How do modern consumers decide what they want to share, like, or purchase? Having a basic understanding of behavioral psychology can help you understand and better engage your consumers.

1. 15 Psychological Studies for
Marketers to Know

3. The Endownment Effect
• When we own something, we tend to value it more highly. If we have
to sell it, we want more than it is really worth.
• The research: A study at Duke University found that students who had won
basketball tickets valued the tickets at $2,400. Those who had not won tickets
would pay $170. Similarly, a study by Daniel Kahneman of Cal-Berkeley found the
same effect with study participants and the price of mugs. Value doubled for
those owning a mug (perceived worth $10) compared to those looking to
purchase (willing to pay $5).

4. Marketing Takeaway
• Marketing takeaway:
• Your customers attribute a higher value to things they already own.
Help increase their ownership in your product or brand by
encouraging feedback and suggestions (UserVoice is a great option)
or asking for involvement on social media (chats or open office
hours).

6. Reciprocity
• We feel obliged to give back to people who have given to us.
• The research: In 2002, a team of researchers of found that waiters could
increase tips with a tiny bit of reciprocity. Tips went up 3 percent when
diners were given an after-dinner mint. Tips went up 20 percent if, while
delivering the mint, the server paused, looked the customers in the eye,
and then gave them a second mint while telling them the mint was
specifically for them.
• Another fun example: BYU sociologist Phillip Kunz sent Christmas cards to
600 completely random strangers. He received 200 Christmas cards back in
response.

7. Marketing Takeaway
• Give something of value to get something in return. In our case at
Buffer, we’ve found that acting on the lessons from How to Win
Friends and Influence People, at the heart of which is kindness to
others, we’ve received many happy returns in terms of opportunities
and affinity from others.

9. Consistency Principle
• We like to keep consistent what we think, say and do, and will change
to ensure this is so.
• The research: Princeton researchers asked people if they would
volunteer to help with the American Cancer Society. Of those who
received a cold call, 4 percent agreed. A second group was called a
few days prior and asked if they would hypothetically volunteer for
the American Cancer Society. When the actual request came later, 31
percent agreed.

10. Marketing Takeaway
• Help current customers and potential users create an expectation of
what they may say or do. For instance, get users to opt-in to a
marketing course and offer tools at the end that are used by expert
marketers. Subscribers may wish to stay consistent with their stated
goal of improving their marketing, and signing up for recommended
tools will fall right in line with this expectation.

12. The Foot-In-The-Door Method
• When asked to make a small commitment first, we are more likely to
agree to a larger request later.
• The research: The first study on the foot-in-the-door method was
performed in the 1960s by Jonathan Freedman and Scott Faser.
Researchers phone a number of homemakers to inquire about the
household products they use. Three days later, the researchers called
again, this time asking to send a group of workers to the house to manually
note the cleaning products in the home. The women who responded to the
first phone interview were two times more likely to respond to the second
request.

13. Marketing Takeaway
• Ross Simmonds of Clarity.fm has a great take on what this means for
marketers: “The more frequently a customer opens your emails,
downloads your content or goes along with your request, the more
likely they are to comply with a larger request like sharing your
content & inviting their friends.”

15. Framing Effect
• The research: Researchers Amos Tverksy and Daniel Kahneman polled two different groups of participants
on which of two treatments they would choose for people infected with a deadly disease.
• Treatment A: “200 people will be saved.”
• Treatment B: “a one-third probability of saving all 600 lives, and a two-thirds probability of saving no one.”
• The majority of participants picked Treatment A because of the clear and simple gain in saving lives.
• In Group 2, participants were told the following:
• Treatment A: “400 people will die.”
• Treatment B: “a one-third probability that no one will die, and a two-thirds probability that 600 people will
die.”
• The majority of participants picked Treatment B because of the clear negative effect of Treatment A.
• We react to a situation differently depending on whether we perceive
the situation to be a loss or a gain.

16. Marketing Takeaway
• The words you use and the way you frame your content has a direct
impact on how your readers will react. Whenever possible, frame
things in a positive light so that readers can see a clear gain.

18. Loss Aversion
• We feel the negative effects of loss more strongly than we feel the
positive effects of an equal gain.
• The research: Chicago Heights teachers received bonus payments as part of
a loss aversion research study. One group of teachers stood to receive
bonuses based on the performance of their students on standardized
testing. Another group received their bonus at the beginning of the year
and stood to either keep it or lose it based on the results of their students’
tests. Per the results of the study, the prepaid bonuses—the ones that
could have been lost—had a bigger impact on teachers.

20. Marketing Takeaway
• Discover your customer’s challenges and reservations, and alleviate
their concerns up front. Risk-free trials and money-back guarantees
are one way to deal with loss aversion. Remove the fear of loss from
the equation.

22. Conformity & Social Influence
• The research: Would you give a wrong answer if you knew it was wrong,
just because everyone else was giving it? Solomon Asch found this to be
true for a large percentage of people in a study he performed in the 1950s.
He hired a group of actors to participate along with students in answering
quiz questions. The actors were told to give the wrong answer. The
majority of students followed suit, even though the correct answer was
obvious.
• We change how we behave to be more like others.

23. Marketing Takeaway
• Key influencers and industry leaders can help your product appear
more valuable to others. Invite-only networks get the boost of this
effect, too.

