How one tourist board made Southend seem desirable | Nudge Newsletter


The Anchoring Effect

โ€‹Read onlineโ€‹


"๐˜š๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ: ๐˜•๐˜ฐ๐˜ต ๐˜ฒ๐˜ถ๐˜ช๐˜ต๐˜ฆ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ฆ ๐˜”๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ฅ๐˜ช๐˜ท๐˜ฆ๐˜ด ๐˜ฃ๐˜ถ๐˜ต ๐˜ธ๐˜ข๐˜ณ๐˜ฎ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ ๐˜ต๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ ๐˜Ž๐˜ณ๐˜ช๐˜ฎ๐˜ด๐˜ฃ๐˜บ."

Why does this line work?

Well, it's due to a great use of the ๐š๐ง๐œ๐ก๐จ๐ซ๐ข๐ง๐  ๐ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ๐ž๐œ๐ญ.
โ€‹
Anchoring = "๐˜๐˜ข๐˜ญ๐˜ถ๐˜ฆ ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ณ๐˜ค๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ต๐˜ช๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ฅ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฑ๐˜ฆ๐˜ฏ๐˜ฅ๐˜ด ๐˜ฐ๐˜ฏ ๐˜ธ๐˜ฉ๐˜ข๐˜ต ๐˜บ๐˜ฐ๐˜ถ ๐˜ข๐˜ฏ๐˜ค๐˜ฉ๐˜ฐ๐˜ณ ๐˜ช๐˜ต ๐˜ข๐˜จ๐˜ข๐˜ช๐˜ฏ๐˜ด๐˜ต."
โ€‹
In a 2022 studyยน, 404 shoppers tested how reference prices affect perceived value.
โ€‹
When Ben & Jerryโ€™s ($3.99 for 16oz) was shown next to Walmartโ€™s cheaper $1.99 tub, only 27% rated Ben & Jerry's as great value.
โ€‹
But when paired with a costlier $4.99 Halo Top, the number rose to 41%, a 52% increase in perceived value for Ben & Jerry's.
โ€‹
The value judgement didnโ€™t change due to the product itself, but the comparison point.
โ€‹
The point is, the weather in Southend looks better when compared to Grimsby.
โ€‹
And that point alone can be enough to make for a great ad.


Big thanks to today's sponsors, GWI.

Are you stuck in a creative rut ahead of your next campaign? Or working late again to prepare for a pitch?

Donโ€™t stress โ€” just ask Agent Spark, your on-hand insights analyst.

Agent Spark gives you insights on your audience in seconds โ€” so you can get inspired, validate hunches, and build smarter campaigns backed by consumer data.

The insights are backed by 2M+ annual surveys and billions of consumers โ€” the same GWI data trusted by teams at Google, Microsoft, and Spotify.

And the best part? You can use it in the GWI platform, ChatGPT, Claude, or your favourite AI tool. You choose.

Ready to spark your next big idea?


Looking for another newsletter that cuts through the marketing noise?

The Marketing Against the Grain newsletter explains, teaches, and provides the steady hand, offering stories and systems that turn chaos into clarity.

โ€‹Subscribe today.โ€‹

Hope you enjoyed today's newsletter folks. โ€” Phillโ€‹

ยนShotton, R., & Flicker, M. A. (2025). Hacking the human mind: The behavioral science secrets behind 17 of the worldโ€™s best brands. Harriman House.

As a behavioural science practitioner, I believe in the peak-end rule.

โ€‹Tune into Nudge | Advertise with Nudge | Unsubscribe

Nudge Newsletter

I spend 18 hours each week turning marketing psychology into readable newsletters.

Read more from Nudge Newsletter

The Mere Exposure Effect Read online Take a look at this image. What do you see? Taken from Robson's brilliant book The Expectation Effectยน 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 Robsonยน writes: Something somehow โ€œclicks,โ€ 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 Telegraphยน confirms that at least four players are openly Christian. And Woman Aliveยฒ (a slightly less reputable source) claims as many as 50% of the team follow a godโ€”higher than the UK average. Regardless of the true number, if you watch England, you'll see a lot of praying....

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 brokersยน. 60% of traders say they started trading by copying expert onlineยฒ. 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...