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The 4 Take Away’s From Behavioural Economics

 

Something that I have always been interested in is why we do certain things, especially when it comes to trust online.

I wanted to understand the most relevant effects and behavioural influences, I reduced the long list down to the most relevant four:

  1. Anchoring BiasWe tend to rely too heavily on the first piece of information seen – for me this is ultra applicable to SEO, especially true when we are looking for a specific answer to a question.
    Google has recently changed their SERP’s (search engine result page’s) to answer commonly asked questions within the search results page. 

  2. Von Restorff Effectitems that stand out from their peers are more memorable – this is applicable to better marketing campaigns or really good content marketing campaigns. If we make our sites or content with the same look and feel as other competitors we will not stand out enough or influence our potential customers enough to pick you for that purchase or return to your site.

  3. Goal Gradient Effect – We purchase faster if the task is started for us – This is ultra relevant when you are looking to influence people’s purchasing habits. Have you ever clicked on a link to a product Amazon have emailed you or a holiday provider has sent you a great deal? Pretty sure we have all brought something or taken advantage of a link sent to us.
    I find goal gradient effect particularly relevant if used in good social media and email campaigns. This is also true when friends or family send idea’s or Pinterest boards to you. 

  4. Bandwagon Effect – We all follow friends and co workers if told about a product, service or a movement – for me personally I think this is the most applicable for everyone. We tend to trust our friends recommendations for restaurants, plumbers and local tradesman over trying to find someone ourselves.
    The best larger brand examples of bandwagon effect are: beats by Dre headphones, the latest smart phones (especially when people have copied their friends with Android devices or picking an Android tablet over an iPad) or converse trainers, these examples probably would not have been has popular as they were or are today. 

If you have any questions or want to let me if you have been influenced by any of these behaviours on a large purchase, please let me know in the comments below.

I have included 4 behavioural economics in my recent content marketing presentations happily check them out.

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