Can confusing your customer be a good sales and marketing strategy?

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Yes.

From Science Daily:

An important article from the October issue of the Journal of Consumer Research examines the effectiveness of a new confusion-based sales technique called “disrupt-then-reframe.”

The researchers found that by presenting a confusing sales pitch to consumers and then restating the pitch in a more familiar way, they were able to increase sales of a candy bar in a supermarket, increase students’ willingness to pay to join a student interest group, and increase students’ acceptance of a tuition increase.

Another interesting point regarding influence:

“Most of the prior research that has been conducted on sales pitches has focused on alpha strategies, or strategies for increasing persuasion,” the researchers explain. “Our research suggests that more research should focus on omega strategies, or strategies for reducing resistance to persuasion.”

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