Consumers are sometimes proven to be shortsighted and not that smart with our money. And by understanding that, marketers can persuade us towards making decisions which benefits the sellers (instead of the buyers).
An interesting question: what’s the benefit for you to buy a subsidized cellphone today? According to the NY Times, the answer is probably none:
Let’s say that you buy a MyTouch 3G, one of T-Mobile’s most popular smartphones, for $400, and sign up for its unlimited voice, text and data plan for $60 a month. The total cost of the phone over two years would be $1,840.
If, instead, you buy the phone subsidized by T-Mobile for $150, that same unlimited plan will cost $80 monthly – which is still the best deal among the major carriers, by the way – bringing your two-year total to $2,070.
And imagine how much more money the service provider could make if the customer doesn’t switch carriers after the two year contract has expired.
I think if you are one of the cellphone manufactures or carriers, you should see this as a huge opportunity. By voluntarily disclosing this information to your customers and helping them save money, you could end up earning trust from many of them, and eventually a big chunk of the market share.
The question then becomes: do you really have the courage to become the first one in your industry to refuse taking advantage of the uneducated public?
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