UK grocer Co-op has recently launched their "Price-lock" campaign, which aims to "lock in" the price of around 120 of its most popular own-brand items both online and in store until a clearly-publicised certain date.

What is going on behaviourally?

We know from research that we humans value clarity over chance and make sacrifices to get it. For instance, we'd prefer $10 guaranteed over a 75% chance of getting $20. This is known as the Certainty Effect. But going further, in times of personal crisis or worry about the future, we value such certainty even more highly.

The reassuring effects of certainty can be created in a number of ways, such as:

 • In times of crisis, highlighting a future achievable goal or plan of action clearly, consistently in a way that motivates and galvanises the group. E.g. communicating a round of job cuts and also giving certainty that everyone who stays is protected from further cuts for at least 2 years.

• A business that sells beds creating a 2-year money-back guarantee on their products.

In both these examples, certainty is used to make the future more real and reassuringly-clear.

Co-op's use of Certainty

Co-op has chosen to fix the price of these items until, at the time of writing, the end of the month.

They make this very clear in their marketing both in-store and online.

However, beyond this, the certainty of a price lock is not particularly clear. Nowhere does it tell me what these products might otherwise cost were it not for the price lock.

I may well be saving money, but I have literally no idea if this is so, never mind by how much.

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How could we improve this Price Lock?

They've been locked for a few months now, so surely they could show a comparative saving for such household items. Even a small saving would reinforce the value of the price-lock.

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Also, what happens to the prices of these items after the lock date? Would the attractiveness of a price lock be better if it was in place for longer?

Going further, could Co-op allow you, the user to choose the prices you want to be locked? That could be a powerful way to create a more personalised form of certainty with the IKEA Effect.

Co-op says that shoppers should save £100 over the year with Price Lock. However, it remains to be seen whether price-locking low-value grocery items has the same persuasive effect as in other industries with higher-value essential purchases.

Others' use of Price Locks

GiffGaff and Octopus Energy, a respective phone network and energy provider from the UK both offer differently-framed price locks for their products.

Note both the use of reassuring text around certainty here and the much broader timeframe.

Note here that Octopus seeks to provide certainty that it will be cheaper than "the big 6", rather than offer guarantees of a fixed price.

Given its relative size, locking in the price of a higher-value monthly purchase like your phone or electricity may feel more reassuring than for individual grocery items. This is especially the case if you can't see what you've saved by doing so, or have the option of price-locking the items that you buy.

Why timing is important here

What we might have been indifferent towards at one time, may prove to be quite attractive at another. A great example of this is around the cost of living.

5 years ago, fixing the price of a low-value grocery item might not be a particularly-interesting concept for consumers.

However, now, with inflation and price uncertainty both higher than ever for many years, the value of keeping safe what we have right now has never been more attractive or reassuring.

With the cost of living going up significantly in recent years, companies are looking for ways to counter the worry that this is having on consumers.