Not All Peanut Butter is Created Equal

#FPF – Week 27

At Captivation, connecting brands with those ripe to receive what they are sharing is what we do best, but it’s also only half the battle. The other half relates to something referred to as “buying signals“. Buying signals are really anything that trigger the consumer to engage with your organization and ultimately purchase what you have to offer. Examples of buying signals include reliability, durability, existing reviews by others whom have already purchased from the business, as well as any other factor that stands between your business and someone clicking the “Buy” button.

While we’re on the topic of buying signals, there’s one very important buying signal that almost always plays a role (sometimes the biggest role) in whether you will buy or not – price. I say “almost” always, because for the right audience, sharing the right circumstances, price takes second seat to everything else. It’s in the center of this Venn diagram that we find something more powerful than price – the true value of the offering. Value is more subjective and driven by individual emotion.

To further illustrate the difference between price and value – let us think about a jar of peanut butter. Go on, close your eyes and envision the aisle in your local grocery store – all of the jars perfectly aligned to the front edge of the shelf with the labels displayed prominently. Now think of your favorite brand of peanut butter (everybody has one). Think about the size of the jar, is it the same size as all of the other brands (basically). Now think about price. Sure, your favorite brand may be a dollar or so more than the other brands on the shelf, but you don’t mind paying that little bit more because… Because why? You might answer: “because it tastes better”, “because it’s the one I grew up with”, “because the other choices are terrible”. Together, we’ve just proved that value, does in fact, trump price.

It’s important to remember however, that when price trumps value in a buying decision, there’s often far less value present than we are led to think. Let’s go back to our peanut butter conversation from earlier. Most jars of peanut butter are around the same price and come in about the same size jar, or do they?

Peanut Butter

Have you ever looked at the bottom of your favorite jar of peanut butter? Have you ever noticed the “dimple” underneath? This isn’t there to ensure freshness, or enhance your ability to hold it, it’s to cut costs. Yup, by placing a dimple in the bottom of the jar, peanut butter manufacturers save thousands by getting you to pay the same amount for less product – all in a way that you don’t even know to miss. This allows companies to charge “less” (for a seemingly comparable product) while intentionally delivering less value to the customer. Sneaky little buggers aren’t they?

My point here is that although the price may be lower for a seemingly comparable product – it’s very important to look under the jar and see how big the “dimple” really is. You might take less trips to the grocery store if you do. Happy shopping!