counter price with the special sale price;
3. Find references: compare in the order of sales promotion;
4. Find reference objects: make value comparisons;

Author: Copy Hunter April

Source: Copy Hunter April

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