Apartment Marketing: Giving residents a choice at renewal time

We all like choice and we all hate choice. We love it when it is easy and we hate it when there are to many options. Or, maybe that is just me.

I came across this post in a random forum. Frankly, I have no idea how I found it but nevertheless I found it interesting. It is an apartment dweller writing to a friend in the forum about options that her property manager offered her to renew.

Now the concept is nothing novel but I was interested to see the thought process of the dweller because it was unadulterated by say the focus group syndrum or the pressure of answering a survey essay question. It was pure.

Here it is:

Got a letter from my apartment management.  Because I have lived here so
long (since 1998) they are not going to increase my rent when my lease is up
at the end of this year.  I also get to choose one item each from A, B, & C:

(A)  $50 off one month's rent OR ceiling fan (one per bedroom, I have 2) OR
carpet cleaning

(B)  $100 off one month's rent OR $75 gift certificate to Target OR $75 gift
certificate to WalMart

(C)  $150 off one month's rent OR $100 gift certificate to Target OR $100
gift certificate to WalMart.

I'm going with the ceiling fans from A, the $75 gift certificate to Target
from B and $150 off one month's rent from C.