The Contrast Effect

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Rosser Reeves, an American ad executive from the 1950s, was eating lunch in Central Park. He and his colleague saw a man begging for money.

It was late afternoon, but the beggar hadn't made much money.

Reeves told his colleague:

“I bet I can dramatically increase the amount of money that guy is raising simply by adding four words to his sign."

The colleague agreed, and Reeves introduced himself to the homeless man. He explained that he knew something about advertising and offered to change the sign ever so slightly to increase donations. The man agreed.

Reeves only added four words, but almost immediately, a few people dropped coins into the man's cup.

Other people soon stopped, talked to the man, and plucked dollar bills from their wallets.

Before long, the cup was overflowing¹ with cash.

What four words did Reeves add?

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Reeves won his bet, and we learnt a lesson. Contrast captures attention.

My contrast experiment

I'm a dubious reader and didn't love this anecdotal tale. So, I decided to test it with an experiment.

I showed two groups of 100 Americans a brief description of a story². One story contained contrast, the other didn't.

"A 12-year-old boy" is more surprising than "A man". That pattern interrupt persuaded Americans to keep reading.

The best brands know this tactic and apply it in their ads.

The Bible App

Break expectations by showcasing a bad review.

Vinterior

Disrupt impressions by calling out your competitor.

Bic

Every other brand shows how they've changed. Bic does the opposite.

Cancer Patients Aid Association

Flip the worn-out phrase to make it stand out.

Big thank you to today's sponsors.

If you enjoyed this, hit reply to let me know (I reply to every message) — Phill​