consumer behaviour Archives - intent.ly Data-driven Conversions Fri, 22 May 2026 10:23:51 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://intent.ly/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/cropped-inentlyFavicon-32x32.png consumer behaviour Archives - intent.ly 32 32 There’s a Super Bowl every day on social media. Not everyone’s got the memo. https://intent.ly/theres-a-super-bowl-every-day-on-social-media/ Tue, 05 May 2026 14:38:30 +0000 https://intent.ly/?p=63596 I was sat at Awin Global’s ThinkTank Americas last week in Chicago, listening to a keynote from Mike Cessario, founder of canned […]

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I was sat at Awin Global’s ThinkTank Americas last week in Chicago, listening to a keynote from Mike Cessario, founder of canned flavoured water brand Liquid Death that didn’t feel like a prediction of the future, but more like a very direct observation of what’s already happening right in front of us.

At one point, Mike made a comment that neatly reframed the entire marketing landscape in a single line.

“There’s a Super Bowl every day on Social Media.”

Same scale of audience, same potential reach, but with one fairly brutal difference, which is that nobody is forced to watch your ad, nobody is sitting patiently through your message, and nobody really cares unless you give them a reason to.

That one shift alone explains why so much of what we’ve all been doing over the last decade suddenly feels a bit ineffective.

The “Beige Decade” meets the scroll

For a long time, we’ve operated in what I’ve called the beige decade, where the goal was to create marketing that performed reliably, looked polished, and didn’t really offend anyone in the process.

It made sense in a world where distribution could be bought and attention was, to some extent, guaranteed, because if people were going to see your message anyway, you could focus on refining it, optimising it, and making it incrementally better over time.

But what that keynote made very clear is that we are no longer in that world, because the scroll has fundamentally changed the rules.

You are not competing with your category anymore, you are competing with everything that exists in someone’s feed, and in that environment, safe, well-crafted, perfectly balanced marketing stands much less of a chance.

Not because it’s bad, but because it’s ignorable.

If it looks like an ad, it’s already lost

One of the more uncomfortable truths Mike touched on is how quickly people disengage the moment something feels like marketing, because the second that “this is an ad” trigger goes off in someone’s brain, their attention is gone and they’re already halfway down the next piece of content.

That makes the first few seconds of anything you produce disproportionately important, not in a theoretical sense, but in a very literal one, because if you don’t earn attention immediately, you don’t get a second chance.

Which is why the traditional model of carefully crafting a message and pushing it out with media spend is starting to break down, because the assumption that people will sit through it simply doesn’t hold anymore.

The brands winning are creating things people would watch anyway

The most interesting part of the session wasn’t just the diagnosis, it was the operating model behind how they’ve responded to it.

Instead of thinking about marketing as something that supports the product, the approach is to treat it as something people would choose to engage with in its own right, which is a subtle but important shift in mindset.

That’s where a lot of the more unconventional examples come in, whether it’s taking negative internet comments and turning them into content, or creating ideas that feel more like entertainment than advertising.

Not because it’s clever for the sake of it, but because in a scroll-based environment, entertainment is the only reliable way to hold attention long enough for anything else to land.

Small bets, fast output, big outcomes

Another thread running through the keynote was the idea that nobody really knows what’s going to work, which sounds obvious but is often ignored in how marketing is actually structured.

The response to that uncertainty wasn’t to spend more time planning or refining, but to build a model that allows for more output, more experimentation, and more opportunities for something to break through.

That means producing content more quickly, more cheaply, and with less attachment to any single idea, because the goal isn’t to get everything right first time, it’s to create enough chances for something to resonate.

It’s a model that looks far closer to how creators operate than how traditional campaigns are built, which is probably not a coincidence.

As Rory Sutherland puts it, “not everything that makes sense works, and not everything that works makes sense,” which is exactly why the only rational response is to create more opportunities for those slightly illogical, unexpected ideas to actually see the light of day.

Why creativity is quietly winning again

When you step back from it, what that keynote really highlighted is not a new trend, but a correction that’s been building for a while.

The beige decade was built on control, predictability, and optimisation, all of which made sense when attention could be managed and distribution could be controlled.

