Author; Serena Sorrentino
Publication date: 14.03.2024
Biases are mind games that deceive people's perceptions, prompting them to make decisions quickly.
They are mental mechanisms that we put into practice every day for simple, everyday choices.
We have known of their existence for a long time, the two psychologists who discovered them are the Tversky and Kahneman, in 1970 winning then, the Nobel Prize in 2002.
These two psycholgists theorized that people make decisions by following the shortest logical path. Our judgment is distorted by what have been termed "heuristics" therefore individuals choose a path with the fewest number of heuristics, which are mental discouragements to mean.
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Heuristics work in different contexts of everyday life, they work by substitution that is: they replace a complex concept with a simpler one.
How many types of Bias do you exist?
There are as many different types of bias as the number of attitudes we implement on a daily basis.
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Our mind self-deceives us in all the decisions we make, or at least, tries to. Imagine how many mental techniques we put into practice while buying or choosing to buy something?
There are different types of biases and knowing how to recognize them would allow those who buy, to always do so in a conscious manner.
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Some of these are:
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â of confirmation
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â of saliency
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â of social proof bias
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â of ingroup
-Â Â Â Â Â Â Â of anchorageÂ
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We will describe these attitudes so that in the future you will know how to recognize them and not be fooled.
CONFIRMATIONÂ BIAS
These are triggered when decisions or advice are considered that confirm what is already being advocated. For example, if we are to sell vegan food all the network around that store will have to publicize animal exploitation, climate crisis, or articles that incentivize and push the purchase of vegan products.Â
SALIENCYÂ BIAS
Is the tendency of people to make judgments by focusing on a salient point or certain characteristics. To better understand Apple's apple icon that drives people to buy their products, the presence of that symbol is worth more than its actual value and functionality.
SOCIAL PROOFÂ BIAS
Is a tool used in recent years and influences the public to purchase through positive customer reviews. Who among you before buying something does not read the comments? We all do by now, but this is a marketing technique that incentivizes purchase.
INGROUPÂ BIAS Â
The buyer still relies on reviews but is influenced to purchase by a sense of belonging with a group. Each of us may be within a group because of religious, political, musical or occupational beliefs therefore if advice is given by a person within the same group, it will be considered more valid and suitable to follow.
In doing so, belonging to a group can influence a person's purchase.
ANCHORAGEÂ BIAS
Mental technique for which the first research on purchasing a product is critical because it will be the paramenter we will use to evaluate future research. So the first research will be our anchor point.
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Cognitive biases are fundamental tools for a company's Marketing strategy. Putting them into practice will surely bring important benefits!
PSYCHOLOGY and MARKETING
Psychology has offered marketers the tools to know the minds of their hypothetical customers. The mental processes a human performs when making decisions is a great resource for marketing, because it can anticipate the needs and behaviors of consumers. Psychology has revealed the weaknesses of the human mind and used the for product sales planning.
CONCLUSION Â
Every choice we make and buy will be influenced by cognitive biases, depending on the circumstances we will activate a different one but it is important to be aware of the mental strategies that are activated within us.
During a purchase it is important to remember that whoever is selling us that product is using some specific techniques or that by reading the reviews under the products we will buy, we will incite our mind to buy that particular thing.
If we go out of the house we will notice how much our eyes and mind is influenced, with the advertising posters in the subway or simply even in the supermarket. The layout, colors , fonts and message are elements chosen and designed to achieve a certain result and economic advantage.
This article should be a help, knowing that the strategies that are used to sell everything we buy are based on our mental processes. Allows us to open our eyes and make a choice without "conditioning."
From today, let us try to carefully evaluate and unmask these conditionings!
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