Richard Shotton

Every day, people make hundreds of choices.

Many of these are commercial: What shampoo to pick? How much to spend on a bottle of wine? Whether to renew a subscription?

These choices might appear to be freely made, but psychologists have shown that subtle changes in the way products are positioned, promoted and marketed can radically alter how customers behave.

The Illusion of Choice identifies the 16½ most important psychological biases that everyone in business needs to be aware of today - and shows how any business can take advantage of these quirks to win customers, retain customers and sell more.

Richard Shotton, author of the acclaimed The Choice Factory, draws on academic research, previous ad campaigns and his own original field studies to create a fascinating and highly practical guide that focuses on the point where marketing meets the mind of the customer.

You'll learn to take advantage of the peak end rule, the power of precision, the wisdom of wit - and much, much more.

You simply cannot afford to miss The Illusion of Choice.

16 ½ psychological biases that influence what we buy

The Illusion of Choice

Fabian Beiner

The marketing implication is clear. If you want to disrupt a habit, target your messaging to the start of new time periods.

This study suggests that those interested in behaviour change shouldn’t just target new time periods with their messaging – they should also reframe seemingly mundane moments as fresh starts.

If you want to create habitual purchasing behaviour, don’t focus only on motivation. That’s not enough. You also need to create a cue that will prompt that behaviour.

If you want to change behaviour, it’s best to make your cue as distinctive as possible.

If a commitment appears bite-size, it looks less daunting, and people are keener to try it.

So, if you’re trying to shape your customers’ behaviour, harness uncertainty. If you have a loyalty scheme, stop offering every customer the same incentive each time they visit. Instead add a dash of randomness.

This is Pret’s approach to boosting coffee sales. Unlike its competitors, it doesn’t require its drinkers to collect reams of stamps in return for a free coffee. Instead, it empowers its staff to randomly reward customers with a free drink every so often.

If you want to encourage major behaviour change, begin by asking the audience to make a small change. It should be small enough that it takes minimal effort, but large enough to influence the self-identity of the target audience. Then, once they have made the minor change, follow up with your genuine ask.

In his analysis of 53 experiments, he identified four situations when people prefer fewer choices:

His research suggests that, if any of these factors apply to your category, then choice paralysis is a heightened risk. If not, your customer might be more accepting of plentiful choice.

If we make the desired behaviour easier by removing barriers, or the undesirable behaviour harder by adding friction, we’re more likely to get people to do what we want.

The foot-in-the-door technique changes the actual size of the first step, whereas the door-in-the-face changes the perceived size.

The psychologists argued that we value things more if we have put some effort into getting them. They termed this, appropriately enough, the ‘IKEA effect’.

If your concern is boosting a customer’s evaluation of your product, then you might want to add in a bit of friction.

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