Now that attention is fragmented and optional, those same strengths have become limitations, because they naturally lead to work that is safe, refined, and very easy to ignore.

At the same time, a smaller group of brands have leaned in the opposite direction, creating things that are more distinctive, more entertaining, and occasionally a bit uncomfortable, which in this environment tends to be exactly what is required to cut through.

The reawakening era is already underway

We’re not moving towards a creative resurgence, we’re already in the early stages of it – it’s just not evenly distributed yet.

Some brands are still operating as if attention can be assumed, continuing to optimise within familiar frameworks, while others have fully accepted that attention has to be earned every single time.

Those that have made that shift are starting to separate themselves, not because they have better tools or better data, but because they are approaching the problem differently.

They are not asking how to improve what they were already doing, they are asking how to create something people would actually choose to watch.

It also reflects a broader shift that System1 have been talking about for years, where the industry has leaned too heavily into salesmanship, focused on persuasion, messaging and rational proof points, when in reality the work that drives growth tends to be far closer to showmanship, built on emotion, entertainment and memorability.

As Orlando Wood put it when keynoting our intent.ly Live! event last year – “if you want to grow, you have to put on a show.”

So, WTF am I trying to say here!?

If the Super Bowl is happening every day, then it’s becoming increasingly clear that many brands are still operating with a model built for a time when attention was more predictable and far easier to secure.

That’s not a failure of creativity, but a reflection of how it was deprioritised during a period where efficiency and optimisation delivered consistent returns.

The environment has shifted, and with it the requirements for standing out. Creativity is no longer optional, it is the mechanism through which attention is earned.

And for ‘entertainment-first’ brands such as Liquid Death, those who have already adapted to that reality are not just outperforming, they are separating from the rest of the market in ways that will only become more pronounced over time.

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]]> Advertising’s beige decade and the return of storytelling https://intent.ly/advertisings-beige-decade-and-the-return-of-storytelling/ Mon, 06 Oct 2025 15:34:17 +0000 https://intent.ly/?p=61712 This week I had the chance to present at our own intent.ly Live! event, and the theme I kept hitting replay on […]

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This week I had the chance to present at our own intent.ly Live! event, and the theme I kept hitting replay on was what I can only describe as the beige decade. Ten years where advertising slowly measured itself into blandness. Campaigns got safer than Rory McIlroy with a nine iron (EURRRROPE). Clean, polished, polite… and utterly forgettable.

Beige became the default. Not because marketers suddenly lost their spark, but because every idea now has to survive an assault course of metrics before anyone dares to sign it off. Will it shift brand intent by 2.3 per cent in Bristol? Does it align with the brand health tracker? Will the dashboard smile politely at it? By the time a campaign clears those hurdles, the life has been ironed out. What’s left is something that looks lovely on a PowerPoint slide but has all the charisma of a cancelled train at Swindon.

At intent.ly Live! I reminded everyone of the ads that did burn themselves into memory… and not one of them would make it past today’s measurement mafia. Smash robots. Peter Kay’s John Smith’s “Ave it.” Drumming Gorrillas and Cadbury’s eyebrows. None of them ticked the sensible boxes. All of them were gloriously ridiculous. And that’s exactly why they lasted. You can still hear the robots cackling. You can still shout “Ave it!” on a Sunday league pitch and get a laugh. You can still raise your eyebrows in the mirror and look like an idiot. That’s culture. Beige doesn’t get a look in.

Now here’s the twist. Storytelling isn’t dead. It’s been buffering on 1% for a decade, and Gen Z are finally hitting refresh for us. This is a generation raised on scroll speed. If your ad is beige, it’s gone before the logo even appears. They demand personality. They demand story. They’ll forgive clunky, they’ll forgive cringe, but they won’t forgive beige. What they love is when a brand has clearly tried.

Look at the brands thriving through them. Duolingo with its deranged TikTok owl. Ryanair with the sassiest social team since airlines learned how to tweet. Even Jet2 Holidays somehow going viral because people started taking the mick and then couldn’t stop watching. None of this is beige. It’s loud. It’s weird. It’s alive. And brands stepping into the Gen Z era have to accept they won’t control the whole narrative. It will live (and mutate) in consumer hands. Brands must accept loss of narrative control but gain cultural participation.

