The Choice Factory: 25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy

Book Review: 3/5 Impact On Me (Book By Richard Shotton)

Read more about the book here

This book (repeat) covers psychological biases I'd read about from Robert Cialdini, Richard Thaler, and Kahneman. Still, I found it valuable because it uses recent or digital marketing examples.

I realized it had a three out of five impact on me because a lot of the concepts were stuff I knew.

For example, it discusses the type of ads to run during a romantic movie vs. an action-packed movie. It advises not to try to communicate with people when they're rushed if you want them to consider you - I thought this was appropriate when I look at all the Notion ads in the London Underground. But, if you aim to push a default decision, you could give them your message when they're in a hurry, so they're more likely to accept it without question. I appreciate the idea of using social proof wherever possible. But when not possible, talk about expectations, like "X% of people said you should do Y." Although I knew that my contactless NFC payments reduced friction for me, I was surprised to learn that I might be spending 10% more than people who use cash. The book also builds on ideas from "Off-Menu" about food presentation, such as serving on a heavy China plate instead of a paper napkin. I loved its explanation of the word "triage." I applied the same concept in a targeted email campaign project with a client, and now I know the right words to use there.