Is it *really* the information we value?

[wordmuse]

Maybe this question has been answered. If so sorry for not finding it here. Anyway here goes...

I think it's been well established that there's a perceived value to "getting" information in the form of a .exe file or a .pdf file. There is supposedly less value - for the exact self-same information, which is presumably what we pay for (and not the package) - in getting the information from an HTML file.

I mean I can get more money for an "ebook" than for the "same" information provided through your browser.

My question is WHY? Why should this be the case?

Now I have a theory, which is that we've been conditioned by the browser industry to devalue information disseminated through the browser. We get so much information for free through this medium (sort of like Marshall McLuhann's The Medium is the Message.

Because we get so much free through the browser, we figure that nothing *truly valuable* can be made available in this medium.

But a PDF or an exe file. Oh wow! Now I'm really getting something of value.

This is nonsense of course, but it seems descriptive of what's so.

I'd be interested in learning of additional viewpoints/ideas on this.

Thanks!

Regards,
Bal

[Kirk]

I think it depends on the HTML file - if it's in the form of a restricted membership site, the *value* is the access. I've been a member of a site that charged $997/month and I never got anything but access to a forum and a series of step-by-step procedures - all in HTML format.

The information was worth it - I had no trouble forkin' over the money.

As far as ebooks go, I think this format is rapidly approaching a "valueless" perception because so much junk exists out there and so many folks keep lowering the price. I think audio and video are much better vehicles for information products at this point, but supplemented with PDF/exe written material as bonuses.

Personally, I've never bought into the "medium is the message" concept. All mediums are simply conduits for information, so the information (to me anyway) is really the key to the equation.

Good topic - I hope we get some more replies...

[NetDebut]

Kirk,

I can't agree with you more.

The value, itself, is in the knowledge and information available, not the means of obtaining it or the format it comes to us. If the product is not downloadable and I have to be in a browser, I'd still be willing to pay for it if the information seems valuable enough.

However, I do hate using PDF files as a means of delivering my information. I know MACs can't view .exe file unless they have a patch for it. To improvise, I also provide my information online through HTML pages. This allows all operating systems and browsers to get my information.

[wordmuse]

I was not asking about the actual value of the information. Were I asking that, there'd be no real marketing question here.

My question is about perceived value.

Let me give you a "for instance."

Go to Barnes and Noble. You'll find good books on any marketing subject you want ranging from, say, $20 to $40.

My experience is that very similar information sold as digital carries a relatively inflated impulse price. Speaking only for myself, I find it easier to think of $97 as reasonable for an electronically delivered product than for something similar that I find at my local bookstore.

And I think something similar holds for products delivered in HTML versus pdf or exe formats. I'm most definitely *not* saying that I think such distinctions reflect the best intelligence in the world. I'm only suggesting that it seems to be a perception that extends beyond just me.

Of course, I guess I could be the only foolish person in this forum. Wouldn't be the first time.

Regards,
Bal

[NetDebut]

Hey Bal,

Alright, I guess that makes the topic a little more specific. Thanks for making that instance and explaining it in a different way. I totally understand what you mean.

I absolutely agree. I could go to the book store and get a book on entreprenuership and marketing for about $15-$25 (hard cover) and then I go online I'm looking at ebooks that are $97 and even $197 - FOR A BOOK, for heaven's sake.

But in all honesty, BECAUSE it is now a world of cyber space, the value of any product can easily be inflated and even exagerated. Even then, it would be seen as common and normal to us old-salts, but to new Internet marketers, that's an arm and a leg.

To me, it has nothing to do with the form or format it's in (.exe or on an actual book), but the fact that it is offered over the Internet. The INTERNET gives the perceived value more leverage and the ability to be priced higher. Why? Because once again - it's common to see it on the Internet than in book stores.

Some people can be in a book store and be there for hours reading the ebook without paying, but if it's online, they HAVE to pay for it to read it. This allows the author to charge a little higher and still get purchases.

[wordmuse]

Hi Kevin,

I'm glad that we're on the same page now. And you've begun helping to explore the psychology of this, which is what I'm really interested in.

Consider this:

Once upon a time, I showed a potential client information that I'd compiled, presented as a series of web pages - nicely formatted html.

She didn't seem very impressed. Then I put the very same information into a pdf ebook. Didn't change a single word. And I sent her a link where she could "download" it.

She wrote to me and said "wow!" as part of her remarks.

What she didn't seem to understand is that (a) the information was the same and (b) when you view something through your browser you're "downloading" it.

But the pdf somehow seems more like a "thing" than a series of web pages, even though both contain the same information. And at least some people seem more impressed by "owning" the pdf than by "owning" a bunch of web pages.

I want to explore the psychology of this. And if anyone else has had similar experiences that they've profited from, that would be very interesting to learn about too.

Thanks

Regards,
Bal

[jbsmith]

Definitely true that information packaged in different ways has different percieved value, not really a PDF versus HTML argument though, but rather the context and presentation of the material.

For example, Lynn's comment regarding private access sites (membership sites) brings out the hidden voyeur in all of us. We wonder what is behind the paid content section so much so that we willingly take out our wallet to access information that is often in html format.

