经济学人423:营销员如何利用"数学盲"消费者

 　　Business.

　　商业

　　The psychology¹ of discounting.

　　“打折”心理学

　　Something doesn't add up.

　　就是算不对

　　How marketers can take advantage of consumers' innumeracy.

　　且看营销人员如何利用“数学盲”消费者

　　WHEN retailers² want to entice³ customers to buy a particular product, they typically offer it at a discount. According to a new study to be published in the Journal of Marketing⁴, they are missing a trick.

　　零售商想吸引顾客购买某种特别商品时，典型做法就是打折促销了。但是，一项发表在《市场营销杂志》的新研究则说明了他们并未统揽全局，掌握所有窍门。

　　A team of researchers, led by Akshay Rao of the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management, looked at consumers' attitudes to discounting. Shoppers, they found, much prefer getting something extra free to getting something cheaper. The main reason is that most people are useless at fractions.

　　以明尼苏达大学卡尔森管理学院的阿卡什?劳为首的调查小组研究了消费者对打折的态度。他们发现，购物者们更喜欢赠品胜过打折品。主要原因在于多数人对分数运算束手无策。

　　Consumers often struggle to realise, for example, that a 50% increase in quantity is the same as a 33% discount in price. They overwhelmingly assume the former is better value. In an experiment, the researchers sold 73% more hand lotion⁵ when it was offered in a bonus pack than when it carried an equivalent discount (even after all other effects, such as a desire to stockpile, were controlled for).

　　比如，消费者们常常很难意识到，加量50%就等同于折扣33%。绝大多人都以为前者更划算。在一次实验中，调查者们出售手霜，一种是带赠品的，另一种是打折品，两者价值相当（即使排除如囤货需要之类的其他因素），但是结果前者多售出73%。

　　This numerical blind spot remains⁶ even when the deal clearly favours the discounted product. In another experiment, this time on his undergraduates, Mr Rao offered two deals on loose coffee beans: 33% extra free or 33% off the price. The discount is by far the better proposition, but the supposedly clever students viewed them as equivalent.

　　即便当买打折品明显更划算时，人们还是无法走出数字盲区。另一次实验在本科生中展开，Rao先生出售散装咖啡豆时提供两种选择：赠送33%或者折扣33%。打折远远更加划算，但那些本以为十分聪明的学生们却认为两种促销都是一样的。

　　Studies have shown other ways in which retailers can exploit consumers' innumeracy. One is to befuddle⁷ them with double discounting. People are more likely to see a bargain in a product that has been reduced by 20%, and then by an additional 25%, than one which has been subject to an equivalent, one-off, 40% reduction.

　　根据学生们的反映，零售商们发现了其他方式来利用消费者对数字上的不敏感。比如利用二次折扣来迷惑他们。人们觉得一件商品如果先打8折再打75折，那肯定比一次性打6折要划算。

　　Marketing types can draw lessons beyond just pricing, says Mr Rao. When advertising⁸ a new car's efficiency, for example, it is more convincing to talk about the number of extra miles per gallon it does, rather than the equivalent percentage fall in fuel consumption.

　　Rao先生说，这不仅对营销手段的价格方面有所启发，其他方面也是如此。比如，在宣传新车效率时，引用每加仑汽油多跑的英里数要比引用减少的耗油量的比值要更有说服力。

　　There may be lessons for regulators too. Even well-educated shoppers are easily foxed. Sending everyone back to school for maths refresher-courses seems out of the question. But more prominently displayed unit prices in shops and advertisements would be a great help.

　　这对监管者也有所启示。即便是受过良好教育的购物者也很容易被骗。我们不可能让每个人都重新回到数学课堂。但如果商店和广告上能更清楚地标明单价的话必定可以帮上大忙。

1 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

3 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

4 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

5 lotion   

n.洗剂

参考例句：

• The lotion should be applied sparingly to the skin.这种洗液应均匀地涂在皮肤上。
• She lubricates her hands with a lotion.她用一种洗剂来滑润她的手。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 befuddle   

v.使混乱

参考例句：

• This is clearly designed to befuddle the public.这显然是为了蒙蔽舆论。
• Don't befuddle me with all those masses of detail.不要拿一大堆琐事把我搞迷糊。

8 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。