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| Nov 12, 2024 | A better way to bundle: Pricing multiple goods for increased sales | Supplied: Australian Marine Conservation Society article-article-body
A TikToker recently posted her displeasure at price ticketing in a grocery store. The deal was ‘any 2 for $11’, but thanks to the format of the price ticket, it looked at... |
| Oct 22, 2024 | Goldilooks effect: Should you include humans in your social media photos? | Source: Adobe Stock. article-article-body
Should you include a human in your social media post or will it turn your customers off?
Including humans in your social media photos is a great way to engage your audience. However, it can also mea... |
| Oct 18, 2024 | Navigating the Future: Chatbots, Voicebots, and Sustainable Innovations | In the digital age, communication is evolving. Businesses are at a crossroads, deciding between chatbots and voicebots. Each has its strengths, but the choice isn't just about technology. It's about understanding customer behavior and produ... |
| Oct 18, 2024 | The Battle of Bots: Choosing Between Chatbots and Voicebots for Your Business | In the digital age, businesses face a crucial decision: chatbots or voicebots? Each has its strengths, but the choice isn't just about technology. It's about understanding your customers. The way they communicate can shape their experience ... |
| Oct 18, 2024 | The Pursuit of Happiness: A Business Perspective | Happiness is a fleeting shadow. It dances just out of reach, often elusive for those who chase it. For entrepreneurs, the quest for happiness is intertwined with the pursuit of success. Yet, what does it mean to be happy in the world of bus... |
| Oct 14, 2024 | Chatbot vs voicebot: How to choose the right product for your business | Behavioural science expert explains how you should decide which product type to use for your business: chatbots or voicebots? Source: SmartCompany via Adobe Stock. article-article-body
TL;DR: Whether your customer talks or types a query may... |
| Oct 7, 2024 | How promoting your ‘traditional’ process can win customers and boost sales | Bri Williams. Source: SmartCompany. article-article-body
Stop promoting your product. Start promoting your process. New research suggests a powerful way to stand out in a cluttered market is to share how you make your product, not just what... |
| Jun 25, 2024 | FOMO is out, FOSQ is in: What is the ‘Fear of the Status Quo’? | Source: Adobe Stock article-article-body
No doubt you are familiar with FOMO: Fear of Missing Out. Along with discounting, it is probably one of the most used marketing techniques. Overused, you could say. Which is why I want to talk about ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Why rational arguments fail (and what you should be doing instead) | article-article-body
It’s difficult to read a news article or watch someone being interviewed about their business decision-making without words like rational and logical being mentioned.
Indeed “data-driven decisions” is the war cry of thi... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Two stumbling blocks when trying to persuade customers | article-article-body
When you stop to think about it, everything in business boils down to influencing people to change their behaviour: From browsing to buying, from reading to clicking, from not investing to stumping up money.
That means ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Stop wasting money on motivating your customers | article-article-body
“If you don’t believe, you don’t act.”
So said a well-known motivational speaker at a recent seminar I attended. But it’s far from the whole story and here’s why.
You don’t need to believe to act
One of the deeply roote... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | How to identify low hanging fruit | article-article-body
I recently attended a panel discussion on the Victorian government’s use of behavioural science. Posing the question “Behavioural Insights: Time for the Mainstream?”, panelists profiled some of the work they are doing a... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | There’s a little bit of bad in all of us | article-article-body
In June, storms caused significant damage to a section of bayside boardwalk in Melbourne. Due to debris and unsafe conditions the council took decisive action and blocked off the walkway with signage and fencing.
So why... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | The problem isn’t what or why but how | article-article-body
In his wonderful TED talk viewed over 18.8 million times, Simon Sinek grapples with the modern worker’s search for meaning. When it comes to work, it’s not what we do or how we do it that eludes us, but why.
And yet, in... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Does it make sense to use cents in pricing? | article-article-body
A full page ad by Miele grabbed my attention last week. The ad said I could save $10,066 on a range of their appliances, but I’m not in the market for a new kitchen so that’s not why the ad got my attention.
The ad got ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | How to stop struggling to explain why you are different | article-article-body
It should be the easiest thing in the world to tell people why your business is different. After all, there is no business exactly like yours, right?
So why do only two out of ten businesses tell me differentiation isn’... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Using points of positive friction to engage your customer | article-article-body
I’ve written before about how deliberately making things hard for your customer can be a good thing.
