Audience with a Dragon Tattoo
I’ve explored the power of free in the context of tattoos before, and anyone who saw last years’ comedy Bridesmaids no doubt laughed at this particularly memorable scene. But this story out of the Netherlands caught me a little off guard just the same. First, consider what you would do for a year’s worth of free movie tickets. Or if you like live music, tickets to your favorite venue. Would you pay $200? Would you eat a bag of (nonpoisonous) insects?
Well, the Unlimited Movies Cinema in the Netherlands has offered moviegoers the opportunity to see free movies for an entire year—all they have to do is get the theater’s logo (a dog-like creature flying under a banner of unfurled film reel) tattooed on their body (for pictures, check this page out). The offer is part of a promotion for the latest movie in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo series.
I developed an appreciation for the surprising power of FREE! from the experiments my colleagues and I conducted on how people respond to things when their cost is zero (included in Predictably Irrational). For instance, when we set up a temporary candy stand and sold mouthwatering Lindt truffles (which usually cost around 50 cents) for 15 cents and ho-hum Hershey Kisses for 1 cent, 73% of the chocolate-lovers who stopped by made the rational decision and chose the superior and highly discounted Lindt truffles. But when we lowered the price by 1 cent for each item—resulting in a cost of 14 cents and 0 cents respectively—suddenly demand reversed and 69% of consumers chose the free Kisses.
The power zero exercises over people’s choice in chocolate nicely demonstrates the irrational draw of free things, but it’s still difficult to know what to make of people getting a cinema logo (and not the most aesthetically pleasing one at that) permanently inked on their body for a single year of free movies. While according to the story, only 18 people have elected to exchange skin space for free movies, one has to ask whether the wonders of free will ever cease…
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves
I wonder if the limited nature of the offer is an influential driver? Scarcity Free. Maybe there is even an exclusivity to it?
I wonder if the theater manager resigns and a new management decides to cancel the freebies how would those tattooed people would feel?!
With the lowering of the cost by a cent, it hadn’t just made both items a cent cheaper. It also completely eliminated the cost of reaching into one’s wallet for money and probably checking for and receiving change from the vendor. Hope that was taken care of and equalized in some way. If it wasn’t, it could have been more than just the power of FREE that was at work here.
I’m sure the theory is sound and that there have been other experiments confirming it. It’s just this specific experiment I’d like to understand better.
The free chocolate experiment is really quite astonishing. That a penny could make such a significant difference. Quite similar to the behavior of people at a buffet table.
Eat all you want like pigs at a trough. LIS!
The curious psychological phenomenon stirred inside people when they hear the word “free”, notwithstanding, how anyone can deliberately assault their skin — permanently, for all practical purposes, given the nature of tattooing — for such a miniscule return is, indeed, astonishing.
Debrah,
What astounds me also is how people assault their skin for seemingly NO return. They just voluntarily PAY someone to do it. I would be interested to know the true motivation behind that.
Unlike the chocolate example in Predictably Irrational, the movie deal has two costs–neither of them insignificant. The first is the cost of the tattoo (assuming moviegoers are expected to pay for their own), and the second is the cost of wearing a tattoo you may eventually regret (or paying to having it removed later in life).
Apples and oranges.
I recently listened to the audio book of Predictably Irrational. Listening to the chapter on the power of free, I wondered if the experiments took into account extra people who would have said ‘no’ altogether if not for the inclusion of free. Like, in the sweets experiment, maybe the same people who would have gone for the truffles when the kisses weren’t free still did afterwards, but a lot of extra people who wouldn’t have gone for either went for kisses once they were free?
Oh Dan,
It gets worse. Bethesda softworks, creators of the video game Skyrim, ran a contest where if you had a child born on 11,11,11 (release date of skyrim) and named him or her “dovakhin” (I.e. Dragonborn in mythical dragon speak) that kid would get free Bethesda games for life. Someone took them up on their
Now, I’m a fan of Bethesda but this is insanity. At least movies you can enjoy weekly. Bethesda brings out titles once every year or so. And… Well… Hobbled your child with a really stupid name. And the kid may not even enjoy games.
Enjoy!
It’s not so unusual after all. Compare to how in NYC and Vegas the taxicabs are carrying billboards with ads on the top of the vehicle. If you think about it, there’s not so much difference between carrying it on the vehicle you drive every day for 8 hours, and your own body.
Or take into account numerous facts where fanatical enough people used to name their kids and change own names after political figures, historical events, and such. For example, in Russia the name “Vilen” is rare, but not completely unheard of, there were relatively many people named Vilen – which stands for Vladimir Ilich LENin.
At least in this case this move does bring some real benefit.
