Over the years I’ve looked into a lot of different marketing strategies.
It started with direct catalog marketing, moved into SEO and today I focus primarily on blogging, which brings in new customers through search and social media for businesses.
An interesting thing about marketing is that you’re always trying to figure out what people are thinking. You have to do your best to figure out what people need and how they want to discover the solution.
It can be tricky, but lately I’ve been looking more at psychology to help me learn about people. It’s been a huge help.
That’s right – psychology. Growing up it seemed like people were always saying this about people that went to college for psychology:
“Psychology? What kind of job can you get with that?”
Now I wish I would have studied psychology sooner. I’m trying to make up for lost time.
In this post we’re going to talk about cognitive bias.
It’s the study that looks at how people make judgment. It’s fascinating, at least to a geek like me.
But it’s important when it comes to marketing and design.
Here are five cognitive biases that affect website design.
1. Ambiguity Effect
People like certainty. If the outcome is perceived to be unknown due to lack of information people will choose that which they are more certain or at least perceive to be more certain.
For your designs this means that you can make a better design by including information that the competition has not.
2. Bandwagon Effect
There are tons of articles about social proof. This one kind of has the same effect. If you can make it seem or if you can prove that what you provide is something others are doing you can win people over because they are using the bandwagon effect.
3. Decoy Effect
Use this one with your own judgment. It crosses the moral line, but some of your competitors may be using it.
The decoy effect gives people a third option for products with the goal being to get people to choose the higher priced of two other options.
4. Confirmation Bias
Do you know someone that always looks for information to support his or her beliefs?
That’s the confirmation bias.
By making it easy for your target customer to find information on a website through content and design you can feed their confirmation bias and get them to purchase from you and get them to try to convince others that it’s the best option.
5. Framing Effect
Information can be presented in different ways. The classic example is the class half-full versus half-empty.
When you use positive language and design you frame arguments or decisions in a way that makes people more likely to act.
For a complete list see: Decision-making, belief, and behavioral biases
Do you encounter cognitive bias?
How does it impact your marketing and design efforts?