An example popped up the other day from Pleasurable Troublemakers of a key holder for your car keys specifically desig... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Three tips that will see you win big | article-article-body
It’s horse race tipping season in Melbourne at the moment with the Spring Carnival in full flight.
But instead of horse tips, today I thought I’d offer three behavioural tips to improve your odds of success.
1. It’s not... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | When making it hard for customers can be a good thing | article-article-body
Can making life more difficult for your customers work to your advantage? In this world where keeping it simple is the mantra, is there an upside in doing the opposite?
So asked author and NYU Stern Associate Professor ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | How font size can impact your sales conversion | article-article-body
Imagine you are a retailer who is running a sale. You are about to have your point of sale printed and are madly cobbling together what you want your sign to say to maximise its impact. Without thinking twice you ensure... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | How to predict customer behaviour | article-article-body
Excavating my new backyard recently, I found a whole lot of paving that had been overrun by grass.
It struck me that this is not dissimilar to how we typically look at those we are trying to influence – we have based ou... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Rip up the grass if you want a better business | article-article-body
I finally bit the bullet on the weekend and replanted a garden that I had largely left undisturbed for 10 years.
Reflecting on my fear of changing the landscape reminded me a lot of the behavioural challenges we all fac... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Getting the horse to drink – how to increase website conversion | article-article-body
A lot of the frustration felt today by business owners is captured in the saying, “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”
The frustration is borne out of us feeling like we’ve been doing a lot to ge... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Learn once, use forever and wherever | article-article-body
I swear it’s not that I’m lazy. It’s just that there are such great economies of scale in behavioural economics that once you learn about it in one domain you can use it everywhere.
Let me explain.
I’ve just finished a ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Use it or lose it: Two examples of loss aversion from the field | article-article-body
A couple of short and sharp examples of Loss Aversion from the market place this week, one in which is used to acquire customers and the other to retain.
First we have an example tweeted by BehaviourDesign that showcase... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Four questions to answer any behavioural challenge | article-article-body
Life’s never dull in my line of work. I get to meet new people all the time and find out about the challenges and frustrations they are grappling with in their business.
The interesting thing has been that no matter wha... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Should you use rounded or non-rounded pricing? | article-article-body
Imagine you are selling a brand of sparkling wine. Does it make a difference to your ability to sell if you price it at a nicely rounded $40.00 or a non-rounded $39.72? What if you were selling a calculator? Does roundi... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Is behavioural economics as relevant in B2B environments as in B2C? | article-article-body
When asked whether behavioural economics (BE) applies to business-to-business (B2B) as well as business-to-consumer (B2C), “people are people” has been my response. At least it used to be.
“People are people” does have ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Giving to get: How an Aussie charity is using an unusual tactic to persuade | article-article-body
Can surprising someone with a free gift increase your chances that they will do you a favour in return?
You betcha.
Leading social scientist Robert Cialdini lists “reciprocity” as one of his six key principles of influe... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Why pay-what-you-want pricing may not be as crazy as it seems | article-article-body
Imagine you are about to check out from your overnight stay at a hotel in Paris. You get to the counter and the receptionist smiles and asks “how much would you like to pay?”
Say what? A hotel where you can choose to pa... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | The strangeness of consumer decision-making | article-article-body
So this shopper visited a well-known retailer looking to buy an Apple TV.
The advertised price was $107, but knowing this retailer was open to price matching, the shopper did an online search while in store and found it... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Your behavioural ready-reckoner | article-article-body
We’ve covered a lot of behavioural ground during the course of 2014.
As a way of wrapping up the year, here’s an overview of the key themes with links to some of the most popular pieces. Think of it like a quick guide t... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Joining the dots to change behaviour | article-article-body
The 1880s were a time of change in Europe, with industrial and scientific breakthroughs set against a declining interest in Impressionism.
Steeled by the rejection of his latest painting by the Paris Salon, Georges Seur... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Why habit is the key to better living | article-article-body
Want a tip on how to be more productive? To sleep better? To feel your best? Of course you do. We all do.
It seems we can’t turnaround without being smacked in the face with yet another marketing campaign promising the ... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Is it better to be wanted or needed? | article-article-body
Is it better to be wanted or needed? For too long businesses have clung to the proposition that meeting a customer need is the way to success when in fact it is the power of desire that changes behaviour.
