CHAPTER 16 | THE LOVABLE BIASES
BIASES MAKE PROSPECTS FEEL SMART AND SAFE
No brain wants to feel out of control. So to be in control, we don’t use logic (too hard), we use truths. Our truths. The ones we make up. It doesn’t matter if our truths are really true if they’re true to us.
Realizing your truths are wrong is called cognitive dissonance, which makes you feel dumb. It is why you look for fact fragments to back up your misunderstandings.
Those sweet bias temptations are like Pop Rocks in advertising.
ANCHORING BIAS
The first number you see, or the first fact that you are presented with, is your baseline for understanding. Ergo, the anchor.
“Manufacturers Suggested Retail: $299. Now $129!”
The first number is a suggestion, not a truth. But Kohls, TJMaxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods have based their entire economic engines on anchoring bias.
Politics and persuasion messaging works the same way. Come out early with a fact, then everything that comes after that fact is in competition for the top spot in your brain. You get a dopamine win because you think you’re smart by knowing something, and committing it to truth. Whatever is said after is yours to thumb up or down like a Roman Emperor.
It is power.
For instance, a candidate opens a debate by saying, “The economy is the strongest it’s ever been.” Well, that’s emotionally satisfying and easy to remember for a prospect. The reality is that economic health is complicated, requires context, and depends on how you prioritize data. But it puts the next debater in a position where they need to beat the statement, and likely no one will remember any of the detail of what was said in attempt at clarification.
“Truth” is always simple, even when it's not.
VISUAL STEREOTYPES AND HALOS
If one part of something looks impressive, your brain will assign that positive or negative impression to all else associated.
Beautiful packaging makes products taste better.
Attractive people are more credible spokespeople.
People who “look” smart (the Steve Jobs uniform of the 2000s) so, what they do or say is intelligent as a default. Ditto for creative/creative and wealthy/wealthy.
Beautifully designed websites with elegant UX represent presumed customer service.
This all isn’t rocket science. It’s intuitive for most people in advertising’s creative and account services. Where it’s NOT intuitive is with clients whose purview is black and white, product-focused, logic not emotion, and short vs long-term ROI.
But, if clients cannot recognize powerful intangibles themselves, and are open to the science of persuasion, out-performing work can be created for them. They just have to buy it first.
Also, just FYI, buy anything Giannis Antetokounmpo is selling.