Associative Learning Read online I'm reading The Expectation Effect. On page 52¹, there's a story that every marketer should read: The surgeon John Noland Mackenzie was among the first to test a negative expectation effect in medicine. Working at Baltimore's Eye, Ear and Throat Charity Hospital in the 1880s, he examined a 32-year-old woman with severe asthma and hay fever. When exposed to pollen, her nose and eyes would run and her throat would itch so badly she felt she must "tear [it] out...
7 days ago • 2 min read
The Mere Exposure Effect Read online Take a look at this image. What do you see? Taken from Robson's brilliant book The Expectation Effect¹ This is a real image, but it's bleached and poor quality. Chances are, you can't spot what this is. Have another look. Spotted anything? I imagine it's still a no. However, if I tell you to look for a cow, you might see the image differently. As Robson¹ writes: Something somehow “clicks,” and the image suddenly makes a lot more sense. Let's try another...
14 days ago • 1 min read
The Faith Effect Read online Watch an England football match and you'll see a lot of praying. Madueke, Toney, Guehi, Rashford and Saka from left to right. How many players are religious? Well, the evidence is thin. The Telegraph¹ confirms that at least four players are openly Christian. And Woman Alive² (a slightly less reputable source) claims as many as 50% of the team follow a god—higher than the UK average. Regardless of the true number, if you watch England, you'll see a lot of praying....
28 days ago • 2 min read
The Authority Bias Read online Here are some not-so-surprising stats. 20% of trades on the stock market are from brokers copying other profitable brokers¹. 60% of traders say they started trading by copying expert online². But do these financial experts really know more than the rest of us? That's what Richard Wiseman looked at in his great book, Quirkology. Investors vs Chimp Back in 1994, a Swedish newspaper ran a light-hearted experiment. The newspaper gave $1,250 each to five experienced...
29 days ago • 2 min read
Disrupt Then Reframe Read online In his fantastic book 59 Seconds, Richard Wiseman¹ explains the “disrupt, then reframe” approach. The tactic briefly jolts someone out of autopilot with something unexpected, then follows with a straightforward request. In several experiments, researchers went door to door selling notepads for charity. The salesman would either say: 1️⃣ “They sell for $3. It’s a bargain.” 2️⃣ Or, they would introduce a small disruption: “They sell for 300 pennies — that’s $3....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Sharing Weaknesses Read online In the 1970s, researchers Jones and Gordon¹ from Duke University played people a recording of a man (really a stooge) talking about his life. During the tape the man explained he had not completed a school semester because he had been caught cheating and had been expelled. The researchers edited the tape so that: 1️⃣ Half of the participants heard this bombshell toward the beginning 2️⃣ Half of the participants heard it toward the end. Did the timing of the...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Mystery Effect Read online I submit a gas and electricity reading every month. Not because I'm diligent or disciplined. But because my supplier (Octopus Energy) nudges me to do so. Every time I leave a gas reading, they let me spin a wheel to win a potential reward. Most suppliers just ask for a reading (left). Octopus offer a chance to win (right). I've shared this before, but I haven't shared much evidence as to why it works. So, take a look at these images from a 2022 study¹.Which would...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Long-Term Goals = Success? Read online You've probably heard of the “Yale Goal Study". Here's the study. In 1953, researchers interviewed Yale’s graduating class. They asked a simple question: “Have you written down your goals for life?” Twenty years later, they tracked the same students down. And discovered something dramatic. Just 3% had written specific goals. And that 3% had built more personal wealth than the other 97% combined. It’s a perfect self-help story, with a simple lesson. Make...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Commitment Devices Read online Often we plan to do something and don't. Donating blood, going on a run, watching that webinar. We want to, but forget. This drives marketers insane. People sign up for their events—but no one comes. Katy Milkman, a brilliant professor at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, found a solution¹. She used a commitment device. Milkman and her colleagues teamed up with a large American utility firm to see if they could prompt more of the company's...
2 months ago • 1 min read