“There’s no ma... |
| Dec 22, 2023 | Lessons for your business from public urination | article-article-body
Two interesting signs have been doing the behavioural rounds recently. Both attempt to stop the disgusting problem of public urination and, believe it or not, are helpful examples of how to modify customer behaviour.
Ba... |
| Jul 1, 2019 | Temporal landmarks: Why science says 1 July is a special date | The 1st of July isn’t simply the first day of the new financial year in Australia, it’s a day that makes us more motivated to undertake new things.
Temporal landmarks are markers in time that increase our likelihood of seeking to make chang... |
| Mar 19, 2018 | How to influence others when you’re not in the room | “What happens when I’m not there? How do I influence through others?”
These are two questions I often get when training people in behavioural techniques. They understand how they can influence the person with whom they directly engage, but ... |
| Mar 6, 2017 | How brand names and labels influence customer behaviour | Dimension Six. That’s the name founder Phil Knight was pushing before ‘Nike’ was chosen at the last minute.
‘Nike’ had come to one of his team in a dream, and in discussing its merit in his book, Knight recalled an observation one of his te... |
| Feb 13, 2017 | Three pricing strategies to boost your startup’s competitive edge | Aussie retailers are doing it tough. The Christmas period failed to meet expectations, large internationals like Amazon are knocking on the door, and consumers are demanding bargain prices.
It’s no surprise then that many retailers have fal... |
| Dec 12, 2016 | Four healthy habit hacks for the holidays | Holidays are great, but they can also pose a challenge if you want to maintain some of your healthier habits. Let’s look at how you can avoid going backwards over the festive season. Routine
Routine plays a big role in habits.
During the co... |
| Nov 9, 2016 | Why asking isn’t enough if your startup wants real answers from customers | Why bother with behavioural economics?
That was the subtext of an interesting discussion I had recently during a podcast with industry leaders Kevin Gray and Dave McCaughan.
Why should businesses bother with behavioural economics when they ... |
| Feb 14, 2016 | Lose weight by taking a picture? Selfies and the role of tangibility in behavioural influence | Selfies are everywhere, aren’t they? It’s the era of the self-portrait.
Well at least this trend might turn out to be good news for anyone looking to shed some kilos because researchers in Columbia have found 71% of subjects who kept a visu... |
| Oct 16, 2015 | Show me the money? Not if you want to be better motivated | As a sports agent who was struggling to retain his last client, Tom Cruise in the movie Jerry Maguire was famously required to scream “SHOW ME THE MONEY” to player Rod Tidwell to prove his dedication.
And while politeness usually prevents u... |
| Jul 27, 2015 | Elephant vs rider: why research gets it wrong | Two companies. Two well-intended product changes. Two expensive and embarrassing examples of how failing to understand real-world behaviour can backfire.
Glad I’m not Milo
Milo and Glad Wrap have been in the news this year for the wrong rea... |
| Jul 14, 2015 | Four ways to motivate the unmotivated | How do you motivate the unmotivated?
Say you are a financial planner trying to convince a client to change their superannuation or a physio wanting to get your patient to do their exercises. Or imagine you are a manager who wants your staff... |
| May 24, 2015 | How to pitch for business using behavioural economics | It was early in my consulting career and I was putting proposals together for the first time.
After reading my proposal a prospective client gave me some feedback that changed the course of what I do.
She said, “You don’t practice what you ... |
| May 19, 2015 | Why half a billion people downloaded Candy Crush | On trains. In parks. At traffic lights.
So many of us are buried deep in our phones, gulping down pixels of information and entertainment like a thirsty desert pilgrim gulps down water.
When Effort exceeds Reward, behaviour doesn’t happen.
... |
| May 18, 2015 | Why half a billion people downloaded this app | On trains. In parks. At traffic lights.
So many of us are buried deep in our phones, gulping down pixels of information and entertainment like a thirsty desert pilgrim gulps down water.
And it seems many of us can’t get enough of one partic... |
| Feb 23, 2015 | Is behavioural economics as relevant in B2B environments as in B2C? | When asked whether behavioural economics (BE) applies to business-to-business (B2B) as well as business-to-consumer (B2C), “people are people” has been my response. At least it used to be.
“People are people” does have a lot of truth to it.... |
| Oct 26, 2014 | To kick goals in business, forget rationality | Imagine you are taking a penalty kick in a World Cup final. There are two things standing in your way of kicking the ball into the back of the net: the goalie and your nerve.
So where should you kick it? To the left? The right? Or straight ... |