Temporal Reframing Arbitrage
The same price feels dramatically different when expressed in different time units—exploit this to reduce perceived cost.
Explanation
Customers have poor intuitive understanding of temporal math. A $600 annual fee feels much larger than $50/month despite identical cost. The brain processes these as separate mental accounts. This works because people evaluate the payment against their reference timeframe (daily coffee vs monthly salary) rather than doing the math.
Real-World Example
Spotify: $120/year feels expensive, but $9.99/month seems reasonable—same cost. NYTimes: $17/month premium, not $204/year. Gym memberships: $39/week sounds cheap vs $2,000/year. Each matches the payment frequency to favorable mental accounting.
How to Apply
Test different temporal frames: daily for small amounts, weekly for medium, monthly for subscriptions. Match time units to how customers think about that expense category. Use longer periods for comparisons ('Less than your daily coffee') but shorter for actual billing. Avoid annual upfront for price-sensitive customers.