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You usually get logos of this type "for free!" when you purchase an SSL certificate, and the SSL providers highlight it as some sort of competitive advantage. It's completely ridiculous.

We put a padlock image on our payment pages even though it does absolutely nothing for security, but it might help the conversion rate, so there it is.

Because rightly or wrongly, there's evidence that it increases consumer confidence and results in more purchases / subscribers / customer love. It's an empty promise, but people buy it anyway.

Just an idea: what of both options improves the conversion rate the most ?

It's like a BBB sticker for your office door.