People don’t make choices the way marketing plans assume. We’re influenced by favours, by the options we’re shown and by messages we barely notice. Behavioural science gives strategists a language for these quirks, and a set of ideas you can use in positioning, pricing and communication. Here are three I come back to again and again.
1. The Benjamin Franklin effect: ask for a favour
Benjamin Franklin described how he won over a hostile rival in the Pennsylvania legislature. Rather than flattering him, Franklin asked to borrow a rare book from his library. The rival lent it, Franklin returned it with a note of thanks, and the man became friendly from then on. A 1969 study by Jecker and Landy found the same pattern: people who did someone a favour ended up liking them more.
The lesson for brands: if you’re a brand owner or in advertising, stop only asking what you can do for your customer, and start asking what your customer can do for you. The most efficient way to get someone to like you is to ask them to do you a favour.
How to use it
- Invite customers to co-create: vote on a flavour, name a product, shape a feature.
- Ask for feedback, reviews and referrals, and show you acted on them.
- Build communities where members help each other, not just the brand.
2. The decoy effect: the option nobody picks
The decoy effect is when adding a clearly inferior option changes which of the other options people choose. In Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely describes a subscription offer from The Economist: web-only for $59, print-only for $125, and print plus web for $125. Almost nobody wanted print-only, but its presence made the bundle look like a bargain, and most people chose it. Remove the decoy and far more people chose the cheaper web-only option.
The Conversation has a good explainer: the decoy effect: how you are influenced to choose without really knowing it.
How to use it
- Design pricing tiers deliberately: the option next to your hero product shapes how it’s judged.
- Use it ethically. A decoy should still be a real, fair option, not a trick.
- Test your line-up. Small changes to what sits beside a product can shift choice a lot.
3. Low-involvement processing: the hidden power of advertising
Robert Heath’s book The Hidden Power of Advertising challenged the idea that ads work by persuading us with messages we carefully consider. In his words:
“Advertising works not through depth of message, or from viewers’ processing the rational or emotional messaging, but largely through ‘low involvement processing’.”
Robert Heath, The Hidden Power of Advertising
Most of the time we half-watch, half-listen and scroll past. Yet brands still build associations in our minds, often without us realising. That’s why consistency, emotion and distinctive brand assets matter so much: they do their work even when attention is low.
How to use it
- Don’t rely on a clever argument. Build emotional associations over time.
- Keep your brand assets consistent so they’re recognised in a glance.
- Measure memory and associations, not just recall of the message.
Behavioural science in brand strategy: FAQs
What is the Benjamin Franklin effect?
The tendency to like someone more after doing them a favour. For brands, inviting customers to contribute, co-create or give feedback can build affection.
What is the decoy effect in marketing?
Adding a less attractive option that changes which of the other options people choose, often used in pricing tiers. Dan Ariely’s Economist subscription example is the classic case.
What is low-involvement processing?
Robert Heath’s idea that advertising mostly works while we pay little attention, building brand associations emotionally and gradually rather than through carefully considered messages.
How can strategists use behavioural science?
Use it to shape positioning, pricing, choice architecture and creative, and test ideas with real customers. Always use it ethically.
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