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Great questions, I wondered how they got it so wrong, I still wonder how they got it so wrong. It never occurred to me it may have been time of day they asked t

Great questions, I wondered how they got it so wrong, I still wonder how they got it so wrong. It never occurred to me it may have been time of day they asked the questions.

heavenlyblue 6y ago
Or people who answer surveys have more money
jerf 6y ago
There's a big difference between spending hypothetical dollars and real dollars, no matter how much you ask people to please try really really hard to pretend they're spending real dollars. It's a recurring element in the recurring "I Tried To Start A SaaS Business And It Crashed And Burned Taking My Will To Live With It" posts on HN... "I asked some people if they'd be willing to buy it and they said yes, were very encouraging, until I asked them to actually buy it."
caseysoftware 6y ago
Three things strike me here: audience, proximity, and predicting behavior. - The audience coming out of the waterpark at the end of the day are different than the people entering the overall park at the beginning of the day. If nothing else, the larger group will include people who have no interest in going to the waterpark and therefore find no value in it at all. The smaller audience is more highly qualified. - The proximity comes down to when you received/perceived value. Polling people immediately after they had a fun filled day is terrible timing. Think of the last time you went to a movie you LOVED. On the way out, if someone had asked "want to see it again" you would have said "yes!" but a week later, much less so. Now a year later would you buy the same movie on streaming? - And finally, people are terrible about predicting their own behavior, especially if it requires work or not-immediately visible value. That's why most New Year's resolutions are dead by February. After hitting this lots of times, I stay away from "would" questions: https://caseysoftware.com/blog/the-problem-with-would https://caseysoftware.com/blog/the-problem-with-would But without going through that pain and suffering it first hand, it's hard to predict when/if it will occur. There are lots of other packaging & pricing strategies to address this intersection of economics & psychology.
rconti 6y ago
"Would you pay extra for the water park" at the end of a fun day is a proxy for "did you appreciate/receive value from this thing you just finished enjoying?" Whereas, on a random Tuesday, announcing: "Want to come to the water park? PAY US MORE MONEY." Is a proxy for "we're taking something away from your admission ticket and trying to backdoor a new charge".

Great questions, I wondered how they got it so wrong, I still wonder how they got it so wrong. It never occurred to me it may have been time of day they asked the questions.

heavenlyblue 6y ago

Or people who answer surveys have more money

jerf 6y ago

There's a big difference between spending hypothetical dollars and real dollars, no matter how much you ask people to please try really really hard to pretend they're spending real dollars. It's a recurring element in the recurring "I Tried To Start A SaaS Business And It Crashed And Burned Taking My Will To Live With It" posts on HN... "I asked some people if they'd be willing to buy it and they said yes, were very encouraging, until I asked them to actually buy it."

caseysoftware 6y ago

Three things strike me here: audience, proximity, and predicting behavior. - The audience coming out of the waterpark at the end of the day are different than the people entering the overall park at the beginning of the day. If nothing else, the larger group will include people who have no interest in going to the waterpark and therefore find no value in it at all. The smaller audience is more highly qualified. - The proximity comes down to when you received/perceived value. Polling people immediately after they had a fun filled day is terrible timing. Think of the last time you went to a movie you LOVED. On the way out, if someone had asked "want to see it again" you would have said "yes!" but a week later, much less so. Now a year later would you buy the same movie on streaming? - And finally, people are terrible about predicting their own behavior, especially if it requires work or not-immediately visible value. That's why most New Year's resolutions are dead by February. After hitting this lots of times, I stay away from "would" questions: https://caseysoftware.com/blog/the-problem-with-would https://caseysoftware.com/blog/the-problem-with-would But without going through that pain and suffering it first hand, it's hard to predict when/if it will occur. There are lots of other packaging & pricing strategies to address this intersection of economics & psychology.

rconti 6y ago

"Would you pay extra for the water park" at the end of a fun day is a proxy for "did you appreciate/receive value from this thing you just finished enjoying?" Whereas, on a random Tuesday, announcing: "Want to come to the water park? PAY US MORE MONEY." Is a proxy for "we're taking something away from your admission ticket and trying to backdoor a new charge".