And that was my point on stage. Measurement still has its place (of course it does) but it should become more of the backstage crew, not the headline act. The star is the story. Always has been, always will be. When measurement hogs the spotlight, we get the beige decade. When we put story first, culture does the measurement for us.

So maybe Gen Z are the ones saving us from ourselves. Maybe they’re forcing us back into bold storytelling because they simply won’t tolerate corporate wallpaper and ‘salesmanship’. Maybe, just maybe, that’s exactly what we need.

Beige is out. Colour is in. Or the ‘Reawakening Era’ – as I like to call it!

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]]> Life through a Gen Z lens – humanising the UX experience https://intent.ly/life-through-a-gen-z-lens-humanising-the-ux-experience/ Tue, 05 Aug 2025 14:31:58 +0000 https://intent.ly/?p=61110 Generational Changes in Attention SpanGen Z and Gen Alpha have grown up within the digital sphere. We are used to seeing ultra-processed, […]

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Generational Changes in Attention Span
Gen Z and Gen Alpha have grown up within the digital sphere. We are used to seeing ultra-processed, clinical, soulless ads with one goal: showcase the product and get you to buy. A lot of Gen Z users have learned (perhaps subconsciously) to tune out of predictable Youtube ads, boring TV breaks and irrelevant promotions. Further, considering the wide-spread access to information, the culture amongst many Gen Zers tends to place emphasis on prioritising health and well-being.

In other words – we’re learning to break generational curses and become our best selves (with a helping hand from Google, ChatGPT, and our favourite social media creators). Throughout this, we are collectively remembering the importance of human connection and real representations of life. Scarcity creates demand; more tech in the world ignites a yearning for experiences, emotions, and idiosyncrasies that can seldom be digitised with accuracy. This is why we appreciate it when brands try.

Brands Innovating Their Approaches
According to Vogue Business: “As young people consume more content than ever, it’s getting more difficult for brands to cut through the noise. 80 per cent of Gen Zs agree that they are exposed to more brands and advertising than any other generation (compared to 73 per cent of millennials), per Archrival.” – Gen Z Broke the Marketing Funnel. In response to this desire for authenticity, we are seeing a revival of brand creativity. Whether it’s Oh Polly using a continuation of fun props in their website product feed, or eyewear brand, Lohause, creating a dreamy, cinematic social series following their main character’s journey throughout their ads. In a digital landscape that refreshes trends daily, brand’s distinctive quirks are what make them memorable.

Post by Oh Polly

The Importance of Empathetic UX
In tandem with visual storytelling, the UX design of a website is now more important than ever. Empathetic UX – a UX approach that prioritises the user’s perspective, emotions and needs, over functionality – is a win for brands moving forward. Web design educational platform, Design Lab, states that designing UX for Gen Z is “about striking a balance between innovation and functionality, authenticity and creativity.” – Designing for Gen Z: Mastering UX for the New Digital Generation. On-site ads should help create smooth shopper journeys, with the placement of key products and messages that are both relevant and timely.

Buyer’s consciousness is expanding and users aren’t responsive to the typical marketing pitches or displays. We don’t want to feel like we’re being sold to anymore, we want to appreciate and value a product for what it is, and justify making a mental space for it in our lives. Matt Malindine, Senior UX Designer at MRM UK writes “Gen Z expects fast, frictionless interaction. Products should deliver value quickly. Seamless navigation, instant load times, and real-time feedback are non-negotiable.” – UX design for Gen Z: Insights & trends you need to know. Clunky, awkward promotions will not survive in this era. That’s so 2012.

Innovating Affiliate Strategies
intent.ly’s new in-page campaigns are a primary example of incorporating UX design which considers the user experience. These targeted campaigns feel like a natural part of the browsing experience, giving users a seamless, integrated journey between intent.ly content and the brand’s own. Therefore, ensuring a fluid transition into a campaign that is more likely to capture interest and focused attention.

