Barnum Effect Read online Why does the ad on the ๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ capture attention? Well, it might be down to the question.Rohini Ahluwalia and Robert Burnkrant's studyยน in 2004 tested two types of ads. Statement-based ads: "You haven't had a pear in a while."And... Question ads: "When was the last time you had a pear?" The researchers found that ads using questions are rated 14% ๐ฆ๐จ๐ซ๐ ๐๐๐ฏ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ๐๐๐ฅ๐ฒ than statement-based ads. So, why not turn your statement into a question? I tested this myself in two...
8 days agoย โขย 1 min read
The Country-of-Origin Effect Read online Youโre thinking of buying a new pair of running shoes. Usually, you go with Nike. But this time, youโre considering Umbro (a lesser-known brand). Then you find out: Umbro makes their shoes in the UK. Nice. It's always good to find locally made brands. Youโre willing to pay a decent price. But the next day, you hear Umbro are moving production to South Korea. Now, would you still pay the same? Probably not. Thatโs exactly what these researchersยน found....
15 days agoย โขย 1 min read
The Anchoring Effect Read online In the 1970s, Tversky and Kahnemanยน ran a simple experiment. They asked people: "What percentage of African countries are in the UN?" But before answering, participants had to spin a wheel with numbers from 0 to 100. The wheel was rigged to land on either 10 or 65. Then came the important question: "Is the actual percentage higher or lower than that number?" After that, participants gave their best estimate. Hereโs what happened: People who saw 10 guessed 25%...
22 days agoย โขย 1 min read
The Illusion of Choice Read online Give people $1 and two identical packs of gum. Same flavour. Same price. What happens? Most people aren't interested. Thatโs what Kim, Novemsky, and Dharยน found in a South Korean experiment. They gave participants โฉ1,000 and two gum options, both priced at โฉ630. Only 46% bought anything. But then they did something clever. They made the prices slightly different: โฉ620 vs. โฉ640. Now 77% decided to buy. Same gum. Slight price difference. Big impact. Why? When...
29 days agoย โขย 1 min read
Input Bias Read online Does the ๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ put into a shop display ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ influence sales? That's what Moralesยน set out to answer in 2005. Participants were shown round the same store, except half saw the shelves ๐ง๐๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ก๐ข๐ ๐ก-๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ. The other participants saw the same products, but with a ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฐ-๐๐๐๐จ๐ซ๐ญ ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐ฒ. The results are striking. Those who saw the high-effort display were willing to pay 24.4% ๐๐๐๐. After seeing a store display like Boots, customers were willing to pay...
about 1 month agoย โขย 1 min read
Concrete Phrases Read online Which electric bus would stick in your mind? It's not even a competition. Copy that's easy to visualise is easy to memorise. In 2021, Richard Shottonยน showed participants a number of vague phrases, like 'innovative quality', and then some concrete phrases, e.g., 'money in your pocket'. Shottonโs concrete phrases were 8.6x more likely to be remembered. Richard Shotton's Concrete Phrases Study Heโd proved the concrete phrases' effect, a phenomenon first discovered...
about 1 month agoย โขย 1 min read
Psychology of Pricing Read online 1) Charm Pricing for High-Quality Products Imagine youโre buying a shatterproof iPhone case Does it matter if it is priced at ยฃ49.99 or ยฃ49.95? Well, yes. Apple uses charm pricing but usually ends prices with a 5. Gendall, Fox, and Wilton (1998)ยน ran an experiment with fast-moving consumer goods (fly spray, cheese) and durables (electric kettles). They found that prices with endings in 99 cents are more attractive for low-priced, fast-moving consumer goods...
about 2 months agoย โขย 1 min read
Unit Asking Read online Which of these articles encouraged Brits to donate more? It's the one on the right. Research by Christopher Hseeยน found that donors gave nearly twice as much when first asked to consider the needs of a single person before being asked to donate to a larger cause. This โunit askingโ strategy made contributions feel more reasonable and personal. And it explains thisยฒ rather bizarre study: The study looked at the success rate of donation requests on the...
about 2 months agoย โขย 1 min read
Hyperbolic Discounting Read online One of these ads looks 108% better value. Can you guess which? In 2025, Shotton and Flickerยน tested ads like this in their book. 282 consumers were shown Sierra Nevada Pale Ale priced at $18.99 for 12 bottles. Half were told this equated to $1.58 per bottle. Among those shown the per-bottle price, 28.6% said it was good or very good value (more than double the 13.7% who only saw the total price). Framing the cost at the per-unit level made the purchase feel...
2 months agoย โขย 1 min read