The team of marketing experts concluded that consumers preferred learning about the incrementally less drastic — but more authentic — steps of personal change.
Image: Shutterstock
Weight loss aids, teeth whiteners, hair-growth serums: The market is crowded with personal improvement products, and when wooing customers, marketers naturally want to promote the best possible outcomes. In an effort to emphasize value and represent life-changing effects, they often include dramatically different “before” and “after” photos in advertisements.
After all, it seems intuitive that consumers would be motivated by the drastic impact a product may have. Why distract them with visualizing the gradual progression? Wouldn’t that come with the risk of discouraging them with a reminder of the effort and time it may take to achieve the desired results?
[This article has been reproduced with permission from University Of Virginia's Darden School Of Business. This piece originally appeared on Darden Ideas to Action.]