In response to the shifts in user behaviour, campaigns embedded into the page consider a user’s emotions in a refreshing and innovative way. The large client base represented by Gen Z are likely to respond positively to this approach, as in-page campaigns can be used in a variety of ways to truly enhance the shopper journey. These considerations and creative solutions will be vital to the future of ecommerce marketing and should be used to complement brands’ existing strategies.

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Read more about in-page campaigns.

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]]> Rory Sutherland at Awin Global ThinkTank: A mind-bending closing keynote on psychology, perception, and peculiar bees https://intent.ly/rory-sutherland-at-awin-global-thinktank/ Fri, 30 May 2025 10:40:34 +0000 https://intent.ly/?p=60665 If you’ve ever wondered what behavioural economics, honeybees, petrol stations, warm cookies, and Winston Churchill have in common, Rory Sutherland just connected […]

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If you’ve ever wondered what behavioural economics, honeybees, petrol stations, warm cookies, and Winston Churchill have in common, Rory Sutherland just connected the dots in a keynote that defied logic – and then explained why defying logic might just be the secret to business success.

Awin Global ThinkTank 2025 wrapped with a suitably explosive finale, courtesy of the inimitable Vice Chairman of Ogilvy UK. Sutherland is a natural storyteller on stage, engaging the audience with real business examples and anecdotes of behavioral economics and consumer psychology at play.

Data is not your friend (if you use it like everyone else)

Sutherland kicked off by questioning our devotion to data. Yes, it helps you benchmark. But when everyone is optimising the same metrics in the same way, we all become disturbingly alike. “The most innovative businesses,” he noted, “are those who’ve escaped the comparison trap.” You can’t stand out if you’re just trying to blend in more efficiently than the next guy.

Cue the bees

He recounted how 20% of bees ignore the waggle dance (their version of Google Maps) and buzz off at random. Inefficient? Hardly. These rebel bees are vital for discovering new pollen sources. Without them, hives get stuck in local maxima – overfed on yesterday’s flowers and starving tomorrow.

Takeaway? You need a little madness in the method. Randomness isn’t inefficiency – it’s optionality. Every organisation needs its metaphorical rogue bee.

Small psychological shifts = massive business gains

Forget moonshots. Sutherland prefers “moonhops” – small psychological changes that yield massive results. He cited the now-legendary $300 million UX win where an online retailer simply let people checkout as guests. Boom. Millions earned. Why? Because friction, no matter how minor, is the silent killer of conversions.

In that spirit, he lauded DoubleTree’s free cookies. A trivial cost, yet deeply memorable because they’re unexpected. No one waxes nostalgic about a £1,000 minibar but everyone remembers that gooey chocolate chip welcome.

Reverse benchmarking: be weird where others are boring

Instead of copying the market leader, ask what everyone’s overlooking and go hard in that direction. Fancy hotels offer standard perks like robes and minibars – so stand out with something unexpected, like the “departure lounge” one major brand introduced: a space where checked-out guests can sip espresso, catch up on emails, and unwind before heading to the airport. “Surprise is ten times more powerful than expectation,” Sutherland said, channelling his inner retail Yoda.

This philosophy turned the once-ignored London Overground into a Tube line in disguise. Same trains, same tracks – but with better signage and a lick of orange paint, Londoners suddenly noticed it existed. Ridership soared. Infrastructure rebranded, not rebuilt.

Framing is everything

Marketers don’t need to change the world – just how people see it. He gave the glorious example of Ronald Reagan, whose age threatened his re-election until he turned the concern into comedy: “I won’t exploit my opponent’s youth and inexperience.” One line reframed an entire campaign.

Even more magical? The Italian restaurant that couldn’t get anyone to sit in the basement until they rebranded it as “The Capri Lounge” and pretended it was always fully booked. Voilà – suddenly it was the most in-demand spot in town.

Embrace the illogical

The closing argument? We need fewer management consultants and more magicians. Logic scales incrementally. Psychology leaps exponentially. “Marketing,” Sutherland declared, “is the science of knowing what economics is wrong about.” Amen.

