Welcome back to the Hugoversity library!
Each month, our prefects review a PR and marketing book to help our students expand their knowledge – learn all about Sophie’s latest read, The Choice Factory by Richard Shotton, below.
What’s it all about?
You see something, you like it, you buy it – that’s the process, right? Well, as Shotton explains, it’s actually a lot deeper than that.
This book is all about how behavioural science can be applied to marketing and why you should be using it. Take a look at Apple: it’s one of the most successful businesses in the world, and that’s because it has tapped into its consumers’ habits and can apply this to its marketing strategy and advertising to reach even further.
I won’t go through each individual bias and what they mean here (no spoilers!), but there are a few key ones that you should keep in mind moving forward…
Social proof
You’re the best at what you do, so don’t be shy – shout about it!
Shotton states that you should showcase your popularity and tailor your message to the audience and their behaviours. However, don’t take for granted that what your audience says they want or do, is actually what they want or do – as businessman David Ogilvy said, “Consumers don’t think how they feel, say what they think or do what they say”.
And while you’re working on your social proof tactic, make sure you don’t fall victim to…
Negative social proof
According to Robert Cialdini, professor of psychology at Arizona State University, negative social proof is “advertising’s big mistake”.
This is when social proof goes wrong and has the opposite of the desired effect. When your communications stress that unwanted behaviour is commonplace – ‘for example, X-number of readers don’t pay for The Guardian’ – this will encourage the very behaviour you’re trying to stop.
Mood
The impact of mood on our capacity for noticing and remembering has been studied many times – research by Yahoo, for example, found that when consumers are upbeat, they are 24 per cent more receptive to content in general.
Of course, you can’t always predict when your audience will be in a good mood, but there are certain times and locations you can think to target. You’re always happier when you’re relaxing at home on an evening than when you’re crammed on the bus on the way to work, right?
Cocktail party effect
You’re at a party, half-listening to a conversation when you hear your name across the room. It wasn’t said any louder, but your ears automatically prick up. According to cognitive scientist Colin Cherry, this is because one of the ways our brains determine what is worthy of conscious attention is personal relevance – and this is known as the cocktail party effect.
As Shotton says, “the media landscape is like a packed pub”, but the cocktail party effect can make sure you stand out amongst the crowd – as long as it’s done right.
When you’re creating ads it’s important to think personal, not personalised. Unless it’s landing directly on their doorstep or in their inbox, customers won’t trust an advert that includes their name (even if you did gather the data legally). Instead, focus on their location, their hobbies, and any other information which doesn’t breach that trust barrier.
What did we think?
Overall, this was a great insight into how our minds work when it comes to decisions, and the different biases that influence everything from the ketchup we buy, to the phone provider we choose.
I do feel like it could do with being a little more detailed to help us understand the science and reasoning behind certain behaviours (why can’t we simply change a consumer’s buying habit?), but Richard Shotton has perfectly explained how we can harness these behaviours to make us all better marketers.