25. Acquiescence Effect
• We give answers based not just on a rational consideration of what is
being asked but also in consideration of how we will appear to others.
• The psychology website Changing Minds explains three scenarios when we
are most likely to acquiesce to the request of others:
• They seem to be a superior in some way.
• They have a need whereby we can easily help them.
• Answering the question fully seems like hard work.
• Leading questions are one way that the acquiescence effect impacts the
answers that one gives.

26. Marketing Takeaway
• Be aware of the leading questions you may be asking in customer
development calls, surveys, or questionnaires. People can be easily
swayed to answer in a certain way if the question seems tilted in a
certain direction.

28. Mere Exposure Theory
• The more we’re exposed to something, the more we like it.
• The research: Robert Zajonc showed Chinese characters to non-Chinese-
speaking participants. He showed each character 1 to 25 times, asking
participants to guess the meaning of the characters. The more often a
participant saw a character, the more positive meaning they gave.
• This theory has a quick effect, too. Researchers Kunst and Williams showed
their study participants a picture of an octagon for only one millisecond.
Later on, though the participants could not explicitly remember seeing an
octagon, they showed an increased affinity for the shape.

29. Marketing Takeaway
• Don’t be afraid to repeat your message. This can work well for social
media sharing, as reposting helpful content can have a direct impact
on your audience.

31. Informational Social Influence
• When we do not know how to behave, we copy other people.
• Alex Lasky of Opower ran an experiment to see which type of messaging
would best encourage others to save energy:
• You can save $54 this month
• You can save the planet
• You can be a good citizen
• Your neighbors are doing better than you
• The first three led to no increase in energy saving. The fourth message
worked, leading to a 2 percent reduction in household energy usage.

32. Marketing Takeaway
• Use the experience of others to help people see the benefits of your
product or company. There’s a close tie here with social proof.

34. The Decoy Effect
• Consumers tend to change their preference between two options
when a third, less attractive option is presented.
• An old subscription page at the Economist stated:
• Web Subscription – $59
• Print Subscription – $125
• Web and Print Subscription – $125
• Seems like a super deal for web and print, right? Professor Dan Ariely tested this model with students at MIT, asking them to choose a subscription
option among the three choices listed by the Economist. The results:
• Web Subscription – $59 (16 students)
• Print Subscription – $125 (0 students)
• Web and Print Subscription – $125 (84 students)
Total revenue: $11,444
• When the print subscription was removed, the results looked like this:
• Web Subscription – $59 (68 students)
• Web and Print Subscription – $125 (32 students)
Total revenue: $8,012
• That’s a 30 percent difference in sales for the Economist by using a decoy price of a print subscription.

35. Marketing Takeaway
• You can put the decoy effect to good use with your pricing strategy as
well as any time you are comparing different options. The inclusion of
an option that is “asymmetrically dominated” (a plan that seems out
of whack or a feature list that doesn’t quite add up) will make the
other options more appealing.

37. Availability Heuristic
• When evaluating a specific topic, concept, method or decision, we
favor options that bring to mind immediate examples.
• On a Quora thread about psychology facts, Alex Suchman offers a clear
example of the availability heuristic in action. How many times do you
think that a seven-letter word with an “n” as the sixth letter would appear
in this post? How many times do you think a word ending in “ing” would
appear?
• Most people, when answering quickly, will say that “ing” words are more
common than the other when in fact, seven letter words with “n” as the
sixth letter would include all “ing” words as well. Since our mind struggles
to come up with easy examples for the first question, we then perceive the
second question to be more likely.

38. Marketing Takeaway
• Make your product or service easy to grasp by providing examples of
the actions you want users to take.

40. Buffer Effect on Social Support
• The research: In a study of pregnant women, researchers found that
91 percent of those with high stress and low social support suffered
complications whereas only 33 percent of pregnant women with high
stress and high social support suffered complications.
• People who feel supported by others feel less stress. If you know your
friends will support you and there is someone with whom you can talk
things through, somehow stressful situations are more tolerable.

41. Marketing Takeaway
• Be consistent with availability and support for your customers.
Constant support—in the form of email communication, blogging, in-
app messages etc.—may help others feel more comfortable and less
stressed.

43. Ben Franklin Effect
• When we do a person a favor, we like them more.
• The research: Jim Jecker and David Landy tested the theory by inviting
participants to take part in a test in which they could win money. The test
was administered in a rigorous way by an actor playing the role of scientist.
• At the end of the study, 1/3 of participants were asked by the scientist if
they would be willing to return the money to him. Another 1/3 were asked
by the secretary of the study if they’d return the money. A third group was
not asked to return the money. All participants then filled out a
questionnaire, including a spot for how much they liked the scientist. Of
the three groups of participants, the group who gave him the money gave
him the most likable scores.

44. Marketing Takeaway
• We like to justify our actions—in the case of the Ben Franklin effect,
we feel a need to believe we did a favor because we liked the person.
Don’t be afraid to ask for favors from your customers, users, and
audience. If they’re willing to help out—answering surveys, checkout
out content, resharing—their opinion of you will likely go up.

46. Propinquity Effect
• The more we meet and interact with people, the more likely we are to
become friends with them.
• The research: Tenants in a small two-floor apartment had closer friendships with
their immediate neighbors. Least likely friendships were between those on
separate floors. And tenants who lived near staircases and mailboxes had
friendships on both floors.

47. Marketing Takeaway
• Be a constant present on social media and in the inbox of your
subscribers.

48. Sources
https://blog.bufferapp.com/psychological
-studies-marketing