It was equal parts sermon and stand-up – slightly eccentric yet scientific, unapologetically human, and the perfect palate cleanser after a data-heavy event. As Rory closed to thunderous applause, one truth echoed louder than any KPI:

In a world obsessed with doing things right, sometimes the greatest advantage is doing the right thing weirdly.

Now, who’s up for installing a cookie oven in reception?

More from Awin Global ThinkTank 2025:

Dr Karen Nelson-Field: Marketers need to stop counting eyeballs and start earning them

Scott Galloway at Awin Global ThinkTank 2025: Vulgar, vital, and very much on point

Lily Ray at Awin Global ThinkTank: SEO is dead, long live SEO

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 6: Price Anchoring https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-6-price-anchoring/ Sun, 18 Feb 2024 14:18:25 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57609 In the field of heuristics, anchoring refers to your brain’s tendency to heavily rely on the first piece of information offered to […]

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In the field of heuristics, anchoring refers to your brain’s tendency to heavily rely on the first piece of information offered to you when making decisions. Our final blog in the series explores how to leverage price anchoring as a marketing tactic.

This heuristics blog series has covered scarcity, complementarity,  value perception, relevancy and social bias – all powerful purchase motivators.

Price Anchoring

Anchoring refers to a priming effect whereby an initial number acts as a reference point, sub-consciously influencing subsequent judgements or decisions. Much research exists on this cognitive bias in areas such as purchasing, probability estimates and even legal judgements (Furnham & Boo, 2011).

Price anchoring is a psychological tactic that involves presenting a higher price first, to create an ‘anchor’ that influences value perception and guides purchasing decisions.

For example, when the iPad was first released they were reportedly due to sell at $999, whereas in reality they sold for $499. In the mind of the consumer, that’s an instant 50% price cut for the same item, making them much more likely to purchase.

Research has shown that the easier a discount is to understand, the more effective it is. For example, ‘£3 off £15 spend’ is proven to be more effective than ‘20% off’ – a shopper is more likely to engage with a deal when they can instantly understand the value.

In ecommerce, price anchoring can be used in a number of ways, including: 

  • Tiered pricing structures – presenting multiple options allows for easy comparison, and by strategically positioning a mid-range option as “best value” (and a reasonable compromise) can lead customers to purchase, regardless of original budget.
  • Showcase premium products first – when high value items are listed first or on the homepage, the stage is set for subsequent products to be perceived as more reasonably priced.
  • Targeted offers via website overlays or email remarketing – intelligent offers, shown at the right time, can target shoppers mostly likely to engage by guiding them through the purchase funnel with incentives, such as: 
    • Increase average order values with bundle deals, or extra discounts when spend thresholds are reached. For example, you’ve seen the price of one new tyre when you’re offered discounts for buying 2 or 4 (which you might reasonably need in the near future) – therefore reducing the cost of each item, improving the value perception in your mind. You buy more tyres than you originally intended!
    • Shift seasonal stock lines by guiding shoppers to sales pages.

By strategically employing the price anchoring heuristic, ecommerce marketers can influence purchasing decisions and maximize value perception. However, it’s crucial that brands use consistent pricing and anchoring tactics ethically and transparently to build trust with their customers. 

And that completes our heuristics blog series. If you missed the previous blogs, we’ve covered  scarcity, complementarity, value perception, relevancy and social bias.

Back to journal to read more

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 5: Social Bias https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-5-social-bias/ Tue, 23 Jan 2024 14:19:27 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57618 Our heuristics blog series continues, with a focus on social bias – and how compelling marketing strategies can tap into the psychology […]

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Our heuristics blog series continues, with a focus on social bias – and how compelling marketing strategies can tap into the psychology of the ‘bandwagon effect’ to drive sales and shape trends.

We started this series last year on the mental shortcuts that help simplify decision-making, and how they can be used to understand and influence shopper behaviour. So far we’ve covered 
 scarcity, complementarity,  value perception and relevancy – all powerful purchase motivators.

Social Bias

Social bias is often known as the ‘bandwagon effect’ or ‘herd mentality’, both of which refer to the tendency of consumers to mirror the actions or beliefs of others. This can be due to a desire to ‘fit in’ and be part of a community, but it also helps speed up our decision making when we trust the opinions and choices of others.

