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...

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...

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....