The Big Mac Pricing Strategy - Will this work for you?
Can this subtle change make a big difference for you?
I’ve always been interested in the principles of social selling and the psychology of sales and marketing principles.
One of the first books I read on the topic was the classic Influence by Cialdini. Highly recommend it if you haven’t picked it up yet.
In that book I learned the principle of top-down selling, reciprocity, social proof, and a lot more. These things have made me a lot of money over the years. Applied ethically, they can help you get a lot more people to say yes, expanding your reach and impact.
What I have to share with you today fits into this same category.
I like to call these things “little shifts that make a big difference.”
A few days ago I came across this lovely write up on Instagram, essentially a case study on some changes that McDonalds made to the way they present prices on their menu:
Hammer this link to go straight to the Insta post.
The essence of it is this:
“Studies in Neural Computing proved that seeing currency symbols (ex. $) in front of numbers activates the same brain regions as physical pain.
This is why luxury restaurants don’t usually use them and show a “14” instead of “$14” on menus.
But McDonald’s took this science to another level with their own pricing test.
They didn’t just remove dollar signs from their digital menus...
They completely reengineered the customer’s psychological journey by:
➡️ Moving prices below item descriptions
➡️ Making item photos 40% larger
➡️ Highlighting customer favorites
➡️ Displaying top-rated items first
The psychology at work here is powerful:
When you see: “Big Mac $4.99”
Your brain processes the cost first.
But when you see: “Big Mac” “4.99”
Your brain focuses on desire before cost.
This small change created a massive shift in purchase behavior for McDonalds, which lead to an impressive growth in annual sales.
This experiment was part of their “Accelerating the Arches” strategy that increased sales worldwide by 9.5% in 2023.”
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Now, I’m sure there were some other things at play which also contributed to their 2023 sales growth. Big Macs are delicious. That plays a part in it too.
The primary thing to latch onto is this one sentence: “Studies in Neural Computing proved that seeing currency symbols (ex. $) in front of numbers activates the same brain regions as physical pain.”
That’s really fascinating. And potentially very applicable in your business.
Take a look at how you’re presenting pricing in your decks, proposals, etc. Is there an opportunity to test this theory out, and ditch the dollar signs?
I love stuff like this. Because over time, as you learn more and more of these things, and apply them to your business…
…the cumulative effect can be pretty significant.
These little things can add up to a big difference over time.
Next week we return with our show Mostly Business. It’s Wednesday at noon central! Mark it on your calendar, and I’ll send out a reminder with links prior.
Thank you!
Josh
Josh Turner
Multiple times Inc 500 + 5000, WSJ Bestselling author, dad, #LetsGoBlues, top LinkedIn expert, helping small businesses get more leads and clients online.
P.S. When the time is right for you, here are a couple ways we can work together:
My on-demand LinkedIn Accelerator, which includes training and 1-on-1 consulting with my head coach. This program focuses on my 5-step methodology to get connected to a lot more prospects, and build relationships with them through strategic messaging, to generate an average of 10-15 sales appointments per month. (click here)
Let me and my marketing director build a comprehensive marketing plan for your business. Once we build the plan, we can present options for execution. (click here)
Work with me 1-on-1. Hit reply to this message, tell me about your business and let me know what you want to work on together. Then I’ll get you the details on my consulting work.