Time vs. Money - Which will Prevail?

September 24th, 2009

This article appeared in my inbox this morning. Great timing! Working on a series of ads for a variety of clients this afternoon. What stands out most is the surveys and simple field tests.

“On a Saturday afternoon in San Francisco, Mogilner and her co-author’s six-year-old sons set out to sell lemonade along a path in a park. Every 10 minutes or so, Mogilner switched the sign that publicized the lemonade stand according to one of three messages: “Spend a little time, and enjoy C & D’s lemonade”; “Spend a little money, and enjoy C & D’s lemonade”; and “Enjoy C & D’s lemonade.” To further test the impact of the messages, customers were told they could choose to pay anywhere from $1 to $3 for the product. Forty out of 391 people who passed by the stand that day purchased lemonade, and customers were surveyed about how they were feeling while they sipped. When the results were tallied, Mogilner found that a greater proportion of passers-by bought lemonade when the sign mentioned time rather than money. What’s more, customers who viewed the time message paid more for their cup of lemonade, and enjoyed the product more.” Published: September 16, 2009 in Knowledge@Wharton

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Ah, the taste of lemonade! Isn’t it worth the time?

Entry Filed under: Advertising