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š§āš¬ How To Drive Purchases With Design
This tactic generated millions of revenue
Josh Viner
April 09, 2024 ā¢ Estimated Reading Time: 5 minutes
In 2009 Airbnb was almost went bankrupt.
Despite having lower prices than hotels, people werenāt booking with them.
Everything changed when they hired professional photographers to take photos of ownersā homes, rather than relying on the ownersā photos.
After hiring professionals in New York, the results were immediate:
The companyās monthly revenue doubled.
But today weāre not talking about Airbnb.
Weāll be discussing cookware brand, Our Place.
Because similar to Airbnb, their ads are a masterclass in showcasing how great aesthetics can influence purchase decisions.
They do it with the Aesthetic-Usability Effect.
Hereās what I mean:
š§Ŗ The Aesthetic-Usability Effect
The Aesthetic-Usability Effect refers to usersā tendency to perceive attractive products as more user-friendly. We believe a product will be function better if we perceive it as more attractive than others. A pretty design can even make us more patient with learning curves.
š¤³ How Our Place Uses the Aesthetic-Usability Effect
Our Place emphasizes both the beauty and usability of their products in their ads.
This combination makes us naturally feel a liking towards their product.
They don't just sell cookware; they sell design and convenience.
And donāt worry, you can still apply the Aesthetic-Usability Effect even if:
You donāt have the most aesthetically-pleasing product, or
Are selling a digital product thatās hard to visually show
Hereās howā¦
š§ How You Can Use The Aesthetic-Usability Effect
The key to using the Aesthetic-Usability Effect is about bringing out the design aspects of your product.
There are several ways you can do this:
Invest in High-Quality Design:
Capture your product with high-resolution images or crisp video content to mirror the Airbnb transformation.
Borrow Design Authority:
(We discussed how to use the Authority Bias back in February. Click here to read that article.)
Link your product to design-centric brands. Ā Check out this example from Athena Club, borrowing authority from Apple and Dyson:
Our Place subtly aligns with Rolexās luxury, boosting their brand prestige (notice they donāt attribute the quote to anyone. Itās probably just made up by their marketing team.š¤):
Ā
Persona Connection:
Connect your product to a customer avatar. Our Place targets customer identities, like Interior Designers, to resonate with specific lifestyles:
Handcrafted Appeal:
Highlighting the effort, as Our Place does with their handcrafted cookware, can elevate your product's perceived value (even if itās a digital product, you can say how many hours are put into it. This leverages another cognitive bias called the Input Biasā¦but letās save that for another newsletter article š):
The Aesthetic-Usability Effect isn't just about the productāitās about the perception it creates.
Create a great perception through visual storytelling, borrowing authority, and the overall aesthetics and design of your ads.
So, how will you use the Aesthetic-Usability Effect?
How will you create a satisfying perception of your product?
Lemme know how it goes!
Until next time,
Josh
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