Utsa Bajaj’s Post

This one’s in the name! The IKEA effect, is a cognitive bias that was named after our favourite Swedish store, that thrives on the DIY philosophy. Have you ever been to a pottery class? Or a sip and paint workshop? It may be your very first time making a ceramic coffee mug, or a landscape painting on canvas. Chances are, it might not be too aesthetically pleasing to anyone else who you proudly show it to! (yes ouch) So why do we tend to value this object way more than it deserves? It is because of the IKEA effect, a bias that makes us tend to like something a lot more, if we’ve expended effort to creating them. Do you want to know the science behind this? Human beings have a psychological need to feel competent. Our self-efficacy is a fundamental contributor to our mental health. So when we do something productive with our hands, like build furniture, or do some gardening, it fulfils a deeper psychological need. Now of course I have to share a marketer’s take on this :) A lot of brands leverage the IKEA effect either on a product level, or in their marketing. On a product level, we have furniture stores like IKEA, meal prep services, LEGO! On a marketing level, brands often invite you to ‘customize’ your own perfume fragrance, emboss your name on your water bottle, and so on. This personalisation makes you a lot more attached to the product. This bias is a great way for a brand to build an emotional connection with their consumers. Although as consumers, it’s up to us to be able to perceive the value of the offering and then make an informed choice. :) [illustration: TDL]

Picture this. You've been looking to buy a product. Maybe a moisturiser. You're getting targeted by tons of ads across your socials. It's a bit pricey and maybe not within the budget you had in mind, but the product looks like it'll be a great fit for you, however, you can't seem to make up your mind. Now why you can't make up your mind is because of a cognitive bias called 'loss aversion'. Loss aversion scientifically proves that the pain of 'losing' is psychologically twice as powerful as the pleasure of 'gaining'. So you're wondering what if you spend all this money and it turns out the moisturiser isn't working for your skin type. In this stage of the consumer journey, marketers often rely on activating another cognitive bias called 'confirmation bias'. Confirmation bias is the tendency for human beings to search for information that will validate our existing beliefs (pre-notions), even if said beliefs are not accurate, we can still easily feel validated because of the confirmation bias. It's one of the age-old, most simple and seemingly effective marketing strategies in the book, most often in the form of product reviews/ influencer content, targeted ads, and so on. So if the marketing is convincing enough, your confirmation bias overpowers your loss aversion and you will click checkout. Why do cognitive biases fascinate me? This goes beyond my career in marketing. Understanding and navigating the biases that control our thought processes and decision-making can lead to better, more strategic decision-making altogether. The good news is that confirmation biases can be questioned with critical thinking, or as Adam Grant urges us, by thinking like a scientist!

What is behavioural science? At its core, it's the study of how people think and make decisions. 💭  From a marketer’s perspective, behaviour science can be used to understand the cognitive biases and psychological thinking patterns of shoppers that will provide deep insights into what drives purchase decisions. 🛒  If you’re thinking why should we as marketers care about behavioural science? Here’s how it helps-  Understanding Consumer Thinking:  By diving into the inner workings of the human mind, marketers can gain a deeper understanding of why consumers make the choices they do. From subconscious motivations to emotional triggers, behavioural science helps uncover the hidden drivers behind consumer decisions. Predicting and Influencing Behaviour:  The insights from behavioural science will help you predict how consumers are likely to respond to different marketing stimuli.  As a crafter, you will also be able to create more purposeful messaging that can actually influence decision making processes. From leveraging social proof and scarcity to tapping into the power of choice architecture, behavioural science becomes the most effective comms toolkit at your disposal.  Connecting on a deeper level:  Ultimately, successful marketing is about building relationships with consumers. By understanding the psychology behind consumer behaviour, you can build trust that turns into brand loyalty. Science-backed research tells us that causing a (positive) emotional reaction is the strongest way to win over a consumer’s trust.  Behavioural science isn’t just another buzzword or social trend to hop on to, it’s a way to create a more purposeful and engaging relationship with your consumers that will ultimately drive your business goals.  Stick around for the series of Purposeful Persuasion I’ve learnt along my exploration of consumer psychology and behaviour science. #BehaviouralScience #MarketingStrategy #ConsumerPsychology #PurposefulPersuasion

Since when I can remember, psychology fascinated me. Understanding different behaviours, actions, reactions and all the beautifully twisted reasons behind them. My interest in psychology along my career as a marketer sparked an interest in consumer psychology and behaviour science.   Having spent the last few years immersed in the riveting world of Daniel Kahneman (and Amos Tversky) and his System thinking, cognitive biases and heuristics; Richard Thaler’s nudges and choice architecture; Robert Cialdini’s persuasion sciences, and so on (you get the gist), I'm inspired every day. This passion led me to undertake a strategic consulting project last year during my MBA for a leading neuroscience marketing firm, which resulted in pouring 4 months into research of cognitive biases and heuristics that drive consumers’ purchase decisions for FMCG. I'm no scientist or behaviour economist but you may want to stay tuned as I begin to share fragments of behavioural economics (that have sparked my nucleus accumbens) and may offer a fresh perspective when you think of your consumers; or simply a little food for thought!

I recently had the chance to attend a one day workshop by Lovebrain® on cognitive sciences and how to maximise your brain performance, and it was one of the most insightful experiences! Some great learnings from the session- - there are different types of memory, and only 2% of our sensory stimuli across our lives stays on as semantic memory, which predominantly is our skills, habits, belief systems - our memory storage is stronger than our memory retrieval, so how well we recall information is based on how we encode it - learning happens in the space between the question you face and the process you go through to find the answer, so getting stressed when we can’t find a solution to a problem is counterproductive - the most effective way to reduce cognitive overwhelm is quite simple actually: to-do lists. make to-do lists of your open brain tabs to reduce the burden your brain is feeling - your brain builds neurological architecture to continue feeling the feelings you are used to, which makes you addicted to a certain feeling (negative or positive) and keeps us in that state for prolonged times I found so much from this session that can be applied to our daily lives to help improve the way we function and in turn, how we feel!

“When you are in a state of cognitive ease, you are probably in a good mood, like what you see, believe what you hear, trust your intuitions, and feel that the current situation is comfortably familiar. You are also likely to be relatively casual and superficial in your thinking. When you feel strained, you are more likely to be vigilant and suspicious, invest more effort in what you are doing, feel less comfortable, and make fewer errors, but you also are less intuitive and less creative than usual.” It’s a loss so personal, having spent the last few years of my life consciously practicing System 2, choice architecture, balancing cognitive ease, trying to analyse a situation without the lens of familiarity. His research impacted not just my work as a marketer, but also many aspects of my personal life. Daniel Kahneman’s work made such a deep impact on my life, so much so that I spent 4 months of my MBA on a 20,000 word dissertation on his work. He made me fall in love with behavioural economics, understanding cognition functioning, and simply put, why we think and act the way that we do. The biggest form of inspiration I’ve found in my life is through Daniel Kahneman’s work. And I hope to someday find another book that will become as tattered as my Thinking Fast and Slow copy now is. “Our comforting conviction that the world makes sense rests on a secure foundation: our almost unlimited ability to ignore our ignorance.”

The newsletter we’ve been waiting for! Matt Johnson, PhD reading about NaS in Blindsight has been life altering for me as a marketer!