Buying or Being Sold

Having a choice is the difference between buying and being sold.

And marketers who get this right are successful marketers.

But choice does not mean overwhelming with options and more information, your case for support, a market study, or overcompensating for uncertainty with a kitchen sink approach.

Choice works for you and your customers when its designed.

Why does the appearance of freedom and the exercise of agency work better than the ‘throw everything at the wall and see what sticks’ approach, or the ‘take it or leave it’ and only one call to action?

Here’s a good story from Charles Duhigg’s Better, Faster, Smarter – a good but exhausting book on productivity.

A study of nursing homes tried to discover why some seniors thrived while others withered and deteriorated physically and mentally in these homes. Good question, right?!

The reason? Seniors who flourished made choices that rebelled against rigid schedules, pre-set menus, and room décor – rules set by the administrators of the nursing homes to help staff and take away the burden of choices from residents!

Researchers named the thrivers “subversives” because they adopted a pattern of small rebellions against the status quo. In one home with a pre-set menu, residents began each meal by trading food items in order to construct meals of their own design instead of passively accepting what was served.

One old guy (I love this guy), said he regularly gave his cake away because even though he liked cake, he would “rather eat a second-class meal that I have chosen.”

In another home, residents rearranged furniture to personalize their rooms – even using crowbars to move furniture bolted to walls.

The administrators thought they were being nice when they called a meeting of residents and told them they didn’t need to move furniture themselves, that the staff would do it for them to which they all complained they didn’t need assistance or permission – they’d do it themselves.

These are not world-changing things, but even small acts of defiance are psychologically powerful because it showed they were still in control of their lives (just ask someone who has tried to stop their aging parent or grandparent from driving and relinquish their license).

And here’s how the power of choice – even in small things – had exponential effects – the subversives walked about twice as much as other seniors, they ate about one-third more, they were more interactive and ‘owned’ interaction with their doctors – taking medications, visiting the exercise room, and maintained better relationships with family and friends. They lived longer, reported they were happy at a higher rate, more engaged and intellectually sharp.

So take a good look at your marketing and see if you offer even the appearance of choice... is it there, and would you make the right choice?