Neil Freiman

What feels further back in time to you, 30 years ago or 1996?

The answer for most of you, according to new research, is 30 years ago, known as the year-length effect, and there are big implications for marketers and even policymakers.

A new study from the UBC Sauter School of Business sought to determine

whether people perceive time differently when expressed as a length or as a calendar year.

And the answer is yes, very much.

Where age is valued, people have more favorable attitudes when time is described by length.

Take whiskey, for example.

The older, the better.

In whiskey auctions observed by the researchers, bottles described by length of time, a 10-year-old whiskey,

sold for about 9% higher prices.

On the other hand, if you're trying to minimize how old something feels, say, for an item of clothing, then you're better off describing it from X year.

Sellers on Craigslist earned about 17% more when they described their items in terms of a year rather than how old it was.

The study says that marketers could use this insight into our easily manipulated brains to become better at their jobs.

At the same time, governments and policymakers could use these insights to also drive better outcomes for things like

saving for retirement or the consequences of climate change.

Toby, this was one of the most interesting things I've heard since like 2023, I mean, three years ago.

Like if I want to seem older, I would say I'm 34 years old.

If I wanted to seem younger, I would say I was born in 1991.

I do not like playing Scrabble with you.

It is not fun.