• Ross Fadner, Sep 19, 2007, 11:01 AM
  • How To Resolve Confusion And Score a Sale Ars Technica Direct marketers sometimes like to trick consumers with confusing sales pitches, but a new study says that ambiguous advertising adversely affects sales. However, instead of dropping the confusing message, the study urges marketers to boost sales by following up difficult-to-interpret pitches with the same offer, but using clearer language.

    The Journal of Consumer Research report coins the sales technique "disrupt then reframe" (DTR). For example, first calling five dollars "five hundred pennies" and then following that message up with another one reading, "That's $5--a bargain!" The report says that in some cases, DTR nearly doubled sales compared to reframe alone. Why? Two-part DTR ad contains a follow-up message. For another, the second message disarms those who may dislike ambiguity but pay attention to confusing messages. Apparently, the subset of the population that has difficulty with ambiguity has a so-called "need for cognitive closure," which lowers their resistance to sales pitches.

    The DTR research cited in the report came from an offline experiment, although its principles could easily be applied to the Web. The research team set up a candy sale at a supermarket in the Netherlands using such a pitch. The DTR technique actually scored a 65 percent success rate, compared to a 45 percent success rate for pitches without a disruption. Read the whole story...
  • Silicon Valley Figures Large In '08 Primaries Business Week Understandably, the 2008 presidential candidates' have their eyes trained on Iowa and New Hampshire now, but Silicon Valley figures prominently in their campaign plans. The cash-rich Valley is a tremendous source of fund-raising, having raised $1 million more in the first six months of '07 than it did in 2004 and 2000.

    More broadly, California, with its early primary date of Feb. 5, provides a chance for the candidates to tackle issues other than the war in Iraq and economic concerns, such as Net neutrality, job outsourcing, competition in the Internet service industry, open standards for wireless, and the U.S. patent mess, particularly with respect to software. Venture capitalists, the Valley's other influential, cash-rich faction, fear that higher taxes for private equity would discourage investment in tech startups.

    As former Palo Alto mayor Gary Fazzino, now vice president of government affairs at Hewlett-Packard, says, "There has never been this degree of attention paid by presidential candidates to the Valley." Industry giants agree that the next Presidential election is crucial for the tech sector. "We want to make sure the next President is a 'tech President'," says Google spokesman Adam Kovacevich, "that they ... have some concrete ideas about how to keep the tech economy growing." Read the whole story...
  • Microsoft EU Ruling Bodes Ill for Google, Apple Fortune Google and Apple must have stood up and taken notice of the European Union's decision to uphold an antitrust ruling against Microsoft that was made in 2004. The verdict, more than forcing Microsoft to let go of the monopolistic practice of bundling software with its operating system, shows that Europe's antitrust authorities have the power to crack down on U.S. companies they believe are illegally limiting competition.

    So other companies that dominate their respective markets better watch out. In particular, Intel, Apple and Google are also being investigated by the EU: Intel for its pricing of computer chips, Apple for its pricing of music downloads, and Google for its proposed acquisition of ad-serving giant DoubleClick--which could give the search giant power to set ad rates around the world.

    Mighty Microsoft is no longer what it once was, and the EU probe focused on products that wouldn't be considered part of the software giant's core business. However, you couldn't say the same thing for Intel, Apple and Google; any restrictions on their business practices could have a severe impact on revenues. Microsoft must now open its software platforms for media and work-group servers to competition--a decision that could force Apple to make iTunes compatible with other media devices or make Google unveil how its PageRank system works, says one antitrust law professor. Read the whole story...
  • MySpace and Facebook: Not Competitors? Fortune For all the talk about MySpace vs. Facebook, there are vast differences between social networking's top two; they might even be able to coexist peacefully. Content-wise, MySpace and Facebook couldn't be more different. There's a strong hint of old media to the former's model for expansion, while Facebook is about the development of new software to help its users interact with one another.

    For example, News Corp. content has become a big part of MySpace's stickiness strategy. Clips from Fox shows like "The Simpsons" and "24" have helped it become the second most-popular video site on the Web. MySpace continues to be a driving force in music; thousands of artists have profiles and the company even has its own record label. Expect MySpace to soon move into TV and film and production.

    Over at Facebook, the focus seems to be on software. The 40 million-strong social network--which represents less than half of MySpace's registered total--has never licensed content and probably never will. Even so, MySpace execs have a Facebook obsession, while Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says, "I've never really considered us competitors." Read the whole story...