Page 88 - Decoding Decisions ~ Making sense of the messy middle

88 CHAPTER 5 IMPLICATIONS OF THE MESSY MIDDLE

However, as we’ve seen in our shopping experiments, simple behavioural
biases can powerfully undermine even strong brand preferences.
So, whether you’re seeking to maintain the preferred status of an established
brand, or looking to introduce a new contender to the market, you need to
show up and deploy the behavioural biases most relevant for your category.

Although we believe that a comprehensive search strategy is essential,
showing up isn’t just a question of keywords and ads. Depending on your
category, price comparison engines, social media platforms, video, news,

and niche content such as gaming or technology sites may be equally
important when maintaining parity of brand presence. Comprehensiveness
is key – any gaps in your media plan could see you locked out of the loop as
consumers begin exploring their options.

Any gaps in your media plan could see

you locked out of the loop as consumers

begin exploring their options.

2. Intelligently (and responsibly)

employing behavioural science

In his 2019 book “Alchemy”, Rory Sutherland references a theory attributed
to former Ogilvy & Mather ad executive Joel Raphaelson. The theory states
that: “people do not choose Brand A over Brand B because they think Brand
A is better, but because they are more certain that it is good.” This is a subtle

distinction, but one we think is borne out by the results of our research.
In particular, consumers are looking for reassurance to buttress their
purchase decisions during the evaluation stage of our model and as they
move on to purchase.