Decoy effect

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Decoy effect (literally deception effect) is a marketing term (also known as asymmetrical dominance effect). It describes the phenomenon of a stronger preference of consumers over one product, taking into account two specific products, caused by the offer of a third "asymmetrically dominated" product. An asymmetrically dominated product is inferior to one of the products in every respect, but is superior to another product in some properties and inferior in others. In other words, with regard to specific purchase-deciding attributes, it is completely dominated by one product (is clearly worse) and only partially dominated by another.

If such an asymmetrically dominated product is offered, a higher percentage of customers will choose the dominant option than if they did not choose the asymmetrically dominated option. The asymmetrically dominated option is therefore a “decoy” that is used to influence the decision in favor of the dominant product. The decoy effect runs counter to the axiom of independence : a rational decision-maker should not allow himself to be influenced by other options and should only judge on the basis of the relevant alternatives.

This particular influence on the purchase decision process is examined in marketing research. A consumer who selects products according to attributes ( characteristics , "features") does not consider each product individually, but compares all products with regard to the properties that are important to them. If the consumer cannot decide between two products, a third product can serve as a kind of yardstick. If one of the two products is superior to the added "bait product" in all respects, the buyer will tend to this product.

example

If a decision is made between different MP3 players , the consumer will generally see the higher storage capacity and the lower price as positive attributes. While some consumers want a player that can store more songs, others want a player that costs less. In decision situation 1, two devices are available:

Decision situation 1
A. B.
price 400 € € 300
Storage capacity 30 GB 20 GB

In decision situation 2, the asymmetrically dominated product C is only better than B in terms of storage capacity and worse than A in terms of all attributes.By adding product C - which most consumers reject because a product with a lower price and at the same time a higher storage capacity is available - Product A (the dominant product) is chosen more often than in decision situation 1.

Decision situation 2
A. B. C (decoy)
price 400 € € 300 450 €
Storage capacity 30 GB 20 GB 25 GB

The product C is thus a "decoy", the sole purpose of which is to increase the sales of product A.

In the opposite case, assuming instead of product C, product D is added, which has less storage space than A and B and is priced between A and B:

Decision situation 3
A. B. D (decoy)
price 400 € € 300 € 350
Storage capacity 30 GB 20 GB 15 GB

The result is similar: the consumer will not choose D because B is better in every way. However, while C increased the preference for A, D has the opposite effect, the consumer will now tend towards product B, since in this case the bait product is completely dominated by B.

context

In the series of articles " The fish on the hook - or: the decoy effect - don't let yourself be fooled" , Wolfgang Bartsch showed that the surcharge formulas used in public tenders are also susceptible to the decoy effect.

See also

swell

  • J. Huber et al .: Adding Asymmetrically Dominated Alternatives: Violations of Regularity and the Similarity Hypothesis . In: The Journal of Consumer Research . 9, No. 1, pp. 90ff.

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