How perceived exclusivity affects conversion rate
Texas State Historical Association
Experiment Summary
Timeframe: 06/02/2015 - 06/22/2015
The TSHA launched a name and donor acquisition campaign, offering their Battle of the Alamo eBook free for a limited time. They wanted to test the impact of urgency — even though no end date was clearly defined. Two ads were created: one positioned itself to appeal to Texas history lovers, and the other used “while it lasts” language.
Research Question
Does perceived urgency increase conversion?
Design
Results
| Treatment Name | Conv. Rate | Relative Difference | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| C: | Love Texas history | 28.6% | ||
| T1: | Get the free eBook | 38.7% | 35.3% | 99.9% |
This experiment has a required sample size of 177 in order to be valid. Since the experiment had a total sample size of 2,262, and the level of confidence is above 95% the experiment results are valid.
Flux Metrics Affected
The Flux Metrics analyze the three primary metrics that affect revenue (traffic, conversion rate, and average gift). This experiment produced the following results:
0% increase in traffic
× 35.3% increase in conversion rate
× 0% increase in average gift
Key Learnings
The power of perceived urgency is impactful — not only did it attract many more clicks, the visitors who clicked through were much more likely to convert. This suggests that future campaigns might deliver better results with some sort of suggested deadline.