Chapter 16

The Economics of Personal Distance: How Many Miles is a Phone Directory Ad Worth?

Eugene Galanter, Howard Moskowitz and Matthias Silcher

Abstract

We see that through proper messaging it is possible to change the distance that one will travel for a service. This distance comes from the ‘scoping’ exercise. Typically the distance is quite small. Doctors and lawyers show the longest distances, but they are simply a few tenths of a mile longer than auto repair shops, restaurants, etc. Fascinating is that despite the differences among the six topics being scoped, the basic relation is the same between interest level and miles of traveling means the same increase in interest generates a more or less specific increase in miles. The only exception is the plumber, because the plumber comes to the customer and not the other way around. When the professional comes to the customer a little change in interest goes a much longer way than when the same change in interest occurs for doctors, lawyers, and other individuals to whom the customer travels.

Total Pages: 156-165 (10)

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