Why You Shouldn’t Ask Consumers to Compare
A common practice in marketing campaigns is to compare a product to a competitor’s products. You may be so confident that your product is better that you boldly ask the consumer to look for themselves and compare features. According to a Standford study, this may be a huge mistake.
By asking consumers to make the comparison, you are effectively “muddying the waters”. Some consumers think they are being tricked somehow. Other consumers, who may not have been aware of competing products, may simply become confused. In most cases, the obstacle that buyers face when deciding whether or not to purchase becomes larger. Aversion to risk becomes greater.
One of the interesting things that the study found was, when consumers compared competing products, they tended to compare disadvantages rather than the benefits. This brings to light any shortcomings your product may have, which may not have been very important if the product was being evaluated on its own.
The bottom line is this: talk about your products, and leave your competitors out of it. Those who want to compare will do it on their own. Those who don’t care to compare are more likely to buy. Either way, you won’t garner mistrust by asking consumers to compare you with competitors.
Zoe is a web designer by day and a caped super-hero by night. Okay not really, but she really is a web designer at Nexternal with over 14 years of experience coding HTML, CSS, and other magical web things. She also enjoys helping others, which is a bit like channeling her inner hero. Google+ Profile
