Page 8 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

8 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING THE MESSY MIDDLE

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that faced with all this complexity, people try to
keep things simple – an effort that in itself turns out to be quite complex.

To validate the existence of the exploratory and evaluative states, we also
looked through Google’s historic search data for clues. In several cases, we
found examples of changes in the way people search over time that illustrate
how these behaviours manifest in the real world.

Alongside this, we also undertook a thorough literature review to try and
isolate the specific cognitive processes at work while people are caught up
in the exploratory and evaluative whirl. We identified six of the most critical
biases, and then devised a large-scale experiment to test the effectiveness of
these shortcuts and heuristics in guiding shoppers out of the messy middle
and towards purchase.

Over the following chapters, we’ll explain why we started looking for the
messy middle, the tools we used to identify and codify it, and the discoveries

we made while exploring it. We’ll share some of the most surprising insights
from the process, including:

The power of showing up – how simply being present in
moments of deliberation can be enough to win or retain
consumer preference.

Several of the most powerful behavioural biases we
investigated can be easily addressed by marketers surfacing

and modifying existing assets.

Why addressing some of the most powerful behavioural
biases requires cross-functional cooperation from marketing, user
experience, product development, and finance.

Finally, we’ll wrap up with specific ideas for how marketers from both

established and challenger brands can adapt to this rich and complex space.