Round numbers often help marketing strategists
Scientific experiments show: People are more likely to feel like they have achieved something when they are dealing with round numbers.
Whether it's about financial matters, losing weight or games - round numbers are a great marketing tool. This is because they make people feel that they have actually achieved something, according to one of the Journal Marketing Letters published study. This applies not only to the actual goal, but also to intermediate steps on the way there.
Round perfection
Reaching a round number somehow makes you feel more complete. "It happens when we're taking tests, getting paid, tipping or pumping gas," says Kunter Gunasti, WSU professor of marketing and international business at Washington State University's (WSU) Carson College of Business. Together with a colleague from James Madison University, he has shown in three laboratory experiments how generally this also applies to intermediate goals - whether for salary, a loyalty program or video games. Round milestones are therefore particularly effective when the final goal is still a long way off.
One of the experiments involved using an airline's loyalty program to get a free international flight. People felt better when the currency tracking was switched from pounds to euros - because then they could reach a round intermediate target. In another experiment, the aim was to score 100 points in a video game. Here, test subjects were more satisfied if they managed 50 points than if they finished the game with 51 points. In the third experiment, people who were working towards an income target felt better when there were round numbers on their paycheck.
Pure number-crunching
So numbers and units are a great way to play tricks. For example, most people would be more enthusiastic about earning 2000 Canadian dollars than 1521 US dollars, even though the amounts are equivalent, says Gunasti. If you lost 300 ounces, you might feel good, even though that's only 18.8 pounds and would still miss a weight loss goal of 10 kilograms - although it was more motivating than getting rid of 22 pounds. "Don't be a slave to the decimal system," advises the researcher. (pte)
