Have you ever look at an advertisement and ask yourself: “What about everything in the world does that mean?” So I felt after looking at this strip display.
Now I love stripes. Your product is enormous in the world of payment processing, but this advertisement makes no sense. It is not only confusing, all elements that I think make a good advertisement is also missing. The display needs an update and behavioral science can help.
Since the beginning of the Thrust I regularly interviewed Podcast researchers and other experts to obtain knowledge from psychology and apply them to marketing. And in the past ten years I believed that almost Every message could be improved by behavioral science.
In this article I collected six successful news with behavioral principles to prove my point of view. As soon as you see science – and understand exactly Why These ads work – the same strategies to improve your own marketing messages will be much easier.
Six successful news using behavioral principles
1. Anchorage – de beers
In the 1930s only 10% of the Americans Bought Diamond engagement rings. Most bought cheaper gemstones and spent a smaller proportion of their available income. To change buyer behavior, de BEERS came up with a new anchor. They asked: “How can you hold the two -month salary forever? “
The content of two months was not the standard for previously output for a engagement ring. But the new anchor changed the perception of the norm. De beers created a reference point (in this case a higher price tag), which in turn influenced valuations. The buyers spend more if it is assumed that a salary of two months is what a ring should cost.
Today, 90% of the engagement rings are Diamond. And spend Americans Billions Every year to buy them.
2. Pratfall effect – Avis
The rental car company Avis always remained second behind Hertz for market shares. Most companies would hide this weakness, but Avis hugged them.
Behind this strategy is something that is known as a Pratfall effect. Based on Aronson, Willerman and Floyd’s research that 1966 study found that we like clever people more if they have mistakes. The idea arises that people, if they seem too perfect, are not liked so easily. But if you make a mistake, you will become a little more human than the rest of us and therefore more attractive.
So Avis took this to the heart and decided to put her runner -up ranking and showed that they were still among the best, but only shy with perfection. In this way, her weakness became a strength by making it appear more likeable.
3. Generations effect – Gut Foundation
There is an easy way to get someone to notice your ad: Remove a letter.
In a 2020 Burnett, Treharne and Shotton (cited in Shotton’s 2023 book), the researchers showed the participants brand names with missing letters. For example:
- H_BC, GOO_E, Li_erpool FC, N_DGE.
It turns out that the participants remember these brands by 14% more than if the complete brand name is written (e.g. HSBC), with a recall rate of 92% compared to 81%. This is due to the generation effect, which means that if you have to generate an answer yourself, it becomes more unforgettable and more effective.
The Gut Foundation, a non -profit organization that specializes in digestive health, has applied this technique to its ads. They didn’t tell the drivers to get an examination. Instead, they applied 100% “Anus Beef”.
With the additional effort that is necessary to understand it, it was impossible to ignore and easily remember.
4. Keats Heuristik – Tesco
Rhymes are effective messaging tools. In one to demonstrate the power of it studyThe researchers McGlone and Tofighbakhsh showed the participants two sayings. Some rhyme (e.g., e.g. B. Affairs unite enemies). Some rhyme did not mean the same (e.g., e.g. Affairs unite enemies))).
The study showed that rhyming proverbs were viewed as 17% more trustworthy and unforgettable than their non-Rhyts.
The researchers shaped this with the Keats Heuristic (after the poet) in order to emphasize the underlying idea that, how pleasant we find, influences something as true. Rhymes are pleasant and easy to process, which makes their content appear trustworthy and true.
The Tesco supermarket chain used the same principle to increase the turnover of its vegetables for a reduced price. By creating an advertisement that has rhymed (“Reduced price. Reduced. Just as nice”), Tesco increased trust in the idea that inexpensive products were still of good quality and were worth buying.
5. Foundation effect – NHS
If you feel that you have something, you will appreciate it more. This is known as a foundation effect and was examined in many situations in behavioral economy and psychology.
However, Katy Milkman used this idea together with a large team of researchers to convince the messaging in her fantastic persuasion 2021 studywho was examined how to encourage patients to be at an upcoming doctor’s appointment for the flu.
When she tested 19 different text -based messages, she found that she found “,”, “Your vaccine is reserved for you“The readers were vaccinated by 4.6% more often because the feelings of reservation promotes the feeling of property.
The British National Health Service (NHS) applied this principle to increase the inclusion of the Covid 19 vaccination by changing your messaging language. Instead of having vaccines available in order to be given population groups, they were now “reserved” for them, which indicates that the vaccine was already and was only waiting to be asserted.
6. Specific numbers – forest
In A 2006 study The consumers saw ads for a fictional deodorant by Schindler and Yalch. Some have been said that “exactly 47% longer than competitors”, while others have been said that it “takes more than 50% longer than competitors”.
Which message did you think worked? It is probably not what you would expect.
The exact claim of 47% was considered by 199 participants as 10%. Why? Well, it’s the specific number. Specification improves the perceived accuracy and trustworthiness of claims, while less precise figures are accepted than estimates or less objectively.
Forest uses this excellently in his 2024 Billboard display for bicycle stocks. There is not only the number of free minutes that users enjoyed his service instead of a vague statement like “loose”. However, an exact number (51,899,782) is also used, which is more convincing on the point than 50,000,000.
Redesign marketing messages to success
And finally we go back to this strip display. How could it be improved? Well, with just a subtle survey based on the behavioral principles that I used.
If you are specifically over the speed, the display becomes unforgettable, improves trust and influences perception over the time that should take time to analyze your data. It is also much less confusing to read.
The nice thing about behavioral science in marketing is that strategic improvements can drastically improve the results. In a world in which consumers are bombarded with thousands of messages every day, the brands that understand psychology behind the conviction are those that drive the noise and the results.