Ben Brugler: I’ve Ben Thinking...

I went golfing with a client and a few AKHIA people on Friday. Let me tell you, I was terrible. Fortunately, we were able to enjoy ourselves despite the hackjob I dropped on the course that day.

 

As we finished our round we approached the club house and were met by an employee with a rag in tow, offering to wipe our clubs off. I made the comment that they could wipe them down for the next week and not get all the bad shots off, but go ahead and try. Our clubs were wiped off within five minutes, with everyone throwing in a few bucks for tip.

 

Later, I got around to thinking and realized that we had basically "paid" $9 for five minutes of work. As someone in the marketing profession my mind instantly went to 'why did we act this way, i.e. what drove us to spend money on such a fruitless service?'

 

In a way I was left feeling like I do when a bathroom attendant turns on the water, hands me a towel and puts out his hand. An odd thing, paying someone to do what I can do. And not in a way like a lawn service, or housekeeping, but in a basic function of life kind of way. This defied all sales and marketing rationale. I wasn't pitched this service. Nor was I enticed with a targeted message telling me how I'll feel if I get this. Nor was I incentivized to do it.

 

So, what drove behavior that day? Habit? Obligation? Peer pressure? Guilt?

 

Let me know what you think.

8/10/2009 10:32:35 AM

Marty Kerr Says:

Elitism accounts for about 20% of people who pay for these services. The idea that It's cheaper for me to pay someone "under" me to do what I just am too important or can't take the time to do. For example, I have a friend who recently paid a plumber $80 to change the wax ring on his toilet. This is a simple (non-gross) operation involving two bolts and 15 minutes. When I asked him why he didn;t do this he responded that the "truly wealthy" didn;t need to know how to do these kinds of things....(Have you ever read the time Machine? Spooky).Guilt makes up about 75%. People in the club wiping/bathroom attendent business NEVER ask permission because they're counting on your guilt to tip them for what you easily could have done yourself and who wants to be the jerk who doesn't tip them.The remaining 5% are the "jerks" (like me) who will just nod to the club wiper guy and say "No Thanks" or who will look at the bathroom attendant and ask him to turn the water off "I can handle it myself". There is nothing rude about this. I'm not impairing any livelyhood. Just because that guy chose to be a bathroom attendent doesn;t mean I should give him money for sitting in a chair and giving me a towel....go get a real job. -

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