The effects of pseudo-relevant 100% claims

Abstract

The term “100%” represents perfection. Thus, it is not surprising that marketers believe that claims that contain this term (e.g., “100% organic”) can make products more appealing. This intuition is reflected in the extensive use of 100% claims to describe products' qualities. We discuss how the term 100% can be used to create a claim about perfection that seems to, but does not, provide meaningful information about a product's benefits (e.g., “100% juice”). By appearing to be, but actually not being, relevant to the judgment at hand, these so-called pseudo-relevant 100% claims may mislead consumers into making baseless positive assumptions regarding the focal product. Three studies examine how consumers respond to pseudo-relevant 100% claims. Our results suggest that pseudo-relevant 100% claims lead to lower product evaluations and consumption intentions than similar claims that include adjacent percentages or no numerical terms. Interestingly, they also suggest spillover effects onto evaluations of the products' customers. Our findings show that consumers pick up on the meaninglessness of the promise of perfection implied by the term “100%” in pseudo-relevant 100% claims, which causes them to perceive the product as less appealing.