Si Muddell: The Psychology of Choice & Illusion

Choice - "An act of selecting or making a decision when faced with two or more possibilities" .

What makes us choose right from left, or one offer from another? Did we ever really have a choice, or was it the result of some marketers clever strategy of influence and illusion?

So many choices!

We are presented with many 'choices' every single day, many of them delivered to us through the mask of marketing, and calculated data driven decision making. A great example of 'choice' and clever data driven product placement is in Supermarkets. From the size of the offers signs, the number of offer 'choices', to the placement of the products throughout the store. There is often a fairly solid rationale in the decision making for the above.

Ever get to the checkout at the Supermarket and you end up buying more unnecessary yet conveniently placed items and offers, while you wait impatiently to be served? Yep - I do!

There are many factors that affect the buying process above and beyond the points in this blog post such as the 4 P's or 4 C's. Psychology also plays a huge part, and is a useful tool for any marketer to understand. Things like Colour, and Social Factors can also have a huge impact.

Below are a few top level factors contributing to the extent we are influenced by everyday product related choices:

Motivators: Everybody has different motivators, whether it be financial, practical, personal, emotional, health, or religious. Effective marketing taps into these 'emotional and logical reasons to buy now' motivators and presents the message in a way that overcomes our logical reasons to avoid buying. The consumer is left with the feeling that their 'choice' is a good and justified one.

Relevancy & Timing of the choice. Timing can be everything.

Perception: How perceptive we are of the possible manipulation that is going on, and also how much we really care about it.

Data: Underpinning all of the above is data. Data acquired over time from considered testing strategies can be used extremely effectively in presenting 'choices', that are actually illusions.