A well-known Nielsen survey found that 92% of people trust recommendations from friends and family above other forms of advertising, and that 70% trust online customer reviews – so word of mouth can be very powerful indeed.

Social bias also triggers FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) – where we might see products trending and ask ourselves “What’s that and why do people have it? And why don’t I have it?”.

Big brand examples of this phenomenon include Apple’s iconic white earbuds in the eye-catching silhouette ad campaigns. The campaign tapped into the emotions of young, tech-savvy consumers who wanted to look and feel this good, and be seen as ‘cool’ by their peers.

There are numerous ways that marketers can harness these feelings to motivate consumers to jump on the bandwagon before it leaves without them, such as:

  • Endorsements from influencers, celebrities or satisfied customers 
  • Social proof in the form of customer reviews and ratings
  • Real-time information on the number of items bought, booked or viewed to date
  • Showcase items in high demand, to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity
Social proof

eCommerce marketers can leverage these strategies on their websites in a number of ways, such as: 

  • Using overlays that push shoppers to popular pages, best sellers or flash sales
  • Incorporate real-time sales/views or customer ratings within basket contents overlays or email retargeting campaigns
  • Target regional shoppers with products currently popular in their area – and use localised testimonials or ratings to build credibility
  • Collect, disclose and amplify reviews & testimonials
  • Use referral programs

Marketers must take an omni-channel approach to these strategies, as social media platforms and the rise of influencers amplify the bandwagon effect like never before. Authenticity is another consideration, so displaying a range of reviews could build trust and help consumers discern what’s truly best for them.

The bandwagon effect is clearly a powerful purchase motivator, and compelling marketing strategies can tap into this psychology to drive sales and shape trends.

Our next blog in this heuristics series will focus on price anchoring. If you missed the previous blogs, we’ve covered  scarcity, complementarity, value perception and relevancy so far.

Back to journal to read more

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 4: Relevancy https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-4-relevancy/ Fri, 10 Nov 2023 14:21:02 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57810 Part 4 of our heuristics blog series looks at relevancy, and how we can better target online shoppers with the right messages […]

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Part 4 of our heuristics blog series looks at relevancy, and how we can better target online shoppers with the right messages delivered at the right time, with offers tailored to their needs.

If you missed them, earlier blogs covered scarcity, complementarity and value perception – all powerful purchase motivators.

Relevancy

Relevancy is defined as ‘the quality or state of being closely connected or appropriate to someone or something’. Consumers look for products and services that directly meet their needs – and marketers can tap into these opportunities to create targeted campaigns that are more likely to grab attention and convert.

Targeting shoppers based on location is a prime example of applying the relevancy heuristic. For example, a clothing brand may promote winter wear in regions experiencing colder temperatures while focusing on summer collections in warmer areas. 

This creative and bold campaign from Burger King used location data of rival McDonalds restaurants to geofence and target users with their 1 cent Whopper offer.

Timing is everything, and this is never more important than during the Q4 peak season, when shoppers are looking for Black Friday deals or Christmas gifts. Implementing relevant and time-sensitive promotions also creates a sense of urgency that triggers quicker decision-making. 

Other examples of leveraging timing to create relevant offers include:

  • Package holiday or tourist attraction deals in Summer holidays
  • Pay-day promotions when shoppers are likely to have more disposable income
  • Changes in weather that make products more desirable, e.g. fans or garden furniture

A great mass media example of this is TV adverts for brands like Just Eat during events like the Eurovision Song Contest – when at-home audiences are at all-time high, and during prime dinner time. 

In addition to showcasing products that align with demographic or seasonal data, online retailers can also easily showcase complementary products to sell more. For example, if you’ve just bought a new TV you might be interested in adding surround sound or a new streaming subscription, or if you’ve just bought a games console you might also need a new gaming chair or headset.

In this way, marketers can leverage relevancy to increase AOVs and create loyal customers by offering a smooth shopping experience (and the perception of a good deal if bundle discounts are also applied).

Incorporating the relevancy heuristic into marketing campaigns requires a data-driven approach to understand the demographics, preferences, and behaviours of your customers. intent.ly provides data insights, expertise and best practice guidance to help retailers create effective campaigns that achieve their KPIs.

