The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence What We Buy

154 Pages·2018·0.76 MB·English

by  Richard Shotton

The Choice Factory How 25
behavioural biases influence the
products we decide to buy By
Richard Shotton Harriman House
HARRIMAN HOUSE LTD
18 College Street
Petersfield
Hampshire
GU31 4AD
GREAT BRITAIN
Tel: [phone]
Email: [email protected] Website: www.harriman-house.com First published in
Great Britain in 2018
Copyright © Richard Shotton The right of Richard Shotton to be identified as the author has been
asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
Paperback ISBN: 978-0-85719-609-5
eBook ISBN: 978-0-85719-610-1
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book can be
obtained from the British Library.
All rights reserved; no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or
otherwise without the prior written permission of the Publisher. This book may not be lent, resold,
hired out or otherwise disposed of by way of trade in any form of binding or cover other than that
in which it is published without the prior written consent of the Publisher.
Whilst every effort has been made to ensure that information in this book is accurate, no liability
can be accepted for any loss incurred in any way whatsoever by any person relying solely on the
information contained herein.
No responsibility for loss occasioned to any person or corporate body acting or refraining to act as
a result of reading material in this book can be accepted by the Publisher, by the Author, or by the
employers of the Author.
Contentsx Praise for The Choice Factory
Preface
Introduction
Bias 1: The Fundamental Attribution Error
Bias 2: Social Proof
Bias 3: Negative Social Proof
Bias 4: Distinctiveness
Bias 5: Habit
Bias 6: The Pain of Payment
Bias 7: The Danger of Claimed Data
Bias 8: Mood
Bias 9: Price Relativity
Bias 10: Primacy Effect
Bias 11: Expectancy Theory
Bias 12: Confirmation Bias
Bias 13: Overconfidence
Bias 14: Wishful Seeing
Bias 15: Media Context
Bias 16: The Curse of Knowledge
Bias 17: Goodhart’s Law
Bias 18: The Pratfall Effect
Bias 19: Winner’s Curse
Bias 20: The Power of the Group
Bias 21: Veblen Goods
Bias 22: The Replicability Crisis
Bias 23: Variability
Bias 24: Cocktail Party Effect
Bias 25: Scarcity
Ethics
Conclusion
References
Further reading
Acknowledgements
Index
Praise for The Choice Factory
“This book is a Haynes Manual for understanding consumer behaviour. You
should buy a copy - and then buy another copy to give to one of the 97% of
people in marketing who are too young to remember what a bloody Haynes
Manual is.”
— Rory Sutherland, columnist for The Spectator,
and Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy One “Most books in this area are
academic and dry as dust. If you want to know how research and sociology can
impact on real life in the real world, Richard’s book will show you - using
simple words and examples that real people can understand.”
— Dave Trott, columnist, Campaign, and author of
Predatory Thinking, Creative Mischief and 1+1=3
“In a cacophony of overstatement, Richard Shotton possesses a melodious and
balanced voice. In this short but powerful tome you can learn about how
marketing actually does influence consumers. Or, for the more prosaic among
us, how to get people to re-use towels, buy wine when German Oompah music is
playing and select a broadband supplier by mentioning Charing Cross Station.
The book also mentions me (all too briefly) which I also find enticing.”
— Mark Ritson, columnist, Marketing Week, and
Professor at Melbourne business school “Actionable, memorable and powerful...
Shotton has taken the jewels of behavioral economics and made them practical.”
— Seth Godin, author of All Marketers are Liars
“Comprehensive, compelling and immensely practical, the Choice Factory
brings the building blocks of behaviour change together in one place.”
— Richard Huntington, Chairman &
Chief Strategy Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi “A top class guide for those who want
to put BE to work, rather than just illuminate their journey to work. Richard
pushes the practical application of these central psychological concepts. An
essential handbook.”
— Mark Earls, author of Herd
“The Choice Factory is a delightful anatomy of the biased brain that will help
you understand and influence consumer decisions – including your own.”
— Ian Leslie, author of Born Liars and Curious
Richard delivers a wealth of cases proving the efficacy of working with, rather
than against, the grain of human nature. This is catnip for the industry.
— Phil Barden, author of
Decoded: The Science Behind Why We Buy
Richard Shotton’s application of behavioural economics is bang on the button.
This book is timely, insightful, fascinating and entertaining.
— Dominic Mills, former editor, Campaign
“If you’re a marketer, understanding what really makes people tick – as opposed
to what they might tell you – is vital. The Choice Factory book takes us on an
elegant, witty and digestible tour of the 25 main principles of behavioural
science. Richard Shotton has read widely so that you don’t have to, but he gives
full credit to his many sources should you wish to pursue any of the topics
further. This is a delightful and indispensable read for anyone in marketing,
particularly those early in their careers.”
— Tess Alps, Chair of Thinkbox
Preface
What this book covers
The Choice Factory is an overview of how findings from behavioural science
can be applied to advertising. Behavioural science, the study of decision-making,
is an important topic for advertisers as it provides a robust explanation about
why people buy particular products.
It recognises that people are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of decisions they
need to make each day. People don’t have the time or energy to laboriously and
logically weigh up each decision. Instead, they rely on short-cuts to make
decisions more quickly. While these short-cuts enable quicker decision-making,
they are prone to biases. These biases are the subject of this book.
If advertisers are aware of these biases, and adapt their products and
communications accordingly, then they can use them to their advantage. They
can work with the grain of human nature rather than unproductively challenging
it.
A number of successful brands – including Apple and Volkswagen – are
applying behavioural science, but they’re in the minority. There’s an opportunity
for you to gain an advantage by harnessing behavioural science before your
competitors.
Behavioural science has identified a remarkably broad, and ever-growing, range
of biases. This breadth means that whatever your communication challenge,
there’s normally a relevant bias that can help solve it.
This book is not an exhaustive list of all the biases that have been discovered by
behavioural science. I have been selective and focused on the 25 most relevant
biases to advertising. All the biases covered can be easily applied to your
campaigns to make them more powerful.
Who this book is for
The Choice Factory is primarily aimed at professionals working in advertising
and marketing, whether at an agency or a brand. It’ll give you practical advice
on how to apply behavioural science in your work. However, if you run your
own business or you have a general interest in behavioural science, there will be
plenty to interest you.