Elementary  my  dear  Watson:    Evidences  from  Psychology  about  a  (somewhat  )  ra<onal  consumer.  

ricardo.fonseca@comon.pt    pt.linkedin.com/in/rrdafonseca

About  me…    Frustrated  historian.  Psycologist.    Frustrated  to-­‐be  ad  trainne.  Phd  in  Social  Psychology.  A  Happy  Ad  man.    

Psychologist.    Womanizer.    Ad  man.  

John  B.  Watson  (1878  –1958)  

Jean  Piaget  1896  -­‐  1980  

Jerome  Brunner  1915  -­‐    

Which  of  the  following  alterna@ves  is  most  likely  to  be  true?      a) Mike  is  one  of  the  arts  student.  b) Mike  is  one  of  the  science  student.  

 100   university   students   applied   for   a   part-­‐@me   job:   15   are   arts   students   and   85   are  science   students.  Mike   is  one  of   them.  He  was   randomly   selected   to  par@cipate  on   the  first  day  of   interviews.  He   is  23  years  old,  he   likes   to   travel  and  he  was  a  great   student  during  high  school.  Mike’s  favorite  subjects  are  English  poetry,  Modern  Arts  and  Sports.        

80%!!!  

Behavioral  Economics.  Nobel    Prize  in  Economics  2002.  

In  the  context  of  decision  making  we  are  oYen  influenced  by  preconceived  ideas  (stereotypes,  representa@ve  informa@on)  about  people,  places,  or  subjects,  that  prevent  us  from  engaging  in  more  ra@onal/logical  thinking.  

100  university  students  applied  for  a  part-­‐@me  job:  15  are  arts  students  and  85  are  science  students.  Mike  is  one  of  them.  He  was  randomly  selected  to  par@cipate  on  the  first  day  of  interviews.  He  is  23  years  old,  he  likes  to  travel  and  he  was  a  great  student  during  high  school.  Mike’s  favorite  subjects  are  English  poetry,  Modern  Arts  and  Sports.        

Which  of  the  following  alterna@ves  is  most  likely  to  be  true?        a) Mike  is  one  of  the  students  of  humani@es..  b) Mike  is  one  of  the  science  students.  

Daniel  Khaneman    

   

The  discovery  of  these  "failures"  led  to  a  new  look  on  the  human  mind.  

Aa          

Aa          

Why?  (Chaiken, 1987)    1)  Principle  of  Sufficiency.    

The  real  world  is  too  complex  to  be  processed  in  all  its  details.  We  don’t  waste  @me  processing  the  same  thing  twice.  We  save  cogni@ve  resources  for  other  things.  

Recap:  

•  The   state   of   the   art   about   the   human  mind   and  behavior   tells   us  that  our  cogni@ve  system  is  prepared  to  deal  with  external  reality,  but  this  has  a  price  -­‐  "  system  failures  ".    

•  Next,   we   are   going   to   provide   evidence   that   shows   that   these  "flaws"   are   all   well   documented   in   adver@sing,   marke@ng   and  communica@on  in  general.    

   

Pricing  

68%

32%

16% 0% 84%

Ariely (2008)

We  do  not  think  in  absolute  terms,  we  do  not  have  an  internal  scale  of  values  to  tell  us  how  much  things  are  worth.  Instead,  we  focus  on  the  rela@ve  advantage  of  one  thing  over  another  and  es@mate  its  value  

accordingly.  

The  expecta@on  associated  with  the  price  of  a  product  influences  what  we  infer  about  the  effec@veness  of  its  supposed  func@ons.    

Cheap  prices  =  Cheap  brands???  

Shiv, Carmon & Ariely (2005)

Regular  Price  (1,89€)  

Discount  price  (0,89€)  

Group  1   Group  2  

slower and more mistakes

   

Priming    (aka  Subliminal  messages)  

Bargh (1996)

stereotype    words  related  with  “elderly"    (cane,  slow)  

Group  1   Group  2  

 

neutral  words    

(window,  door)  

Slower

The  temporary  ac@va@on  of  the  brand  values  ��influenced  how  the  par@cipants  behaved.  Its  almost  like  Red  Bull  gave  them  wings.  

Group  1   Group  2  

Brasel & Gips (2011)

Faster More reckless

Even  without  realizing  it,  the  sounds  associated  with  preconceived  ideas  about  a  product  influence  our  buying  decisions.  

Day  1   Day  2  

North, Hargreaves & McKendrick (1997)

5 times more. 2 times more.

Hints  that  prompt  observa@on,  like  a  pair  of  eyes,  increase  our  pro-­‐social  behaviors.  

Day  1   Day  2  

Powell, Roberts & Nettle (2009)

3 times more

   

Top  of  mind  (aka  familiarity)  

Zajonc (1968)

Group  1   Group  2  

Repeated   New  

Phase  1  

Phase  2  

Repe@@on  increases  the  preference  for  a  par@cular  s@mulus,  message,  face,  sound,  loca@on,  etc.  One  of  the  most  replicated  effect  in  psychology.  

Most preferred.

Hasher, Goldstein & Toppino (1977, 2005)

Group  1   Group  2  

Repeated   New  

Phase  1  

Phase  2  

Truth  Effect:  Repe@@on  increases  the  perceived  truth  of  an  idea,  phrase,  argument,  quality  of  a  product,  etc..  

The Louvre in Paris is the

biggest museum in the world.

 

The Louvre in Paris is the

biggest museum in the world.

Hemingway received a

Pulitzer Prize for the book "The Old

and the sea"  

The Louvre in Paris is the

biggest museum in the world.

 Truer.

Final  considera@ons  

What  I  said:      •       The  human  cogni@ve  system  is  dominated  by  the  system  1  (more  automa@c).    •       There  are  cues  that  influence  decision  making  that  we  are  not  aware  of.    •       Pricing,  priming,  repe@@on  effects  are  inherent  in  communica@on.    

 What  I  didn’t  said:    •     Adver@sing  is  a  science  (but  it  can  be  studied).      •   Bifidus  Regularis  and  Aloe  Vera  is  not  good  for  your  health.  

Take  home  message  

We  should  go  back  in  Qme  and  re-­‐combine  the  evidence  from  psychology  to  communicaQon  (adverQsing).  

 Why?  STRONG  UNIVERSAL  INSIGHTS.    Elementary  my  dear  Watson.  

   

Thank  you.