Generation Effect Read online This ad outside my local opticians sticks in my mind. "Blink if you need an eye exam." At first glance, it's bizzare. It doesn't promote the business, showcase a promotion, or entice people in. And yet, I think it's weirdly effective due to the generation effect. In 1978, researchers¹ asked participants to either read work pairs or generate missing words from cues. For example: Read condition: hot → cold Generate condition: hot → c___ Those generating answers...

Isolation Effect Read online Noah Kagan tested his book cover design by photoshopping the book onto shelves to see what stood out. The green cover isn't different, but it is distinct. In 1933, German researcher Hedwig Von Restorff¹ published a paper on memory and distinctiveness. She gave participants long lists of letter combinations to remember (e.g. JTSW, UCSM, PLST), but among them was a single number sequence: 9125. When participants returned after a distraction task, Hedwig found that...

Social Proof Read online "Window cleaning in progress" I love this board because it remembers something most marketers forget. A real photo taken on a suburban street in Houston. Cialdini proved that we're persuaded by others. In an Arizonan hotel room, he placed two messages on hotel doors designed to convince guests to reuse their towels. “Help us save the environment” = 35% towel reuse. “Most guests reuse their towels” = 44% towel reuse. We're persuaded by others' actions. So, if a...