More prizes are not always more attractive: factors increasing prospective sweepstakes participants’ sensitivity to the number of prizes

Abstract

Sweepstakes that offer more identical prizes do not necessarily attract more participants. When deciding whether to participate in a sweepstakes presented in isolation (typical case), most consumers cannot evaluate if the number of prizes offered is “good” or “bad” within a certain range (1–10 prizes), because of the low evaluability of this attribute. Therefore, they do not perceive their odds of winning as better with more prizes, nor are they more likely to participate. Five studies detail this process and illustrate which individual and contextual factors (participation frequency in sweepstakes, availability of information about the usual number of prizes for comparable sweepstakes, visual reinforcement of the number of prizes by a consistent number of pictures) increase the evaluability of the number of prizes, which can reduce magnitude insensitivity. This study in turn provides managerial insights into how to design and advertise efficient sweepstakes.