Multiple rewards may be averaging, rather than additive

Product & Experience

On Hallowe’en, twenty-eight trick-or-treaters with the average age of around ten came to the house. All the kids were given different combinations of candy and asked to rate their happiness levels in relation to it. Seven different happiness levels were shown by using smiley face symbols ranging from neutral to open-mouthed-grin smiley face. Some kids were given a full-size Hershey’s chocolate bar, some kids were given a piece of gum, some kids were given first a Hershey’s bar then a piece of gum, and some kids were given first a Hershey’s bar then another Hershey’s bar. You would expect more candy to equal more happiness. But the children getting a chocolate bar then a piece of gum were less happy than the kids who received just the chocolate bar. And two chocolate bars did not bring more happiness than one chocolate bar.

A full-size chocolate bar is a gift. Add a miserable piece of gum and suddenly the whole thing looks like stock clearance. Nothing was taken away. Arithmetic says the child received more. Experience says the giver had one generous thought, panicked, then grabbed whatever was left.

Bundles are judged as compositions, and weak extras can drag the average down. A meaningful bonus arrives beside a plastic trinket and starts to feel promotional. A sincere apology gets followed by a £3 voucher requiring a twenty-digit code. A strong subscription benefit disappears among twelve “exclusive perks” involving partners nobody has heard of. This offends organisations because organisations count components. Three benefits must beat one benefit. The customer encounters one gesture and asks what sort of gesture it is.

Complementary extras can absolutely increase value. The case against the gum is coherence, not quantity. A cable that makes the device usable strengthens the device. An irrelevant accessory with the texture of a petrol-station prize introduces another standard and another judgement. Find the element carrying the emotional weight. Anything added should deepen it, complete it or get out of the bloody way. If the extra needs two paragraphs to prove it is generous, separate it and let the good gift breathe. Hand over the chocolate on its own and watch the reaction before procurement adds another “value component”.