TEST IDEA #17: HYPERBOLIC DISCOUNTING

INTRO

Instant gratification is something humans cannot resist. We would much rather choose an immediate payoff than wait for a reward that will be greater but come much later. You can use this psychological mechanism to optimize your website and offer visitors instant gratification in the form of discounts or special offers.

HYPOTHESIS

By offering your customers significant discounts, you will target the ??hyperbolic discounting?? cognitive bias which makes makes them seek out instant gratification, rather than wait for a delayed reward. This will make them more willing to purchase your discounted offers right away and further
engage with your business.

SCIENCE BEHIND THIS IDEA

By nature, humans are quite impatient. We?re often incapable to control our urges and think rationally and logically about rewards and benefits, which makes us prone to choosing instant over delayed gratification. We?d rather have a cookie now than wait for 10 minutes and then get two. Preferring instant gratification means that we make impulsive decisions and are not great at thinking about gains in the future, and are always more tempted to get something right away rather than wait and get a bigger reward in the future.

You can trigger the ??hyperbolic discount?? bias by offering your visitors big discounts or giving your visitors instant access to certain products and services, even if they have to pay later on.

What to test

Variant A, or your current pricing page, does not offer any special discount to visitors, and just displays your usual offers. Variant B, or the pricing page you are testing, features a badge which clearly shows that visitors can get a 50% discount on your best selling package, which will help target the ??hyperbolic discount?? bias in your customers.

Examples

ASOS

Elegant Themes

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