CHAPTER 17 | THE MANIPULATIVE BIASES
BIASES CREATE PERMISSION EVENTS
You want it. You want it bad. Stop overthinking it. Stop the painful turmoil of yes vs no in your head.
There is plenty of evidence, in every psychology discourse, that 90 percent of purchasing decisions are subconscious or emotional. The other 10 percent of is conscious and is used to rationalize the 90 percent of the brain that is short-cutting and developing preferences.
This is true in B2C (business to consumer), B2B (business to business) and D2C (direct to consumer) marketing.
Biases are bases for transaction triggers. You may be thinking about a purchase, researching a purchase, or you may not have a purchase intent at all, but something snaps you into action.
Brand development, which among other things is the romance in your subconscious for a particular product or service, is the prelude to the trigger of transaction. Upon transaction, delicious dopamine is the reward.
In our culture, people have been trained to want what they don’t need. Or rather, if you consider the desires of toddlers, our culture has not shut down the “want reflex” but rather has re-directed it to consumerism.
That’s why we marketers create neurological relief, a.k.a. Toyotathons.
SCARCITY BIAS
“Sale ends tonight!”
“Only 3 left!”
Ironically, as triggers go, limited inventory or production can also work to sell products and services at higher prices under the scarcity umbrella. When Harley-Davidson was at its revered peak in the 1970s - 1990s, pre-order was necessary to buy the popular models. At full price, of course.
H-D now struggles in the U.S., and for decades has relied on international sales to stay afloat. Business pontificators have blamed everything from the evolution of the outlaw archetype to increases in perceived value of competitive brands.
Perhaps sneaky scarcity has more to do with it than other variables. Just a thought.
URGENCY BIAS AND TEMPORAL DISCOUNTING
A cousin of scarcity, there is disproportional attractiveness to a limited discount.
In general, people overvalue immediate rewards and undervalue future awards if they have normal finances.
Classic psychology, especially research with children, show that most children prefer to “eat the cookie now” when left alone in a room with cookie, rather than not eat the cookie with the promise of more cookies if they’re patient and wait.
What kids wait? Gross generalization, but kids in wealthier income brackets who usually have their needs immediately met choose to wait.
While heuristics are guidelines for manipulating behavior, income, education, sexual-orientation and "how you grew up" are all variables best left for the professionals.
So don't try this at home.