Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: Books: The New Yorker

Posted on June 29, 2009 by zzz_zwp

Is free the future?

Interesting review / article about the power of “free” written by Malcom Glabwell. I’ve read a couple of his books; Blink and Outliers. Gladwell also references the 1 cent vs 0 cents Hershey Kiss experiment in Dan Ariely’s book “Predictably Irrational” which I’ve also read. Gladwell explains the experiment;

“Ariely offered a group of subjects a choice between two kinds of chocolate—Hershey’s Kisses, for one cent, and Lindt truffles, for fifteen cents. Three-quarters of the subjects chose the truffles. Then he redid the experiment, reducing the price of both chocolates by one cent. The Kisses were now free. What happened? The order of preference was reversed. Sixty-nine per cent of the subjects chose the Kisses. The price difference between the two chocolates was exactly the same, but that magic word “free” has the power to create a consumer stampede.”

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Malcolm Gladwell reviews Free by Chris Anderson: Books: The New Yorker

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