Perceived value is getting a lot of play these days, especially when it refers to free books.
The simplest definition of perceived value:
From Business Dictionary- A customer’s opinion of a product’s value to him or her. It may have little or nothing to do with the product’s market price, and depends on the product’s ability to satisfy his or her needs or requirements.
Some writers, agents and publishers claim that a reader perceives zero value in a free book, thus giveaways, contests, and enrolling a book in the KDP Select program and utilizing the free book promotion days are counterproductive.
I’m going to pull one line from the above definition. Here’s my reinterpretation: depends on the product’s ability to satisfy my needs or requirements.
A commodity or product has value to me if it meets my perceived needs. A free book has value to me if it is a satisfying read. If it’s a satisfying read I’m likely to seek out and purchase more books written by the author.
Starbucks occasionally sends me promotional coupons. I use them for free specialty drinks. While I don’t frequent Starbucks, when I’m waiting for my free drink I might pick up a copy of The New York Times or The Wall Street Journal, or even buy a pound of the latest Ethiopian Blend. Who knows? Maybe it’s lunchtime and I’ll realize I’m hungry and I’ll buy one of their turkey wraps… See how this works?
Just because two tickets to a Forty-Niners football game are free doesn’t mean the tickets are of no value to my husband. Are you kidding me??? Free tickets to a professional football game possess a massive amount of perceived value to my husband, and I would guess to most football fans. And he’ll happily spend bookoo bucks on parking, drinks and football food.
We recently attended an obscenely upscale gala in the city (San Francisco) and guess what? Aside from $15 for parking and two bridge tolls, it was FREE- a sort of promotional thank you gift. The incredible tastings the guest chefs provided made such a lasting impression I plan to make a dinner reservation at each restaurant. Without the free tickets we wouldn’t have gone in the first place. Mucho perceived value!
On overseas flights we’ve been bumped up from Economy Class to Business Class. There is no doubt in my mind about the perceived value of Business Class. No doubt whatsoever, especially when the move is free.
My husband and I recently discussed the following:
I’ve offered my services as a local guide- free of charge. I will guide hikers over trails in the more remote areas of Napa wilderness parks. I’m hiking everyday anyway.
So I created and printed pretty brochures and dropped them off at the local bed and breakfasts and the concierge desks at the high-end resorts. I made sure to mention that I am offering FREE guided hikes, although gratuities are most very welcome and will be applied to park maintenance. Really. Not kidding.
I began offering this service a couple months ago, but as yet I’ve had no response. In the meantime I’ve encountered a number of lost tourists who’ve tried to rely upon poor guidebooks or slipshod directions. It’s particularly grating when I learn they’ve received those awful, dangerous directions from the very same concierge desks that have my brochure. One issue with hiking in Napa is the lack of detail in pretty much every guidebook. At most a hiking guide will give Napa wilderness parks a cursory mention before moving on to hikes up-valley, hikes closer to the wineries, or hikes at the two semi-local state parks, both of which charge admission, even for day use.
In any case my husband and I were hiking and he mentioned the lack of response.
I shrugged. It’s not like I’ve been promoting this thing.
And he said, There is a notion of perceived value. Some people believe that if something is free it possesses little or no intrinsic value. Perhaps you should charge a fee.
Won’t do it. If I were to charge a fee I’d become responsible, as in I would have to pay for a business license, get myself bonded, increase my insurance, insist every client sign a waiver and agree to arbitration in the event of injury and/or death… I’d have to carry a backpack filled with first aid supplies and water bottles instead of merely stuffing my cell phone in one pocket, my epipen in another pocket, and my car keys in a third pocket.
In other words, charging a fee would decrease my perceived value of the activity, both literally and figuratively.
But all that is beside the point. I was talking about free books. Does free decrease the value of a book? Does the existence of libraries, which allow readers to borrow books for free, negate the intrinsic value of a book? I think not. Free is another word for sampling. When I offer a book for free you, the reader, get to sample my work. If you like it perhaps you’ll come back again.
Oh, and let me know if you’re coming to Napa. Maybe we can hike?
My view of free books is skewed because of what I do. For me to pay for a book almost always means it is the second in the series and I got the first one as an ARC and that I am not sure if I will get the second. Now that is a perceived value.
It’s also like “loss leader’-ing in groceries. Drop the price on hamburger and more than make it up in ketchup sales.
But there is a difference in between an ITEM for free and a service for free. If your DH set up shop for free in other than a free or fee-scaled clinic or overseas with a non-profit, people would attach less value to the service and wonder why he was doing it.