With digital content, the critical piece is that the information is 1) focused on a passionate - unfufilled want 2) Is positioned as unique in solving their problem or desire. For some topics, packaging the same information into video tutorials will double or triple the perceived value simply because it is unique - something the customer has not come across before that may "finally" allow them to reach the desire they want.

[Mohamad Zaki Hussein]

Hi Bal,

I think this "perceived value" thingee has much to do with how people experiencing the product. And I think you're right, this difference in experiences doesn't have anything to do with the information, but with the medium.

Even though the information is the same, reading a .pdf and watching a video ebook provides a different experience. Maybe people feel that hearing voices and watching pictures are easier then reading text words. And maybe seeing movie with lots of colors, etc., are nicer or cooler then reading words in .pdf ebook.

Regards,
Zaki

[wordmuse]

Hi Zaki,

I agree with what you said. Different experiences do and should get priced independently. What you get from video is different from what you get by reading.

But how about pdf versus paper at Barnes & Noble?

I guess the "value added" could be that you can read the information anywhere you have a computer, but when was the last time you saw that pushed as a benefit in a sales letter?

I think we've been "trained" to see higher prices as reasonable for online information products. When you see a constant deluge of "products" going for $97 or $147 and higher, eventually the "sticker shock" goes away.

I wonder if the big players planned it that way...

Regards,
Bal

[Mohamad Zaki Hussein]

[Ellen C. Braun]

What a thought-provoking thread!

IMHO- the inflated prices of ebooks, $197, 97, and even $47, are a leftover remnant of the "Internet Bubble" that crashed in May of 2000.

At that time, people were so excited about the Internet, that they willingly forked over capital to sites that had no clear plan to make a profit! Similarly, people are still so enthralled with the "instant delivery of information" and crafty sales letters that pre-sell ebooks, that they hand over their cash.

Personally, I predict that within the next year or two, ebook prices will go way down, and settle at their true value- similar to whatever they'd be worth in Barnes and Noble. Especially because of the vast amount of crap that is being marketed as ebooks.

My 2 cents!

[johndilbeck]

I find that a PDF ebook has more value than a physical book when I'm searching for specific information. Being able to search for any word or phrase electronically means I can find the information faster, and a full-text search is better than the best index.

I'm a Mac user, so I have no experience with EXE ebooks, other than the frustration of not being able to use something after downloading it. (Some PDF books are saved as compressed EXE files, so sometimes there is no way to know without downloading and trying to decompress it.)

I greatly prefer a physical book for reading information.

With more print-on-demand services, authors can provide their ebooks in physical and/or downloadable formats.

In several cases, I've bought ebooks that promised specific information I needed immediately and I was willing to pay a premium price to be able to continue working on a project in an hour or so rather than having to wait several days to get a physical book.

Regarding my perception of HTML vs PDF and the value of each, I find that PDF reports/ebooks almost always work on my computer and many HTML files don't display properly and/or don't work properly with my browser.

In the long run, I care less about the format than I do about getting specific information quickly - as long as I can depend upon being able to read the document when I get it. My best experiences have been with PDF files.

All the best.

Act on your dream!

JD

[wordmuse]

Hi Ellen,

I hope you're right, but I think that in all likelihood there really is no pressure for the prices to come down... Not unless the economy overall takes a turn for the worse big time.

Think about this...

It used to be that a thousand dollar product was H-U-G-E! It used to be that attending seminars for $500 was H-U-G-E!

No more. A thousand bucks is still a big ticket, but we've likely all grown used to seeing these critters crop up. The sticker shock is gone. In fact, we've been trained to expect something with a 97 page sales letter to come in at around that price. And then if it comes in at say, "only" $500, wow! What a bargain!

I have no beef with a particular product or its price. I'm talking only about my psychology (and by extension, yours too perhaps).

My brain has been trained, for better or worse, to accept "inflated prices" as part of the cost of doing business with online products. The expectation being, of course, that I'm getting the latest and greatest information (and maybe I am).

I just know that were I to get a physical equivalent at Barnes and Noble, I'd still experience the sticker shock.

Regards,
Bal

[Bonnie Lowe]

Interesting topic, Bal!

I think another variable to the perceived value question is the target audience.

Internet Marketers don't mind spending $97 or more on a convincingly promoted ebook (or membership, or e-course, or whatever). As you said, their brains have been trained.

But I do not believe that's true for all consumers. I think the majority of them DO go into sticker shock. They see no difference in value between an ebook and a physical book (if anything, they think an ebook should be less!). So they balk at spending more for an ebook than a physical book. All the "instant access" and "no shipping fees" promotional language in the sales letter won't convince them otherwise.

But perhaps the "free bonuses" and "money back guarantees" will. You don't get any of that with physical books... and if the bonuses are genuinely of value, they will convince a percentage of people to pay more.

For niches other than Internet Marketing, though, I think the ebook prices need to be lower (bonuses or not) -- more appropriate to the target audience.

Internet Marketers need to remember to think like their prospects as they branch out into non-IM niches with their info products.

Perhaps marketers are afraid to price their ebooks lower because they'll get fewer affiliates interested in promoting them. (Which means more work for them to get more sales.)

I guess I'm getting off the point a bit, huh? Sorry 'bout that! Again, great topic!