This is probably a mix of a lack of a strong sense of self and a love for saving money with not much regard for future and consequences.
I once designed a tattoo – it said ‘Fake Rebel’.
Free chocolates: most revealing. In another setting, I wonder how people with severe tooth pain react to a) consulting a reputed dentist at reduced fees, or b) consulting a recently graduated dentist for free
I remember a similar but much more extreme story: http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/bizarre&id=7693065.
I wonder how many people would pay a social price in order to get something for free. For example, how many people would “like” something embarrassing on Facebook, in exchange for a free item?
As a side bar …..
Just saw Dan on Fox News with John Stossel.
I’m sure this will be replayed at some subsequent time.
Excellent discussion!
Tom Marvan —
I suppose they’re trying to achieve the impossible.
Vain promises.
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2012/03/arnie-klein-201203
Actually, it’s a little odd chapter in otherwise excellent and very readable book i.e. PI. The point that gave me pain is taught as simple mathematical outcome of rearranging some algebra but many people miss that it is the heart and soul of economics.
That is, you claimed in the chapter that relative price is constant when the price of one of the goods is reduced to zero, which is obviously not. Absolute price gap is constant, but relative price (px/py) i.e. the absolute slope of the budge constraint is not constant when you change one of the prices to zero. Needless, to say your experimental result supported (NOT contradicted) the neo-classical prediction. I hope we will see this hole filled in the next edition of PI, which I am looking forward to read again.
The power of free is related to its “inverse” – infinity, and the cognitive short cuts we all have.
You can have infinite crappy chocolates if it’s 0 cost. But you can’t have infinite good quality chocolates even if they’re at 99% discount.
But clearly, you can’t get an infinite amount of chocolates (good or bad)………
Several years ago, National Public Radio’s April Fool’s story was about businesses offering a lifetime 10% discount if you got a tattoo of their logo somewhere on your face.
The fake story included interviews with people contemplating the ROI. Would one be better with a GM logo, getting a big 10% discount every couple of years, or would a Starbuck’s logo be better in getting a small 10% discount on a daily basis.
Truth may be stranger than fiction, but sometimes parody becomes reality too.
From my experience with those that get tattoos this particular case could become more than one about movies. It presents another story represented as the company logo as well as a mile-marker in their history. Not everyone is as sensible to think permanently marking ones own skin should be made quickly however I believe their is a core following that are trying to keep memories via an external device. A type of reminder where they can look down (or anywhere else with the use of a mirror) and be able to verify their existence through these permanent markings.
A taco restaurant did a comparable promo a few years ago
Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304370304575151861646999610.html
And yes, the restaurant is still open today but not sure if the tattooed patrons are sick of the food yet!
I was going to mention Casa Sanchez in San Francisco, but Daniel Green beat me to it. I remember the original promotion in 1999 when they had to cap the number of people it was turning out so popular.
What’s interesting to me is that I knew quite a few people who were considering getting the tattoo until they capped the promotion. Granted, a free meal every day for life is not a bad deal. The WSJ article mentions that maybe it’s something about San Francisco that made the promotion so popular; it would be an interesting experiment to compare across cities or cultures.
As for getting sick of their burritos (not to mention their fantastic salsa) or other food, I ate lunch at Casa Sanchez 2-3 days a week for the six years I worked at SF General. I still stop in for a burrito when I’m in town.
Chocoloate experiment is designed to prove what the experiementer wanted to prove (to make the book look more ‘true’ and sell it more!). As ‘Ken’ suggested when the 1 c chocolate is free, the comparison is between 72% to Infinite % unlike the previous 70% and 50%. I don’t see how ‘irrationality’ part is playing in this experiment. I am sure that Dr. Ariely knows Infinite is more than 72! This experiment is highly biased. I do not know whether he published this in any journal, may be it was just for the book. Yeah! In popular books one has to add such things; may be author can blame it on the publisher, editor, etc.
BME.com has a “club” called BME4LIFE which includes members of the site who have a BME logo modification on their bodies. They receive a badge on their profile which let’s other users know that they have a tattoo, scarification, branding or other modification that has a BME logo in it. While our policy isn’t publicized that you get anything for free, we give free IAM access to anyone who submits photos of their BME logo modification. Unlike other companies, we don’t want people getting a BME logo just so that they get something for free. We want them to get the logo because they love the site and what it has done for the body modification community over the last 18 years.
As a company owner, I would be horrified if people permanently marked themselves with my logo just to get something for free and not because they loved what the site does for them. While I always deny the fact that someone gets a free membership when people ask, we do reward their loyalty with a free account, it’s just not “guaranteed” because we want to make sure that people do it for the right reasons.
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