Ticketmaster agrees to change how it advertises tickets following Oasis debacle
Ticketmaster will change how it communicates ticket prices to customers following a CMA investigation into the shambolic Oasis ticket sale.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) believes it has sent a “clear message” to all ticketing websites that pricing information must be clear and timely, as it secures action from Ticketmaster after the Oasis ticket fiasco.
The CMA today announced (25 September) it had identified two concerns in the way Ticketmaster sold tickets to the comeback tour of the popular 90s band, which saw many fans queue for hours only to find the price of a ticket was substantially higher than they were expecting.
The regulator identified that Ticketmaster did not tell fans who were waiting in lengthy online queues to buy tickets that standing prices were being sold at two different price points – and that prices would jump to the higher price as soon as the cheaper tickets sold out.
The CMA also found Ticketmaster sold what it dubbed ‘platinum’ tickets at almost 2.5 times the price of standard tickets without explaining these tickets offered no additional benefits over some standard tickets in the same areas of the venue.
In response to these failings, the regulator secured undertakings from the online ticket retailer to ensure a similar mistake does not happen again.
Ticketmaster will ensure fans are told at least 24 hours in advance of sale if a tiered pricing system is in place and provide more information about ticket prices during online queues to help fans anticipate how much they have to pay, as well as provide updates if cheaper tickets have sold out. The ticket site has also committed not to use misleading ticket labels that indicate one ticket is better than the other.
“Fans who spend their hard-earned money to see artists they love deserve to see clear, accurate information, upfront,” says Sarah Cardell, chief executive of the CMA.
“We can’t ensure every fan gets a ticket for events as popular as the Oasis tour, but we can help ensure that next time an event like this comes along, fans have the information they need, when they need it.”
Why It Works: How Oasis definitely (maybe) applied behavioural science to ticket salesThese undertakings have been provided to the CMA voluntarily and without admission of wrongdoing or liability on behalf of Ticketmaster. The commitments the ticketing site has taken need to be implemented within six weeks at the latest, or the CMA could implement enforcement action.
Despite widespread criticism at the time that Ticketmaster had employed dynamic pricing for the Oasis tour – when the price of a ticket fluctuates in real time based on demand – the CMA found no evidence this was the case.
“We welcome the CMA’s confirmation there was no dynamic pricing, no unfair practices and that we did not breach consumer law,” said Ticketmaster in a statement.
“To further improve the customer experience, we’ve voluntarily committed to clearer communication about ticket prices in queues. This builds on our capped resale, strong bot protection and clear pricing displays – and we encourage the CMA to hold the entire industry to these same standards.”
Marketing Week columnist and behavioural scientist Richard Shotton wrote at the time about how the behavioural bias of sunk cost fallacy had played on the minds of concert-goers when buying tickets. Dynamic pricing or not, some might say that is a tough bias to break.