With a mountain guide for nothing our suspicious selves would wonder what a stranger was getting out of it. Would it be some sort of religious trap or timeshare sales trap? But for money you would have to do all those troublesome things. But if I paid you and you began to sput religious stuff I could just tell you I am not interested and that, if you wanted the biz, would stop you.
I would probably try to talk with a couple of owners and say - hey, I am hiking anyway if someone wants a guide or someone to go with call me. If the owner or concierge knows you as a person they are likelty to say, oh, let me call my friend, she loves to show people around (leaving out the so they don’t get eaten by mountain lions or so she doesn’t find the body when the tourist falls off the trail).
I absolutely would buy a book by an author who offered a free book if I liked it.
People like getting stuff for free. Period. The number of downloads at Amazon for freebies pretty much illustrates that fact. And if someone downloads a freebie at Amazon, falls in love with a book and author, then the next book out (or available backlist) will be purchased, as long as it is priced affordably and not gouging the reader.
I have never heard anyone say “Oh that book is free, it must suck.” But I have heard LOTS of folks say “That freebie was amazing. The book is for sale now, and it’s totally worth the price. It was excellent.”
Where I see the notion of “perceived value” come into play is with 3-star books. This is interesting. If a reader spends $8-$10 for a book, and it’s “meh” (3 stars), they are pissed. They complain, they want a refund, etc etc. If the book is 99 cents or free, they say…It was a cute book, worth the money. The 3-star books that normally would be crucified are doing OK as freebies or cheapies, because readers feel like they aren’t getting gouged for a mediocre book.
Free is tricky because nothing is really free. Even a free book means I have to invest the time it takes to read it. By the same token, I don’t judge a book by how much cash it costs. I have noticed that some readers have less respect for books they pick up for free. I find that a tad odd, but I notice it in reviews and discussions. It’s a balancing act for writers, but in my opinion I think giving books away is worth having to deal with the oddballs because the real payoff are the readers who become fans.
As for the hiking, I think it has to do with the nature of service. A paid for service puts the “customer” in charge. A free service means they can’t tell you what to do. And they can’t blame you if they’re idiots and something goes wrong. You’d be better off starting a “club” that is open to anyone who wants to join a hike. I bet the B&Bs and hotels would be more willing to tell guests, “Oh yes, if you want to hike, call the Napa Trail Club and see when their next nature trek is scheduled.”
Actually yes, Penny, I do feel ripped off when I purchase an expensive book and it is just mediocre. If I spend $.99 and a book sucks, well, so what? I’m out $.99 and I won’t buy another book by that particular author. On the other hand, if I spend any amount of money on a great book I will spend more money on that author- or if I read a freebie and love it the author has made a fan out of me, maybe not for life but until he or she puts out a stinker and even then he or she will probably get a bye!
Me too, Ray. Absolutely!
Steph - LOL! Funny! If it was my intent to actually set up a business, for profit, then hell yeah I’d go all out, no freebies when it comes to service. This is a little different. Think of it like the role of a docent. I’ve done loads of hikes with locals in other countries, for free, and the personal interaction and color and interpretation and history is totally worth it.
Yes, you do have a different perspective when it comes to free books, but most readers don’t have that sort of challenge. Do you perceive the remaining books in a series to be valuable? As in you’d like them for free? Or you’d prefer to decide on your own whether they are worth your time?
Ooh, great idea, Jaye. I did speak personally with everyone - the B&B owners were especially enthusiastic. But I think this is a tipping point thing - just takes a few people to have a fun hike. And I’m totally clear in my brochure about the difficulty of the trail so no bait and switch there.
I know what you mean about free books. Some reviewers are harsh regardless of quality. Doesn’t matter to me. What does matter to me is reaching readers.
I think the issue with free books is not that they have no perceived value, but their perceived value may differ before and after being read. Also the fact it was free may skew the post-read perceived value.
Consider you have two books in your kindle. One was free, and one cost you $10. You have to decide which to read next. I would probably pick the one I paid for - because I’ve invested my money in it as well as my time, right, and why pay for it if it sits there unread? You might then read the free one next, but I guess that depends on how many other unread books you have that you’ve bought. I’ve started buying books only as I want to read them for this reason, but I also have a pile given to me last Christmas that I haven’t read yet. We could rank the pre-raed perceived value of books this way:
1. books paid for
2. books you didn’t pay for but WOULD have paid for (gifts or freebies you had intended to buy before you saw it on sale)
3. freebies you had no intention of buying or didn’t know about before you saw it free
One and two may be interchangeable. Also, who the author is probably also affects perceived value i.e. brand loyalty versus unknown author
Post-read, perceived value seems to be affected by the enjoyment of the read and the cost.
