Being lied to, and lovin’ it

We hate being lied to. Lies are supposed to make us mad. But we love them when they are along the lines we want to believe.  Then we fold our critical antennae. We close our eyes. We ask no questions. We accept them like a coin that we pick up from the street. Marketers know this very well and frame their offerings to take advantage of this.

This is no new discovery. What is interesting is the kind of evidence that emerges from time to time. I was reminded of this when I read a recent article, ‘The perils of panflation,’ in The Economist (April 7, 2012).  The writer talks about the “devaluation of everything.” What interested me most is the way women’s clothing sizes in Britain (and the US) have gradually grown bigger and bigger during the last thirty-five years while retaining the fiction that they are staying the same.

Let me give you a clearer picture. In the mid-1970s, size 10 trousers were for women whose waist was twenty-four inches. Women with a twenty-six inch waist would pick up size 12. The marketers have retained these labels but quietly increased the actual sizes by up to four inches. So in 2012, women whose waist measures 27 to 28 inches buy size 10 trousers because it fits them well. It also gives them the satisfaction that they can comfortably get into the smallest size. Similarly, women whose waist measures 35 to 36 inches now gladly pick up size 18 trousers, originally meant to be worn by women whose waist was 30 to 32 inches.

Giving women’s trousers fictional size labels such as 10, 12, and 14 rather than 24, 26, 28 that stand for the actual waist size trousers and skirts are meant for was a stroke of marketing genius. It helps women maintain the fiction that their waist is still small while it has actually grown by two or three inches.

It is interesting that men’s trousers are labelled according to the actual waist size. The reason is simple. They are not paranoid about their waist size going up. Naturally, marketers don’t waste their time creating feel-good labels that mask the real waist size. But there are other aspects of size where men look for such reassurance.

I’m also reminded of an experience I had at an Udupi restaurant in Hyderabad in the early 90s. I ordered a plate of iddlis within weeks of its inauguration. Two years later, I happened to be back at the same restaurant.  Again I ordered a plate of iddlis. There were two iddlis, as on the first occasion.  The price was the same: Rs 10. How could they hold the price in spite of inflation all around? Simple. The iddlis were smaller. I noticed the change in size immediately, but regular customers probably did not.

What matters in persuasion is not whether you receive value but whether you perceive value.

Photo credit: http://www.istockphoto.com