68% of consumers don’t comparison shop before buying a card.

1

The most common reason given for not reading disclosures before purchase.

“It was a lot of information.”

How do we balance things that impact protect consumers, like transparency and full disclosure, with facts we know about cognition, emotion, and shopping behavior?

3

Thinking beyond the fine print Thinking about fee disclosures beyond printed information. The entire purchase experience as a set of actions, behaviors and decisions.

Consumer wants to buy a prepaid card

Consumer purchases best prepaid card for them

In-storeAt a bank Online

Consumer compares two simple tables side-by-side

on packaging.

Consumer compares two simple tables on two

different websites.

Consumer compares two simple tables side-by-side

on brochures.

Visits websites on phone for full disclosure table.

Clicks prominent link to full disclosure table.

Refers to handouts with full disclosure table.

DECISION

MADE

DECISION

MADE

DECISION

MADE

DECISION

MADE

DECISION

MADE

DECISION

MADE

NEEDS

MORE

INFO

NEEDS

MORE

INFO

NEEDS

MORE

INFO

AA

A

A B

B

BB A B

A B

Design goals

1.  Trigger comparison shopping

2.  Full disclosure of fees

3.  Easy to understand

6

Less is more.

7

Visual hierarchy guides the viewer through content in an ordered way. It is created through visual contrast, which is made up of size, alignment, negative space, or proximity of text.

Visual hierarchy (salience, visual cues)

We use visual hierarchy to emphasize four fees by increasing the font size and weight of the fee, leading the viewer’s eye to these fees first. These first four fees deserve the viewer’s attention first because users cited these fees as the dealmakers or breakers in choosing a card, either based on what they see at the store, or more often than not, their previous experience with other cards.

An example of the alert/call-to-action proposed for prepaid cards used for payroll purposes.

The fees should be clear. They should feel in control. Full disclosure, but not in the way.

Plain language

Plain language also means less fine print, less jargon.

Whatever is not on the outside of the card packaging is on the “long form,” a full disclosure inside the package, or online.

Delegating information elsewhere

Testing

Last testing took place in Kansas City, Missouri in April. Hour-long in-depth interviews with consumers to understand their comprehension of the disclosures, and get background info on their experiences with prepaids.

Testing

We tried to set up realistic shopping scenarios with card package prototypes, each with different fees. Consumers were asked to select what they thought was the best product for them.

Prototype

Uses the most-common industry paper package. Main disclosure is on the back, full disclosure is inside.

The form’s design allowed participants to easily find and understand fees. In shopping scenarios, most participants made decisions based on the four top-line fees on the label, which have the least cognitive overload.

“The fees were just lower” was the most common reasoning for their choice, yet it meant something different for each person.

Consumers may not always compare those fees with other products, but they are comparing them to their own previous experiences, bad or good. The final shopping choice is usually based on “gut.”

If this is how consumers are behaving, it’s important for us to make those main fees appear as clear as possible. To best help consumers, it may be better to focus on a handful of elements and connect with them, rather than “full disclosure.”

Testing insights

Top line fees are usually fees with immediate impact on the consumer. The incidence-based fees are long-term fees or services that may never be used.. The now is more important at purchase time than the later.

Now vs. later

Supporting Research

22

Less is more

Research suggesting limits on our capacity for processing information. George A. Miller, “The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information” Psychological Review, 1956, vol. 63, pp. 81-97.

Less fees enable more comparison

Research suggesting that less consumer choice greatly reduces anxiety and stress for shoppers. Increases confidence. We want consumers to feel like they have agency.

Barry Schwartz. "The Paradox of Choice: Why More is Less.”

Sheena Iyengar, Mark Lepper. "When Choice is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2000.

Less choice reduces shopping stress

Some groups advocate for more information so that people can make the best choice for themselves. Research suggests though, that people make decisions based on information we’ll never know: their past experiences and gut feelings at time of purchase. Norbert Schwarz. "Meacognitive Experiences in Consumer Judgment and Decision Making." Journal of Consumer Psychology, 2004.

There is no “best” card for consumers

The likelihood of someone looking at the redesigned simple label and eliciting the desired outcome (comparison shopping) depends on their motivation, ability, and triggers. We identified some constraints based on what we knew about shopping behavior, our focus groups, testing, and interviews with prepaid card consumers.

Shoppers show low motivation to comparison shop because of cognitive overload due to disparaging information (e.g., fees don’t match up between products) Triggers are created by information that shoppers are familiar with (e.g., they’ve been burned by it before). Shoppers show low motivation to go through a full disclosure because of cognitive overload due to sheer amount of information. Low Ability – consumers need to do all of this while waiting in the checkout line, they’ll give up.

Applying basic principles from the Fogg model supported our approach of emphasizing a handful of elements using visual hierarchy and plain language. Some of these were triggers to look up more information or remember past experiences. By lowering the amount of things to read or consider pre-purchase, we increase motivation to consult disclosure, and increase shopping decision ability.

Insights from the Fogg Model