If it was a bad read, having been free seems to reduce the perceived value. Why? I don’t know. Maybe the fact it was bad is proof it NEEDED to be free as no one would pay for it? I don’t know, I’m trying to follow the twisted logic, because at face value surely it makes more sense to be disappointed if you paid for it, but it seems that the very fact of having paid out money for it automatically confers more value. Conversely, if it’s free, and it’s good, it’s even BETTER than if it was good and you paid for it, because hell, it was FREE (more bang for your buck argument).
Obviously not everyone thinks the same, but these seem to be general trends I’ve observed.
I think offering a book free can be a useful tool but:
a) not always free (Starbucks after all doesn’t have their coffee on tap for no charge, although my husband would argue it’s criminal they charge for it LOL)
b) only if the product is above average or excellent. If it’s bad, all the customer is taught is never to come back, and if it’s just average, it’s not compelling;
c) You had better have more books to sell because unlike coffee, you can only sell a book to someone once.
Price can affect perceived value, but I think you run into real problems with permanently free.
Witness free healthcare, where I’ve seen people complain that they have to wait three hours to see the doctor of their choice FOR FREE.
Impressive, Ciara! You’ve put a lot of thought into the subject. I have to be honest, it’s the rare book I’m willing to spend more than say $6-$7 these days.
It’s a good topic to discuss, Julia. Several years ago at a conference in Michigan, at the closing dinner a table of well known writers, agents and publishers took questions from the participants.
Asked about giving free books to establish reader recognition, all but one said that our culture overall equates “free” with “second rate” or “unable to sell,” and they agreed there were better ways for writers to establish themselves.
The only one who had been silent, an agent-turned-editor/publisher, finally spoke up and said it was high time to change the attitude of our culture, and this was a good place to start.
Marylin- Interesting Interesting Interesting. I think there are many ways a writer can establish. Free is definitely a worthwhile tool. Writing a damn good book is the best tool. And when it comes to mainstream publishing that hasn’t always been the way to succeed.
Fascinating discussion. Everybody made some excellent points. But as Marylin said, books are not like coffee. And for whatever reason, there does seem to be a belief that free equals not good enough to have to pay for. So I don’t do giveaways more than occasionally anymore.
Ah, Greta - a correction - Ciara said books are not like coffee. I don’t do giveaways either. I do, however, avail myself of free promo with KDP Select.
I want to come to Napa and hike with you. Oh and I want to go to a 49ers game too!
I’m okay with free.
I agree with you, though. It’s a sampling. If you like the book, then hopefully you’ll come back for more.
I have had ZERO success with free books extending my readership, except when offering one personally as in Randy Reader expresses interest in the story…I send them a copy of Book One and they end up buying the rest of the series. Unfortunately, that does not equal big sales.
As for other free things…I always wonder what the catch is. And seldom to never partake in freebie deals. No doubt, I am a distrusting character. For example, your hiking offer…I would wonder if the individual was a serial killer or robber in disguise. And why they were offering a free service. What if it was a scam?
Of course, all this means I bypass a lot of freebies, but if I wasn’t interested in it in the first place, why bother? Free books…in my limited experience, I’ve not found them worth it, UNLESS it’s a book from a favorite author. Guess I’m an old fuddy-duddy…
I’d love it if you could, Amber! If I like free I go on to buy. No question about it.
Oh Anny, I hope nobody thinks I’m a serial killer. I did put together a really cute brochure with loads of scenic photos and I spoke with each manager myself. I think I’m more likely to be the one in danger! I don’t worry about hiking with strangers in Europe. It’s common for locals to act as guides just because…
I don’t worry too much about a catch. There is no catch when it comes to free books, aside from the danger of reading a lousy book. Even if a book is free I do read a sample before I download. Maybe most people don’t? Believe me, I’m not indiscriminately downloading freebies. I’m selective about my reading material.
I did have a friend who was a docent at some trails between Sunnyvale and somewhere. But it was as a part of a program. Free just b/c you’re nice or whatever feels weird. I would be suspicious. And I meant when you did it for cash you WOULD have to do the insurance or license or whatever.
Books, I prefer to read ARCs because I read so much. But there are a couple of series I will buy. ANd if I pay $8 for a book and it is crappy I will be pissed. The cost to value ratio is affected by quality maybe like this- (perceived value:cost)/?quality
I guess Steph - perceived value is personal - Quality is worth it, unless it falls into the unnecessarily extravagant category. But when it comes to books quality is all — except I still refuse, on principle, to pay more than $8.00 for a kindle book.
Well done, Julia. I love your examples. You’ve presented excellent arguments for giveaways and the like. Just shows you can’t believe everything you read, even when it comes out of the minds of so-called experts in the field.
Thanks, Diana. Hope your sabbatical is going well.