It turns out it really is all about perceived value…there’s an article on MSNBC.com today discussing a study where brain scans were done to register the “happiness” felt by one experiencing something they perceived to be high priced (and thus, of high value) versus items perceived to be lower priced/lower value. People were “happier” (albeit for a short time) with the higher priced/higher value items.
A quote from the article:
“It’s very weird, I know,” admits Antonio Rangel, the lead author of the study and an associate economics professor at California Institute of Technology. “But people believe that more expensive prices are correlated with higher quality. So if you believe something better is happening to you, that affects the way your brain handles the experience.”
So what does this mean for your business? Raise your prices to be perceived as higher quality. There is money being spent on creative services out there but it is being spent with more (theoretical) care. Buyers are happy to spend money on high quality creative product…except for the cheap bastards who will always be the cheap bastards and they aren’t worth your time and efforts anyway. To go after the better paying clients, you have got to look worthy. That means great work and the perceived image that goes with. A higher price can actually help build that perceived image.