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Writer's pictureBarsha Singh

Biases of the human mind in marketing


Marketing psychology studies how customers' perceptions of products and services are influenced by various factors. When a product is presented in a certain way, how will the customer react to it? What will they decide to do next? Predicting how consumers will behave and discovering strategies to influence their behaviour may be done with the aid of your marketing staff.

Neuroscience and cognitive science can help us better understand how a consumer's feelings and perceptions influence their purchasing decisions because they are closely linked to marketing psychology.


Being conscious of one's own "cognitive biases" is essential.

Do we make well-reasoned decisions every day of the week? We'd like to believe so, but our brains are constantly bombarded with information. Because of the many choices we face each day, our brains have developed shortcuts that allow us to make faster decisions. Heuristics are shorthand for these shortcuts.

Who says that these are the most significant of all the biases?

Through the use of human-driven A/B testing, Omni convert has aided 18,261 websites in increasing their conversion rates since 2013. In total, they were given access to more than 41,000 human-driven A/B testing experiments made by thousands of eCommerce sites. They found that the most effective web experiments take advantage of these 12 cognitive biases, which they named as such by the Omni convert team. Let's take a closer look at each one:


1. A cascade of availability

Self-reinforcing processes in which a belief becomes more plausible as it is repeated in public discourse (or "repeat something long enough and it will become true") are at work here.

Another example is the repetition of news stories until they are ingrained in the public's consciousness. The public's perception of news is frequently skewed by the exaggeration of unfortunate events, leading to a misrepresentation of the facts.

Brian Dean from Backlinko is an excellent example of how to make use of this cognitive bias. He is regarded as a leading authority on SEO, and he runs an insightful blog where he discusses white hat SEO, promotion, and long-form content in-depth. Being visible in the places where people expect to see an SEO expert has earned him the title of expert. In a self-reinforcing cycle, the more his name is associated with SEO, the more people believe it is true. A positive availability cascade emerged over time due of this method.


of2. First-come, first-served

Once a viewpoint has been accepted as either the accepted opinion or one that is suitable to a person's personal tastes, the rest of the world follows suit.

People's predisposition to think in groups, as well as their need to be accepted by others, are all potential factors to this cognitive bias. Fashion, music, social media, diets, and elections are the best examples of this bias. It's not uncommon for people to copy the style or taste of others when it comes to their personal appearance or musical tastes. Adopting the same diet or social network as everyone else also falls under this category. People tend to vote for the candidate they believe is most likely to win in elections.


3. The bias toward affirmation

People's tendency to search for, interpret, or recall information in a way that supports their beliefs or hypotheses is depicted by this phenomenon.

People's tendency to seek out only positive or only negative information about a candidate, depending on how they feel about that person, is an example of this cognitive bias in action. Stereotypes, on the other hand, have the same effect, with people more likely to forget or ignore information that contradicts a stereotype.

Human nature makes it difficult to change this tendency. However, the more individuals are aware of and embrace the confirmation bias, the higher the possibility that they will be intrigued about opposing perspectives and become more objective.

4. Fear of missing out on a great opportunity

FOMO is the fear that one is missing out on pleasurable experiences that others are having. One of the most typical symptoms of social anxiety is a need to be "always connected."

In this case, social media serves as an excellent example. People have developed irrational distress if they are not up to date with every piece of information that is available on multiple social media platforms. In spite of the fact that you've disconnected, you still feel a strong desire to reconnect.


5. Herd mentality

This is a term used to describe the tendency of people to do what the majority of their peers are doing. Emotion and instinct have a greater impact on them than rational thought.

In today's world, where consumerism is at its highest point, there are countless examples to support this cognitive bias. The Black Friday madness comes to mind as an example of this. According to one study, a bad shopping experience can be made better by having a large group of people around to enjoy it.


6. The Concept of Anchoring

This refers to the tendency of people to "anchor" their decisions on a single characteristic or piece of information (usually the first piece of information that we acquire on that subject).

Brands, for example, use this cognitive bias to make their products and services appear more affordable and thus increase their perceived value. There are many ways to get people to sign up for a subscription or buy a product in bulk, such as offering a lower price per unit for bulk purchases and showing the original price and the discount at the same time.


7. Creating a Picture

Depending on how a piece of information is presented, different people will arrive at different conclusions.

That is to say, people categorise the possible outcomes of their actions into two categories: gains and losses. One of the reasons for this is that they are more cautious when making a decision between two positive options. However, when presented in a negative light, the same options tend to be perceived as a loss, leading people to believe that they are riskier.

Fashion, travel, furniture, sports apparel, electronics, cosmetics, and books are some of the industries where this bias is most obvious and where this type of experiment works best.


8. Aversion to loss

This illustrates the greater disutility of letting go of something than the benefit of getting it ("save 20% if you buy now" is more likely to be converted than "get 20%").

According to economics, this can be explained by the fact that a loss is feared more than a gain is welcomed by people. Phrases like "Limited-time offer!"


9. Bias in hyperbolic discounting

This is when people have a stronger preference for immediate gratification over later gratification. The concept of "buy now, pay later" is a good example of this cognitive bias. EA Access, for example, allows gamers to participate in a programme where the best results are only available later. Gamers, on the other hand, are more likely to convert because they will have immediate access to the vault.


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