a note on brand frames and anchoring
In the clip above, Aussie discount retailer Best&Less hosted a pop up store in a Sydney shopping mall.
However, ‘The L&B Experiment’, was designed to look like more a boutique fashion store (with the, naturally, hefty boutique-y price tags). The twist being that the clothes for sale were all regular cheapo Best&Less products.
The 'real' price was revealed at the point of payment, around a third of the actual ticket price.
The happy shoppers were, of course, delighted to discover this.
But it's worth remembering what we know about brands as frames.
The amount that we are prepared to pay over and above the objective value of any product is usually equal to the value of the frame that the brand provides at the moment of purchase.
This why we have brands. It makes buying easier.
Framing operates implicitly, hence the shoppers in the clip are not aware of its influence.
Therefore, while the percieved value of the product is greater in the context of this 'designer' store, what happens when the products return to their natural habitat? The Best&Less store.
When returned to their original 'frame' does their percieved value change back to what it was in its original context?
Nice bit of anchoring (with a priming effect) on the price tags, though.
But it remains to be seen what this will deliver from a brand standpoint.
