26 January 2024 , 11:38
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With caffeine high on most people’s daily agenda, you might not be aware that your daily caffeine-fuelled or decaf coffee might be a decoy. But one man claims Starbucks has been using 'trickery' on its customers to entice them into buying larger drinks each time they visit.
According to Mark Tilbury on TikTok, a self-proclaimed and self-made millionaire who has 7.2 million followers, Starbucks uses a clever ploy to entice you into buying a larger size than you might initially have gone in for. Called ‘decoy pricing’, the business strategy is when a brand presents you with several different prices in a stealth bid to steer you to a particular product or service, called the ‘target’. By introducing another, slightly less desirable option –the decoy – this target looks more appealing, which is certainly the caffeinated case for Starbucks.
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He said: “If you’re watching this, then Starbucks has probably tricked you,” before presenting viewers with two coffee cup options – one small £2.95 ($3.75) and one large £3.73 ($4.75), in a video titled ‘Starbucks is tricking you', that has racked up 469k views. "When you’re faced with these 2 options which would you go for?” he asked. “The large looks like a rip off, so you’re probably thinking the small, but when you add a medium into the mix, you’ll probably start thinking the large looks a little bit more reasonable.”
He then showed the medium-sized coffee cup, which was £3.50 ($4.45) before adding: “This is known as decoy pricing; in order to draw your eyes to the more expensive items they introduce this middle option, so be aware of it and buy whichever coffee you actually want,” he advised.
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Viewers were stunned at his revelation, with one saying: “Thank you for sharing sir,” and another saying: “Great advice!” One said that this was a strategy often used on wine lists, too, while another said: “The real decoy is how much actual beverage you’re getting between the three sizes (it’s almost the same).” “Choice is an illusion,” commented one viewer, while another said: “They also say ‘is that a large?”after you ask for a drink as it’s easier for people to just say yes!”