Leverage 5 Psychological Effects to Level Up Your Marketing Strategy

Understanding psychology is critical to understanding consumer behavior, often explaining patterns that we might not even recognize, ourselves. In marketing, understanding psychology can help to create more compelling and effective strategies. In this post, I want to explore five psychological effects, how they show up, and how utilizing them can lead to enhanced marketing efforts.

What are psychological effects? In short, they are underlying cognitive and emotional responses that influence behavior, often happening subconsciously. By understanding these documented effects, we can better understand how we can better serve consumers in a world where we are competing for attention.

Without further ado, let's dive in.

1 - Right-Sided Bias

You may have heard of right-hand bias before, and certainly have encountered it (think about how the default for door handles are for right-handed users). But did you know there's a larger effect called the right-sided bias? It shows up as a preference we tend to have for right-sidedness, like turning right upon entering spaces, and looking for more information on the right thanks to our natural left-to-right scanning patterns.

How can this apply in marketing?

Right-sided bias can be utilized in both physical as well as digital spaces.

In physical spaces, place the products or information you want the most attention on the right side of entrances.
In digital spaces, place important calls-to-action like "Add to Cart" or "Sign Up" on the right side of pages for maximum effect.

2 - Status Quo Bias

You know how it's really hard to get out of bed once you've gotten yourself comfy? Or how it's easier to just stick with your tried-and-true menu order rather than exploring another option? Congratulations! You've experienced the status quo bias. This effect explains how we tend to have a preference to keep things the same rather than changing them.

How can this apply in marketing?

In and of itself, the status quo bias means it's naturally harder for newer brands and products to get themselves noticed. But making products feel more comfortable, familiar, and risk-free is how you maneuver around that.

Highlighting new features as enhancements rather than changes make them a lot easier to digest.
If you have multiple choices--such as pricing options--have the default option be the one that you want consumers to select the most. They're more likely to stick with that option than selecting another.
Offering trials reduces the feeling of risk for consumers, and allows them to start getting comfortable with your product.
Stick with familiar brands: Brand extensions tend to need less effort to get noticed more than new brands.
Offer features like "you might also like" based off of existing customer preferences.

3 - Primacy and Recency Effects

Humans have a limited capacity for information, and thus are prone to not remembering everything presented to them. The primacy and recency effects explain how people are more likely to remember information presented at the beginning and at the end of a list. What ends up in the middle is usually what gets lost in memory.

How can this apply in marketing?

Consumers make quick decisions and need to be able to pick up information fast. In fact, according to the Ehrenberg-Bass study, the average consumer spends 13 seconds to decide on a brand to purchase in store, and 19 seconds online. To ensure your audience is getting the most out of a limited time span, leverage the primacy and recency effects.

Users spend 57% of their page-viewing time on content above the fold on websites, so ensure key messages, call-to-actions, and value propositions are prominently displayed there.
The first and last few seconds of any advertisement should be real estate reserved for the most crucial bits of information, like taglines and benefits.
Make subject lines and opening sentences of emails the most attention-grabbing.
Design marketing campaigns so that they start and end with high-impact messages. This way, even if the audience doesn't remember the content in the middle, they retain the key points from the beginning and the end.

4 - Loss Aversion Bias

This bias might seem like it's describing something obvious: We dislike losing things or having things being taken away from us. But the powerful bit of information discovered from this cognitive bias is that we feel the pain of loss twice as much as we feel the joy of gain. As in, we'll choose avoiding losses over acquiring the equivalent in gains.

How can this apply in marketing?

Reminding people what they might be missing out on is an excellent technique for getting consumers to take action and increasing conversion rates.

Cart abandonment messages are a great way to remind consumers to come back and pick up where they left off.
Clearly highlight when special offers or sales are going to end, or if stock is limited.
On top of highlighting benefits, call out what they could be saving as well. Examples of this can range from pricing (eg - "save 30% by bundling") to renewals (eg - "renew now to maintain access to premium features").

5 - Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon and Mere Exposure Effect

The Baader-Meinhof phenomenon is one of my favorite cognitive biases to talk about, because once you learn about it, you'll start seeing it everywhere. Quite literally, that's what the whole phenomenon is about: Once you learn about something new, you'll seem to suddenly start seeing it everywhere. Pair that with the mere exposure effect--which describes how people tend to prefer things they are familiar with and have seen before--and you have the formula for why branding is so powerful.

How can this apply in marketing?

These effects mean that getting your brand noticed is key!

Don't be afraid of repetitiveness across channels. The more often consumers see or hear it, the more likely they are to develop a connection with it.
Where you can, put brands at eye level in physical spaces; People are more likely to see and remember you when you're there.
Engage frequently with your audience where they might be interacting with you, like social media posts, newsletters, and other engagement activities. Not only are they seeing more of you there, but the engagement means they'll be talking about you more, too.
Keep a consistency on branding colors, logos, and other design elements. The precision in visual uniformity might seem pedantic, but is crucial in reinforcing brand recognition.

And there you have it: 5 psychology effects to supercharge your marketing! Armed with this knowledge, you can create more memorable, persuasive, and effective strategies. Understanding how human minds work will give you an edge in understanding your consumers and connecting better with them, resulting in stronger brands.

Interested in putting some of these learnings into practice?