Elementary my dear Watson: Evidences from Psychology about a (somewhat ) ra<onal consumer.
[email protected] pt.linkedin.com/in/rrdafonseca
About me… Frustrated historian. Psycologist. Frustrated to-‐be ad trainne. Phd in Social Psychology. A Happy Ad man.
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
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.
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
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
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.