Page 77 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

77 CHAPTER 4 INFLUENCING THE MESSY MIDDLE

Following on from the example of Gem Mobile, we also created Intergo, a new
broadband provider to test against the established competition. Similarly we
threw every advantage behind this newcomer, and the effect turned out to be
even more eye-catching. In this case, Intergo was able to claim 73% of brand
preference away from the original favourite (figure 21).

Figure 21

1st choice brand 2nd choice brand Fictional brand

100
100 30 87 73
75

70
50

25
27
13
0
Stated 1st choice brand Introduction of 2nd 2nd choice brand Fictional brand
choice brand “supercharged” “supercharged”
Transfer of preference from first choice to fictional brand – bias supercharging analysis, broadband category.

Before we get too carried away, it’s worth noting that to achieve these
significant shares of preference, the two challenger brands needed far
superior propositions. And indeed, some aspects of those enhanced
propositions are probably out of reach even for a well-funded challenger.
This is particularly true of the volume of positive reviews necessary to

constitute persuasive social proof, which must be earned over time as
consumers experience a product or service.

Source: Google / The Behavioural Architects. 10,000 simulated broadband provider purchase scenarios. n=1,000 category buyers, UK online shoppers, aged 18-65.