Behavioral Science Marketing

All marketers aim to learn from the best. But how do you identify the tactics responsible for a company’s success? A stab in the dark? Here’s where behavioral science can help — because unlike much of marketing theory, it has a solid evidence base. Spot the behavioral biases, and you can understand why a tactic works. Brands can be mystifyingly successful. Why are customers happy to pay a premium for things that should be free, like water; things that should be cheap, like milk; and things that would do the same job at half the price, like vacuum cleaners?

Spread through the public in the form of popular stories, ideas can go viral and move markets - whether it's the belief that tech stocks can only go up or that housing prices never fall. Whether true or false, stories like these - transmitted by word of mouth, by the news media, and increasingly by social media - drive the economy by driving our decisions about how and where to invest, how much to spend and save, and more. But despite the obvious importance of such stories, most economists have paid little attention to them. Narrative Economics sets out to change that.

Designers and managers hope their products become essential for users-integrated into their lives like Instagram, Lyft, and others have become. Such deep integration isn't accidental: it's a process of careful design and iterative learning, especially for technology companies. This guide shows you how to apply behavioral science—research that supports many products—to help your users achieve their goals using your product.

Great marketing strategy looks like magic to the uninitiated. The mystical aura surrounding behavioral economics draws in the intellectually curious but has also confined the discipline to the fringes of modern marketing practices. Unpacking the drivers of human behavior is critical to connecting with consumers, but insights from psychology, neuroscience, and other fields are hidden away in arcane academic publications and books that aren't designed for practitioners.

For generations, salespeople have possessed a well-defined reputation as being outgoing, fearless, and audacious. But for many, the familiar stereotypes mask a darker reality. Far from being unstoppable selling machines, they struggle with a secret fear of prospecting. Whether on the phone, in person, online, or in front of groups, initiating contact with prospective buyers causes discomfort and distress. So, they avoid it. Instead of making calls, they make excuses. It’s a costly trade-off.

Without customers, we don’t have a business. But what can, or should, we do if one of our customers is cranky? Answer: Learn why people behave how they do and how you can respond so that you can be happier and more effectively help solve your customer’s problems without getting pulled into their drama, whatever that is.