I’ve never seen a phenomenon like Duck Dynasty.  They have dolls and toy guns and candles and t-shirts and cigarette lighters and you name it.  They’re on every end-cap and product display at Walmart.   These guys are everywhere.  Not to mention how many men around Fort Collins suddenly have long beards.

Every duck hunter knows that decoys are a part of the sport.  You put them out in the field or out on the lake and use them to draw in the real deal.  But did you know that smart companies use decoys to sucker customers into more sales?   It’s likely that you’ve been one of those suckers.

Here’s how a retail decoy works.  You design two nearly identical products, price them nearly the same but give one a clear advantage over the other.  Let’s take shotgun shells for instance since we’re talking about duck hunting.  There are 10 brands of shells on the shelf.  All are about the same unless you know what you’re looking for.  They’re all about $8-$16 per box and have between 25 and 50 shells each.  Just as you’re beginning to feel trapped in their web of products, thinking of all the boxes you have to choose from, you spot one box of Remington brand shells has 25 shells for $9 and the one next to it, same brand, has 30 shells for $9, your brain immediately thinks, “Wow, they messed this up when they were pricing it.  I just found a bargain.  Grab it quick before someone else does.”

Companies like Remington know that no one in their right mind will ever buy their box of 25 shells when there’s one with 30 shells for the same price.  The boxes with 25 shells are decoys, designed to distract you.  They’re just put on the shelf to get you to focus on the gold boxes with the green logo and stop your mind from going into analysis paralysis looking at the other 9 brands.  Watch out!  You fell for the decoy.  Boom!  They got you to buy their brand…sucker.   🙂