Page 60 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

60 CHAPTER 4 INFLUENCING THE MESSY MIDDLE

What this chart shows is the likelihood across categories that shoppers
will switch from their stated first choice brand to their second choice, when
presented with both as options. However, since each brand within a category
will have a different level of resilience, the chart cannot be used to predict
the extent to which any individual brand will be susceptible to transfer of
preference to a competitor.

Looking at performance across verticals reveals a couple of interesting
patterns. The favourite consumer packaged goods brands were broadly less

susceptible to the presence of another brand in our simulations than utilities
like mobile network, broadband, and energy supplier. General retail products
such as children’s toys, laptops, TV, clothing, and sofas are scattered
throughout, while financial services products (mortgage, credit card, ISA,
car insurance) generally sit towards the right-hand side, with a greater
susceptibility to preference switching.

Social proof: people respond to people

Having established a baseline for switching preference without variation in
any of the cognitive biases, we wanted to see what degree of preference shift
could be achieved by applying the principles of behavioural science identified
in our literature review.

In nearly every case, social proof (expressed as three-star versus five-star
reviews) proved to be the most powerful behavioural bias, having either
the largest or second-largest effect in 28 of the 31 categories we tested.
19
Therefore we’re going to state this upfront, and then quickly move beyond it
to look at some of the more nuanced, category-specific examples.

Giving people evidence that other shoppers have already had a positive
experience with a brand, product, or service is extremely persuasive. The
gold standard of social proof – reviews and comments – can be difficult for

marketers to create out of nothing, as it relies on customers sharing their
post-purchase experience. However social proof, when it exists, can also be
evoked simply and powerfully through claims in copy, such as “the nation’s
favourite” or “the popular choice”.

19 In each instance, different average review scores between three stars and five stars were compared with the total number of reviews for each brand remaining equal.