if you hate clowns but love skateboarding dogs then this blog is for you not because i'm going to teach you how to run away and join the circus although that does look kind of fun but because the better you understand why people like what they like hate what they hate do what they do and think what they think the better you're going to be able to create effective profitable and business growing marketing strategies strategies that leverage the science of influence and the art of persuasion and allow you to tap into those deep psychological feelings and attitudes and beliefs that all of your customers have and that's why in this blog i'm going to be sharing with you some studies some stories as well as some strategies from the field of psychological marketing so you can make a bigger impact get more attention and grow your business by making way better marketing so let me show you how it's done.
Understanding why people do what they dois one of the most important elements to marketing success now i'm not suggesting you need to go out there and become a psychology major but simply understanding a few proven principles and fundamentals behind why people do what they do and think what they think can really help your marketing go a long way for example did you know that by simply telling a story about a time that you acted more adventurous or more open-minded can make your customers more receptive and more willing to accept what you're offering them more willing to take risks on trying out a new product or service well it can and this psychological marketing trick is known as priming and did you know that by using words like speed and victory and success and running and simply putting those words into your marketing can actually make your customers move physically faster and well studies show that the opposite is also true when you subject your customers to words like bingo and retirement and pension in other words typically associated with elderly people they actually move physically slower well the reason this works is because it.
Triggers different mental schemas which are kind of like structures for organizing information and it's incredibly powerful so it turns out that those cheesy motivational posters may not be so cheesy after all words matter and so does packaging presentation and design there was a famous study done proving this exact point involving everybody's favorite health food the chocolate brownie study participants were all given the exact same brownie but delivered in one of three different ways on a paper napkin on a paper plate or on a piece of really nice fine china the study results showed that not only did the finer dining wear result in a more enjoyable brownie eating experience but also the more expensive or more luxurious the presentation of the brownie the more that the study participants were willing to pay just to get the exact same brownie in fact the study participants. That received their chocolate brownie on the piece of fine china were willing to pay up to three times more for the exact same brownie this is because our brains as human beings aren't really that logical which means neither are your customers it's not that they're dumb or slow or ignorant even it's just that they've got these naturally baked in decision making processes that are full of flaws and full of errors you see we as human beings use mental shortcuts known as heuristics to help us make decisions quickly and to help us make sense of the crazy wild and weird world and all of the things going on all around us all the time well like most shortcuts in life they're prone to errors they're prone to mistakes after all they have to be they simply can't take in all of the facts and all of the information to make perfect.
Logical and rational decisions every time now the mistakes that result from these rapid fire almost subconscious decision-making processes are known as cognitive biases and there's over a hundred of them this is why people hate paying for shipping separately but will happily pay a premium to have it included it's why liquor stores playing german music in the background sell more german wines and it's why liquor stores playing french music in the background sell more french wines or why a website with money on the homepage will have their shoppers more focused on cost savings whereas a website with nice puffy comfortable looking clouds will have the shoppers more focused on comfort and it's why even though we know the price of 199 dollars is basically 200 bucks our brains still think it's a good deal and this tiny price changes simply by putting a 9 at the end. Known also as a price charm can lead to double-digit increases in sales and conversions and even though the price change is just one tiny dollar well simply by putting a nine at the end also known as charm pricing can result in double-digit increases in sales and conversions let's talk about clowns now so what is it about clowns that just turns some people off well one theory is called the uncanny valley effect and it states that we have trouble processing things that look like they should be human but something's just not quite right now some people can just shrug this off like hey it's just a clown but in others it produces a negative response sometimes even full-blown panic dogs riding skateboards on the other hand are pretty much universally loved by everyone in fact studies show there are deep psychological reasons why we as humans are naturally drawn to cute things kind of stems from an evolutionary trait where we feel this urge or this desire to protect things that need protecting like cute little defenseless animals now most scientists believe that this actually stems from the need to protect your own children but the reality is is that even.
If you don't have children you still feel this urge and this is because there's a significant spillover effect to other cute looking things which is just another example of cognitive biases running amok in our everyday lives basically things that look like they should be human but something's just not quite right like clowns kind of give us that icky feeling whereas cute things that look like they need protecting they make us feel good it's why the aflac duck has been such a powerful mascot for aflac let's check him out now what the heck troy that's not your kid the aflac duck is just covering for sophie same way you got me money to help cover her hospital bill my health insurance didn't pay for all of it but this isn't fair and it's why this next walmart ad despite being one of my favorites of all time still can't quite lose that creepy vibe it's time for daddy to make some funny yeah we got all of this at walmart the decorations the tablecloths all of the food and we even saved enough money for the um.
In fact while on the topic of clowns we really do need to address the single most famous clown of all times ronald mcdonald and why mcdonald's decided to pull their famous spokes clown from rotation so here's the story as if clowns weren't already creepy enough back in 2016 there were a group of not so nice people dressing up as clowns and doing some not so nice things in fact there were so many negative clown incidents that there's even a wikipedia page dedicated to the 2016 clown sightings mcdonald's who obviously didn't want to be associated with any of this crazy clown tomfoolery made the smart and strategic decision to pull ronald off the hamburger circuit mcdonald's and franchisees in the local markets are mindful of the current climate around clown sightings in communities and as such are being thoughtful in respect to ronald mcdonald's participation in community events for the time being so what's the takeaway message here are clowns out and ducks in maybe but looking at it that way is the wrong way to look at things because approaching it this way is making a business decision based on a fad rather than a trend or more importantly deeper psychological forces.
That are at play here first off clowns were never really in and choosing a clown for your mascot isn't a whole lot better than choosing a spider or a snake or anything else that some people find just downright creepy next it's not that ducks are in it's that cute things are pretty much always in and this is true across the world not just in cultures like japan where there's a word called kawaii which translates roughly to cuteness and is actually one of the most frequently used words you see it doesn't matter.
Where you're from or what you do we like cute things and we don't like creepy things that shouldn't come as much of a surprise what may come as a bit of a surprise though is just how deeply ingrained these beliefs these psychological feelings truly are we simply can't get away from them we can't out think them and that means neither can your customers so with that said if you'd like even more specifics and actionable takeaways the next thing you're going to want to do is check out the blog i have linked up right here on 15 psychological marketing triggers to make people buy from you so make sure to check it out now and i'll see in the next blog.
Thank You so much for Being Here.
