On Sale Now, But Time's a' Wastin'!

"Regular Price: $599; Now: $399." We've all seen ad lines like this one that quote the original price of an item and then show a discounted price right next to it. They're designed to influence consumers to take advantage of the reduced price—or to at least head into a sale.



But, hold on just a minute! Some research is showing that putting your product on sale for cheap can actually make consumers perceive your product as, well, cheap. What to do?

Research from Southern Methodist University suggests that whether or not you lessen a consumer's perception of your product's image may depend on one key factor: whether you include a time-limiting component to the promotion: "Sale! Three Days Only."

Consumers in the market for a product had more favorable perceptions about brands that were on sale and had a time-limited offer ($75 regular price; $50 sale price for 5 days only!) than they did to the same brand at the regular price or the sale price. Sales announcements coupled with time-limited offers also created more favorable perceptions for people who were not in the market for the product.

In short, a regular price might make your product look expensive; a sales price might make it look cheap. But including both with a time-limited offer makes it look downright precious.

The Po!nt: If you want to offer your product on sale, include the base price, the sales price and a time-limited offer to entice the broadest spectrum of customers.

Source: "Broadening the Scope of Reference Price Advertising Research: A Field Study of Consumer Shopping Involvement" by Daniel J. Howard and Roger A. Kerin. Journal of Marketing, 2006. Read the article here.