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Time and Conversion Rates
People are kinetic creatures. We are never stagnant. Our views and behaviors change based on outside stimuli, whether that’s the time of day, what side of the bed we woke up on, or, are we hungry? You’d think these things wouldn’t have any effect on important things like our jobs or the future of others but you’re wrong. In a study, the US National Academy of Sciences published findings of parole judges in Israel. In brief, at the beginning of the day, and right after lunch, a prisoner coming up for parole had a 65% chance of going free. Before lunch and towards the end of the day, the chances dipped to close to zero. If hunger affects the supposedly concrete rule of judges, it can be assumed that mere mortals have a similar predisposition to irrational behavior. Websites can change their message to great effect based on the time of day or the day of the week because assumptions on human behavior can be made.
For example, someone’s on a site at 2 AM on a Friday night trying to buy something. You can assume that this person has been out and there’s a credit card burning a hole in their pocket. What messaging tweaks should be made to the site to capitalize on this?
Is this the same behavior as someone coming to a site on 8AM on a Monday morning from a computer browser? This person doesn’t have all the time in the world. They’re popping in for a second before work because they have some time, or is it a mobile device which means they’re commuting on the train and have all the time in the world to kill. Is a conversion going to be made before they get to work? How does the site adapt to these situations?
Because a site can know where you are and the device you’re coming from, it’s possible to tell seemingly insignificant details. Where you are? What time it is? What the weather’s like there? All these factors can be brought to play when it comes to changing the message on the site.