Frequent flyer miles

When to use time limits for offers

Prepared by J. Scott Armstrong (details on him at jscottarmstrong.com). Please inform Scott about errors and also make suggestions (armstrong@wharton.upenn.edu) Scott has taken these slides from adprin.com, a site that he founded. That site contains interactive versions of these slides, along with linked references, videos, and webcasts, all in PPT and PPTX format that you can download.

Adapted from AdPrin.com 2

Frequent-flyer miles

Here are two ways to frame an offer for frequent-flyer milesa) Valid for two yearsb)No expiration date

Which one is best for the seller? ________Which one is best for the buyer? ________

See next slide for the evidence.

“b” is best in both cases. For the seller, giving the buyer an extended amount of time makes the buyer less likely to use the coupon. For the buyer, the offer is usable forever (Persuasive Advertising p 61).

In one experiment, subjects were offered $5 for answering and returning a long questionnaire. The return rates were 25% for a group with no deadline, 42% for a group given a 3-week limit, and 60% for a group given a five-day limit (Tversky and Shafir 1992).

Evidence

Adapted from AdPrin.com

Based on this exercise, write a small application step for yourself, and set a deadline, preferably within one week. If you are working with someone else, share your application plan and the results of your application.