Our next blog in this heuristics series will focus on social bias. If you missed the previous blogs, we’ve covered  scarcity, complementarity and value perception so far.

Back to journal to read more

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 3: Value Perception https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-3-value-perception/ Fri, 18 Aug 2023 14:24:16 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57822 In part 3 of our heuristics blog series we explore value perception, and the strategies marketers can use to influence online shopper […]

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In part 3 of our heuristics blog series we explore value perception, and the strategies marketers can use to influence online shopper behaviour. 

In case you missed them, earlier blogs in the series covered scarcity and complementarity – both powerful purchase motivators.

Value Perception

As you know, heuristics are the mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that our brains use to simplify decision-making and problem-solving processes. The ‘value perception’ heuristic is our quick-thinking bias that deals with how we value something, how we take things for granted, and how our value perception changes when we see things differently.

Marketers can manipulate this bias with positioning and advertising tactics that change the way consumers think about a product and therefore the value of it. Check out this clever example from cereal brand Shreddies which achieved an 18% increase in sales.

Ideally these creative tactics would result in a perceived value increase of course – but if misjudged, you could potentially risk causing a negative impact on value perception, and see sales go down instead of up.

In online shopping, value perception strategies can be observed in many different formats, such as:

  • Gift card offers as a reward for purchase.
  • Spinning wheels after purchase – to get a free item or a special offer on your next order.
  • Free gifts and brand partnerships – check out the complementarity blog for more on this.
  • Exclusivity / scarcity – where an item is made to look more valuable because its a limited edition or available only to certain groups. Overlays with countdown timers can be used to create a sense of urgency too – and we often see conversion rates increase by around 10% when testing against standard overlays, so they can be highly effective.

Rather than being based on true monetary or production value, a shopper’s value perception about the worth of an item is often based on a feeling. So online marketers can try to leverage this by creating fun or innovative ways to add value in the consumer’s mind.

Our next blog will focus on the relevancy heuristic.

Back to journal to read more

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 2:  Complementarity https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-2-complementarity/ Mon, 10 Jul 2023 14:35:26 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57829 Last month we kicked off our blog series on heuristics (the mental shortcuts that help simplify decision-making) and how to use them […]

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Last month we kicked off our blog series on heuristics (the mental shortcuts that help simplify decision-making) and how to use them to understand and influence shopper behaviour. In part two, we explore the complementarity heuristic.

What are heuristics?

Heuristics are cognitive strategies that guide our thinking and behaviour, and are based on patterns, past experiences, and readily available information. 

Last time we explored the scarcity heuristic, which can lead shoppers to believe something is more valuable or desirable if it is rare or in limited supply, and can result in impulse buying.

The complementarity heuristic

Some things just go together – popcorn and a movie, tea and cake, a coffee on the train. By combining two complementary products or brands we can often generate an experience that is perceived to be far more valuable than the sum of its parts.

In this way, marketers can use the complementarity heuristic to create offers that ignite ‘the feels’ in shoppers, making them more likely to buy (because we ‘buy in feeling’ and ‘justify with thinking’).

For example, brands can influence a buying decision by offering rewards that complement the initial purchase, such as getting a free coffee with a train ticket, or free country park entry with a new bike purchase. Or they can offer bundle deals to upsell related products or accessories.
This strategy creates a relationship or situation in which two or more different things improve or emphasise each other’s qualities – resulting in an enhanced perception of value, and of getting a ‘good deal’.

In stores, this can be seen when coffee shops offer a free pastry with a hot drink purchase, or a sunglasses brand including a free case with the glasses. But online shopping is where new opportunities can be found, and the rising success of brand partnerships can be observed.

According to Awin, “A brand partnership campaign enables brands to reach like-minded customer audiences based on complementary sectors, demographics and customer values, whilst also providing a commercial opportunity to monetise your existing customer base and onsite inventory placements, and gain valuable first-party data”.

Awin’s engaged portfolio of over 200 partner brands drove over 238,000 sales and £13m in incremental revenue in 2022.

