Human Psychology 101

In CopyWriting | 15 comments | permalink

Welcome to human psychology 101.

Recently I did a post where we looked inside the human brainbox

In that article we looked at a psychological experiment with two people and $100.

I asked you to find the moral of the experiment, and how it could apply to your business.

There were some superb answers, and do you know what… EVERYONE was correct! Why? There is more than one way to skin a cat… in other words, there wasn’t just one correct answer.

However, some correct answers are more correct than others ;-) so here is my take on the experiment:

Firstly, as humans we hate being on the short end of the stick. It is a hugely powerful factor, and is one of those psychological mysteries that you can harness to empower your business.

You see, people don’t like to think that other people have something better than them, this is the reason that people spend a fortune on cars.

So here is a principle that you can test for your business that has been tested in the dating industry, and to date has made over $18 million.

What you do is simply give away your best stuff!

Bear with my madness…

You see, when a normal business owner discovers something amazing, they generally tend to try and find a way to charge as much money as possible for it.

However, the customer is not going to trust or believe you.

So this principle works by giving away your best stuff, then the customer will think “Jeez, if he is giving this away for free, then his paid products must be mind blowing”.

By doing this you are giving your customers the long end of the stick instead of the short end. You are doing the 80/20 split in their favour, and this means that not only will you not annoy them, but they will trust you and want to purchase from you.

This may sound like business advice from a hippy, but this has been proven as a psychological and business winner.

So there you have it, your very own hack into the weird world of the human brain sack.

Enjoy!

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15 COMMENTS

  • marian

    Umm… Not sold yet, although it sounds plausible to me.

    However, I guess I wouldn’t go for a paid membership/item/whatever if the free one does the trick.

    Maybe this is about teasing again?

    “Have a try with the big one”?

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Marian,

    To be honest, it is NOT a theory. It has been proven many times over and is a psychological fact.

    That said, applying it to your business can be scary.

    I suppose it is just a case of finding the best way to use it.

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  • marian

    *laughs*

    I just re-read my comment before posting and thought a bit more and now I think it does really suck. But since I sometimes am all-honest, you’ll find it below.

    Adieu world,been nice. *puts his hand on his forehead theatrically*

    —-

    This might have been proven a lot, but that won’t make it a fact; just to bitch a little. :>

    As they say, “there are no psychological facts”, this is just the result of statistic coverage.

    I must admit though that the whole thing would work even for me if cars were involved. Even

    Little question here, concerning the experiment this “fact” bases on: were they informed about the choices the other person involved would have? I mean … come on :D

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Marian,

    Thanks for your honesty.

    Some people will get it others won’t, some will think it sucks, others will use it to improve their business.

    It is not for everyone.

    The FACT is that this IS human psychology, and there is not one person on the planet that it doesn’t apply to. However, using it in business is based more on one persons experience.

    So I do see your point there.

    As always, I will deliver information and theories from the edge, if you want more mainstream info then there are millions of sites that will regurgitate the same old info.

    Thanks again.

    Dean

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  • marian

    I think I’ll stick with your blog, thank you. ;)

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Marian,

    That is good to know.

    I have some more marketing and copywriting tips coming soon, so I hope you will like them.

    Thanks again for your feedback.

    Dean

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  • Dare

    Btw, David De Angelo (Eben Pagan) used this and made 10 million dollar business ;)
    And he also recommends this, just told in slightly different style:
    Give away your best stuff, so the customer will be thinking: “WOW, if this is what is he giving free, who knows what there is in the package!”. He was talking about information products (ebooks, etc…) primarily.

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    yes, I remember him from the double your dating stuff.

    This info has been around for decades, but people are starting to finally use it to make successful businesses.

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  • Chuck

    Dean where can I research this info.
    Mo info mo info mo info.

    Is there a study about the Eben Pagan dating experiment–that was obviously wildly successful.

    If you give you best stuff away are the people disappointed when they buy something from you that is inferior to what you gave away?

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  • http://thinklikethem.com Joshua

    So you’re saying that your (paid for) buzz marketing services are only 20% as good as you can do?

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  • http://deanhunt.com Dean Hunt

    Joshua,

    That is the obvious problem with the principle.

    I think the best bet would not be to take it literally. Just don’t feel that everything is about making money. Instead, help people, share with them, and the money will follow.

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  • http://codingpad.maryspad.com Coding Pad

    Interesting concept, and definitely worth a try I think. It’s amazing how strongly the psychological stuff tends to apply across the board. There are exceptions of course, people who don’t react as predicted, but it’s all about observing and exploiting (I use this word cautiously) the predictability of human behaviors and patterns.

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  • http://thinklikethem.com Joshua

    Sorry, I should have added a smiley icon before hit post ! I totally agree :)

    You know, the first time I read your Buzz Marketing Page (a while back) I actually thought you were too busy to take on new clients!

    It wasn’t until I read it more recently that I realized it was sarcasm. Duh :)

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  • http://www.52tube.com/ 52tube

    This info has been around for decades, but people are starting to finally use it to make successful businesses.

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  • dave

    This experiment rewards little value …

    Lets say the only difference to my altered version is instead of $100 its $100,000. (or this would work with even $10,000)
    If person ‘A’ wants to keep $70,000 and offers $30,000 to person B. (70-30) As a one time offer. And the referee asks person B on whether they agree or not.
    -Mostly everyone needs $30,000 so who in their right mind would turn down $30,000??? The fear of losing such a large sum would spark the self interest in a person more than some irrational moral anger. This is what person ‘A’ banks on.

    Person B is left with a choice…. it all comes down to him. What will he do?? Take $30,000 or nothing?

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