Amazon’s Guide To Marketing Psychology
Amazon’s the king of “buy stuff you didn’t need.”
But that’s no accident.
The website is filled with psychological hacks designed to make you spend more.
Here are 10 examples that’ll blow your mind:
1. Place strategic defaults
People are lazy, and Amazon knows it.
So what do they do?
Turn subscriptions into the default (here’s a quick guide to help you do the same):
2. Track what they save you
When we try to cancel our Prime subscriptions, Amazon displays the amount saved with its services.
Hard to say no to $313.38 saved in delivery fees, you know?
3. Spotlight savings
Even before Amazon displays the price
They show us what we can save
In an enlarged and bright red font
And who doesn’t like a good bargain?
4. Strikethrough higher prices
After looking at the $97.48, the new, lower price seems like a winner.
But if I worked at Amazon, I would:
• increase the font of the original price
• place it right above the new price
Intensifying the anchoring effect.
5. Present visually empty carts
People have a tendency to fill containers to their full capacity because of everyday experiences.
The same happens with Amazon’s carts.
The empty space below that book compels people to fill it up!
6. Reduce the price of fonts
When prices are visually smaller, we mistake them for smaller purchases.
Now you’ll notice how small Amazon sizes its prices on the purchase page:
7. Use the color red
Red fonts trigger action.
Especially against a predominantly white background, like that of Amazon:
8. Converge unrelated prices
Amazon smartly places unrelated lower prices and terms like “Free” right below the selling price.
The result? We converge these desirable terms with the actual price.
Making it look like another good deal:
9. Show some negative reviews
Somewhat counterintuitive, but Amazon includes top critical reviews on its customer reviews page.
But that’s actually a neat sales tactic:
• their content seems more credible
• the power of contrast makes the positive reviews look even stronger
It’s called the blemishing effect, and I covered it in last week’s edition!
10. Assort your offer appropriately
Horizontal assortment highlights the variety and is best for skimmers
But it backfires when people are looking for a specific product
And Amazon seems to apply this:
i. Horizontal Assortment
ii. Vertical Assortment
The vertical assortment is more beneficial for specific products.
That’s the 10!
Summary
10 science-backed marketing tactics from Amazon:
- Smaller fonts
- The red color
- Negative reviews
- Strategic defaults
- Price convergence
- Spotlighted savings
- The visually empty carts
- Strikethrough higher prices
- Tracking what they save you
- Horizontal vs vertical assortment
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