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newsletternewsletter 295
Asymmetric Dominance Effect Asymmetric Dominance Effect This is pretty fascinating. I supposes that if you want to retail school, you know about it. If you tried to purchase a new car or LCD television, you certainly know about. Let’s say you have a choice of purchasing two watches (for example). Watch A sells for $400. Watch B sells for $300. Perhaps Watch A is quartz watch with an extra comfort watch band and elegantly looking watch face. Watch B is a quartz watch with a standard metal watch band with a different watch elegantly looking watch face. Your really not sure which watch is the better deal. Who really cares about the comfort watch band. You probably can’t tell the difference. You decide to save money and go with the $300 watch. Add the Asymmetric Dominance Effect. Give the consume a third choice. Add Watch C for $450. The $450 watch has the cheaper watch face along with the comfort watch band. That is, you are getting the comfort watch band, but you are getting the watch face available on the cheaper watch. What do you buy? You buy the $400 watch which is what the retailer wanted you to buy in the first place. The Asymmetric Dominance Effect is all about adding a third choice to consumers. If you give a consumer two choices, they will perhaps choose equally between Choice A or Choice B. Given a third strategically situated choice, you can get all of your customers to choose Choice B (which hopefully is your most profitable choice). Try buying an LCD TV at BestBuy (or similar stores). Price and choices are strategically set up for you so that you purchase the TV that they want you to buy. So the words to remember are Asymmetric Dominance Effect also known as the decoy effect. The concept is not limited to retail stores. Try adding it to your restaurant menus. KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is a good example. According to Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia), “In marketing, the decoy effect (or asymmetric dominance effect) is the phenomenon whereby consumers will tend to have a specific change in preference between two options when also presented with a third option that is asymmetrically dominated. An option is asymmetrically dominated when it is inferior in all respects to one option; but, in comparison to the other option, it is inferior in some respects and superior in others. In other words, in terms of specific attributes determining preferability, it is completely dominated by (i.e., inferior to) one option and only partially dominated by the other. When the asymmetrically dominated option is present, a higher percentage of consumers will prefer the dominating option than when the asymmetrically dominated option is absent. The asymmetrically dominated option is therefore a decoy serving to increase preference for the dominating option. The decoy effect is also an example of the violation of the independence of irrelevant alternatives axiom of decision theory.” For more information about the Asymmetric Dominance Effect or the Decoy Effect, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decoy_effect You may also want to search google.com or yahoo.com for more information. Do think Congress may be using this? Congress comes up with a Choice A and a Choice B. Later they come up with a Choice C that makes Choice A look great (which is what they wanted in the first place. Kingston 4 GB USB Flash Drive for Less Than $10
Just a couple of years ago, you had to pay over $300 for a 4 GB USB flash drive. Now you can get them for under $10 (actually, two for $17.44 including shipping). Just to remind you, I have no association with Kingston or Buy.com. Every week, BestBuy, Staples, Office Depot, and similar stores have had some great bargains on Flash Drives. I’m not sure what you are going to do with them, but at 2 for $17.44, I would buy a couple of dozen. That being said, I do favor the Kingston brand. I found that the USB connect is less wobbly than the SanDisk branded USB flash drives. It also has a nice connector for a key chain so you won’t lose it (although at this price, who cares). The Kingston flash drives that I purchased also came with any additional bothersome software that I had to delete. A 4 GB Flash Drive is just about ideal. The price for an 8 GB or higher has come down, but not enough to make them as cost effective as the 4 GB Flash Drives. Personally, I carry around my most important data on my 4 GB Flash Drive. 4 GB’s is plenty for backing up your Cash Register Express or Restaurant Pro Express data. You can make a daily backup and take the data home with you. 4 GB’s is more than enough storage space to carry around or backup your favorite photos, music, and essential documents. It’s a great deal. Here’s the Buy.com link: I just ordered six of them. I’m not sure why, but at this price, I couldn’t resist. Squeezed Restaurants Shed Jobs According to he Wall Street Journal article, “Restaurant jobs, a reliable fallback for many unemployed and immigrant U.S. workers, are shrinking almost as fast as tips left on tables.” Restaurants and bars have shed jobs for the past five consecutive months in a row which is the longest stretch since records have been kept. Restaurants and a fallback job for immigrants and unemployed and especially a favorite occupation for many college students. Starbucks, Chili’s and other eating establishments are finding that consumers are cutting down on lattes and Saturday night dinners. Experienced restaurant servers are reporting that they are taking home less money in tips because patrons are economizing by ordering less food and leaving smaller percentage tips. Read the entire article at wsj.com at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122886980439793253.html?mod=googlenews_wsj If you need a copy of the article, you can write to me at: KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) Taking A Bath If you own a food establishment beware. KFC workers in hot water after bathing in restaurant's kitchen sink. This story appear in numerous newspapers. I actually saw the video on a TV news station. Enough said, you can read the article at: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_11186276 After achieving fame and fortune, it happened again. Go to: http://www.redding.com/news/2008/dec/11/girls-fired-after-soak-in-sink/
Help pcAmerica Pilot New Credit Card Technology pcAmerica is working with leading-edge technology to ensure your credit card transactions are safer than ever. CRE and RPE are safe and secure, but we always recommend pursuing the highest level of security possible. We have recently completed a new interface that will further increase the security of your swiped credit and debit card transactions. We're seeking a few retail stores or fast-food\quick-service restaurants (located in the United States) to pilot this new technology over the next few weeks before public release. This may require a change in merchant account and a slight hardware investment (approximately $ 50 per POS terminal, and the hardware is yours to keep for permanent use in your business.) Businesses participating in this pilot program may be featured in nationwide or local newspaper or magazine publications as one of the first businesses to adopt this technology. E-mail beta@pcamerica.com with your name, phone number and a brief description of your business if you'd like to participate.
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when I thought things can’t get better, the price goes down again.
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