How to Coach Yourself and Others How to Influence, Persuade and Motivate | Page 297

approximately $550 per table. For the second half of the experiment,
customers were first shown top of the line tables, priced as high as $3,000.
After seeing the most expensive tables first, the customers were shown
gradually less and less expensive tables. This time, the average sale turned
out to be over $1,000 per table. After seeing the really nice, high-quality
tables, the low-end tables were less appealing, so customers tended to buy
higher priced items.[9]
A similar example uses the same concept with a different product: funeral
caskets. Funeral directors exploit the contrast principle to get families of
the deceased to spend more money. Directors show the deceased's family
the expensive model first, and then they show them a very plain, cheap
one. They know that the family members are grieving and will do
anything for their loved one. The grieving loved ones are often shocked
by the contrast in the two caskets and rebound back to the more expensive
casket.
These principles also apply when you're in a position where you have to
compare people. The Rule of Contrast is constantly at work, even
influencing judgments in job interviews. If you first interview an
outstanding candidate, and then immediately following you interview
someone who is less favorable, you will be inclined to underrate the
second person even more than if you had not interviewed the outstanding
candidate first. Certainly the reverse is also true: If an average candidate
follows someone who has interviewed very poorly, you may view that
individual as better than average.
We see diet ads that use contrast to convince us to use their products. The
"Before" and "After" pictures are intentionally made to look like stark
opposites. The "Before" picture is in black and white, with the person
slouching, frowning, and pale. The "After" picture is of the same person
in full color with a smile, erect posture, and tan skin. We look at the two
pictures, seethe comparison, and decide we want to be more like the
"After" picture.
[2]J. M. Burger, "Increasing Compliance by Improving the Deal: The That's-NotAll Technique," Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1986): 277–283.
[3]I. P. Levin and G. J. Gaeth, "How Consumers Are Affected by the Framing of
Attribute Information Before and After Consuming the Product," Journal of
Consumer Research, December 1988, pp. 374–378.
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