In the product bundling example above, Currys displayed the website overlay to customers purchasing an Oral-B toothbrush – helping to increase AOV by 12%, with 63% of transactions adding the complementary product (toothbrush heads) to their final purchase.

So the complementarity heuristic can be a powerful tool for online marketers to reach new customers – who also have a higher potential for loyalty, thanks to the ‘good value’ feelings created by combining the right products.

Look out for our next blog on the third heuristic that can influence shopper behaviour – value perception – coming soon.

Back to journal to read more         

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]]> Heuristics Series Part 1:  Scarcity https://intent.ly/heuristics-series-part-1-scarcity/ Tue, 23 May 2023 14:14:24 +0000 https://intent.ly/staging-site/?p=57838 Heuristics can help us understand shopper behaviour and what influences buying decisions. In this blog series, we explore how seven of these mental […]

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Heuristics can help us understand shopper behaviour and what influences buying decisions. In this blog series, we explore how seven of these mental shortcuts can be used as powerful conversion tools during different stages of the shopper journey.

What are heuristics?

Heuristics are mental shortcuts or rules of thumb that our brains use to simplify decision-making and problem-solving processes. They are cognitive strategies that allow us to make quick judgments and navigate the complexities of the world around us. Instead of engaging in lengthy and resource-intensive analytical thinking, heuristics help us make efficient decisions by relying on patterns, past experiences, and readily available information. These mental shortcuts serve as cognitive guidelines that guide our thinking and behaviour. They are developed based on our personal experiences, cultural influences, and social norms. Heuristics can be useful in situations where time is limited, information is incomplete, or the decision-making process is complex. However, they can also lead to biases and errors in judgement, as they may oversimplify or overlook important information. One of the best examples of a heuristic that we can all relate to is quite simply catching a ball that is thrown or hit in the air. If you were to actually calculate where to place your hands to correctly catch that ball, you’d be attempting to do some quick fire A-level maths to work out the height of the ball, the speed it’s travelling, its peak trajectory, and so on. The reality is by the time you’d worked that out the ball would’ve landed about 10 minutes prior. To combat this, we have learned the ‘gaze heuristic’, which at the most basic level, ignores all casual relevant variables (the maths!) to make quick gut reactions and adjustments that enable you to successfully catch the ball within the given timeframe.

The scarcity heuristic

One of the most common heuristics that is extremely commonplace across marketing disciplines is the scarcity heuristic. The scarcity heuristic is a cognitive shortcut that leads us to believe that something is more valuable or desirable if it is rare or in limited supply. This heuristic can be seen in many areas of our lives, from the way we shop in stores for groceries to the way we shop online.

In stores, the scarcity heuristic can be observed when shoppers rush to buy items that are advertised as being in limited supply. For example, if a grocery store puts up a sign that says “limited time only” or “while stocks last” next to a particular item, shoppers are more inclined to believe the item is rare or hard to come by, and they will be more likely to make the purchase immediately. The scarcity heuristic can lead to impulse buying, where shoppers make purchases based on emotions rather than rational thought.

In online shopping, the scarcity heuristic is often used by e-commerce websites to create a sense of urgency among shoppers. For example, online retailers may use countdown timers or “low stock” warnings to encourage shoppers to act quickly if they want to buy a particular item. A recent campaign test revealed a 10% increase in conversion rate by adding countdown messaging to the overlay.

When used appropriately as part of a shopper’s journey, the scarcity heuristic can be a useful conversion tool. For example, it can be used to motivate people to take action or to make decisions that are in their best interest. If a person believes that a particular opportunity is rare or hard to come by, they may be more likely to take advantage of it. In this way, the scarcity heuristic can be a useful motivator.

With scarcity being such a common heuristic, it can be observed in many areas of our lives. While the scarcity heuristic can lead to cognitive biases and irrational decisions, it can also be a useful tool when used within the context of a shopper journey. By understanding the role of the scarcity heuristic in our lives, we can make more informed decisions and avoid the potential pitfalls of this cognitive shortcut.

Look out for our next blog on the second heuristic that can influence shopper behaviour – complementarity – coming soon.

Back to journal to read more     

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