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Two behavioural science biases to try today | Nudge Newsletter

Published about 2 hours ago • 1 min read

Mystery Gifts

​Read online​

Would you go for this?

It’s eufy’s UK page for a mystery gift.

You get one of these security cameras for free, picked at random, and the “£499” is just the most it could be worth.

Now, I have no idea if anyone is buying this.

But I love it because it leverages two wonderful behavioural science principles.

Free needs a value

Imagine you're offering a free product in your bundle.

For example, I bought a reMarkable tablet recently, which came with a free stylus.

reMarkable could say "free stylus included", or they can be concrete about the value of the free gift.

This is exactly what Priya Raghubir tested in 2004¹.

She showed participants a set of ads for perfumes. Sometimes a "free" item had a value attached to it; other times it didn't.

Then each participant was asked how much they'd pay.

Turns out, products are seen as 55% more valuable when the free item is given a specific value.

Keep things a mystery

The other principle used by that mystery box is the curiosity gap.

We're drawn, consistently, towards mystery².

When given a choice between a known product and a mystery one:

  • 89% chose the mystery stress ball over a visible top-seller
  • 68% chose a mystery hotel option
  • 81% chose a mystery song

This barbershop promotional leaflet does the same thing.

We're drawn towards mystery, and we love free things with a value.

The curiosity gap and the power of free are just two principles in the Nudge Vaults.​

Here's a look inside:

Get access to the Vaults right now →​

Or you can preview your first 50 insights for free →

Cheers,

​Phill​

P.S. Inspired by the curiosity gap, I'm introducing a new mystery link for every newsletter:

¹Raghubir, P. (2004). Free gift with purchase: Promoting or discounting the brand? Journal of Consumer Psychology, 14(1–2), 181–186.

²Buechel, E. C., & Li, R. (2023). Mysterious consumption: Preference for horizontal (vs. vertical) uncertainty and the role of surprise. Journal of Consumer Research, 49(6), 987–1013.

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

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Nudge Newsletter

Phill Agnew

I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.

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