5 Tiny Wording Tricks That Can Totally Change Someone's Mind

I found this article last night, I thought there was some really good and interesting information in it. I'll share my favorite tip here, and you can read the rest at the link below:

#4. You Can't Resist Buying Products With Meaningless Adjectives

Have you ever wondered why marketers advertise breakfast cereal as "crunchy," even though crunchiness is pretty much inherent to the concept of breakfast cereal? Seriously, if the new cereal you just came up with is, like, chewy or something, it may be time to re-examine your career choice as a breakfast cereal development specialist.


Well, it turns out that's actually a form of marketing known as meaningless differation. The words don't convey any information, but their presence flips a switch deep in your brain.


So What's Going on Here?


According to a study published in the Journal of Marketing Research, meaningless differentiation occurs when somebody tries to sell you something based on a "special feature" that is really just some random word they pulled out of their ass. For example, the researchers discuss a company that sold "flaked" instant coffee. It turns out that the shape of an instant coffee grain has absolutely zero effect on the drink itself -- instant coffee dissolves, so its shape is purely aesthetic. It could be shaped like a giant turd and it'd still taste like instant coffee (which, incidentally, tastes like a giant turd). That extra, totally random adjective makes you want it. Here, we'll let Don Draper explain why Lucky Strikes tout "toasted" tobacco:




In one study, researchers tested participants with two different kinds of jackets, one that had normal jacket filling, and one that had "alpine class fill" (which, you'll notice, means precisely nothing). They found that when people were confronted with two identical products, they were far more inclined to choose the one with an added (meaningless) attribute. And here's the kicker: Even after being told that the feature was meaningless and that they had been force-fed a heaping load of horseshit, people still found it impossible to lose their stronger attraction to the meaninglessly differentiated product.
Suddenly, infomercials make a whole lot more sense.


5 Tiny Wording Tricks That Can Totally Change Someone's Mind | Cracked.com