Price premium: How brands are challenging the category norms
Brands from Nespresso to Seedlip are reframing the way consumers think about their products, shifting outside their traditional categories to claim a larger share of shoppers’ wallets.
The price charged for a product or service might seem like one of the most basic elements of any transaction. But the question of what constitutes good value is a moveable feast.
Comparing the value of a supermarket ready meal, for example, with the cost of the raw ingredients required to cook a comparable dish might give a price-conscious consumer pause for thought. Yet comparing it to the price of a similar menu from a delivery service might convince them it’s a bargain.
As consumers, we make such comparisons – often subconsciously – many times a day. However, some brands manage to engineer a shift in the products or categories by which they are compared, with potentially beneficial effect.
Behavioural scientist Richard Shotton says that when we try to calculate whether a product is good value or not, our brains take short cuts.
