What you EXPECT to see is what you get:
Much of what we and our customers know depends on direct daily contact with the world around us. Yet there some innate principles and processes that guide what we actually end up knowing. Without these, our experiences would be utterly meaningless.
These innate principles and processes are like this browser you’re using to read this blog post. Without the browser to interpret the computer code, you won’t experience the post. The browser gives you the framework for setting for your experience. And all our experiences take place within this framework.
As a result of this framework,our experiences and thoughts tend to be of a whole and complete. There’s a pattern to what we see and know:
Expectations:
You see what you expect to see:
Expectations: What we see is what we expect to see. Unlike our computer screens, we’re not simply receivers of data and information. We actively participate in our own experiences and choose what we experience.
Here are two of psychology’s classic examples. Take a look at the images below:
- On the left: Which side is the front of the box?
- On the right: What are the two twins saying to each other? Are they happy? Are they male? Female? About what age?
Now, look at the two images again and answer these questions:
- On the left: The box is sitting on a table in front of you several feet away to your left. Where is the front of the box?
- On the right: Is this a chalice or cup similar to those used in the Christian communion? What material is it made of? Gold plate? Silver plate?
Not only do you see what you EXPECT to see, but …
Ambiguous situations:
You impose order that doesn’t exist:
Imposing order applies to not only what we expect to see or to suggestions on what to look for in ambiguous situations.
If the situation is ambiguous:
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We impose more order and clarity than physically exists:
What do you see in Figure A?
What about Figure B? And C? And D? |
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| And we simplify by grouping things together: We see the left side as having one group of circles and the right side as having three groups (while physically they both have 36 circles): |
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| And we create closure or completion: What do you see to the right? (There’s neither a circle or a rectangle here, but we see them anyway): |
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Your explanations, perhaps turned into a very short story, improves your memory, doesn’t it? After all, which of these is easier to remember:
- Three hard-to-describe geometrical segments separated from each other?
- OR … 3 PacMen facing each together, ready for the final ultimate Battle Royale Smackdown?
TODAY’S TIP:
Because you are not a mind reader, you don’t truly know if someone else sees the same thing you do and gets what you’re trying to promote.
In marketing, you are guiding your prospects’ perceptions toward a conclusion you want them to reach while also guiding them to feel they reached their decision entirely on their own. That conclusion of course is: “I’m buying this product.”
Grouping guides our behavior, shapes our knowledge, improves our memory, and conditions us to behave in certain ways. So here are some ways to help you:
| 1. Make things stand out: |
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2. Explicitly point them out … like you saw before on how optical illusions show our minds play tricks on us, remember?
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3. Plant the seeds of suggestion first…
“Flowers are one of the most popular gifts on Mother’s Day.” |
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| … then later show them something and ask: “What would you put in these?” |
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4. And harness the need for closure and completion … with “cliff-hangers,” like these world-class masters have done for 4 years:
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The LOST series is pure entertainment set on the north shore of Oahu, the Hawaiian island where I grew up. And each episode ends with a “hanging-in-mid-air” cliff-hanger. By doing so, they harness your need to find out what happens. You can easily do this in an information or educational series by setting yours up as a overall story broken into segments, then ending each segment with a cliffhanger. Added benefit: Stories or narratives also are powerful psychological devices that help your customers understand why you’re doing what you’re doing. And they sidestep the whole issue whether your story’s true or not, as long as it sounds reasonable. We talked about using stories here … remember? |
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NEXT TIME: We find out why simpler is better psychologically and gets you higher response rates … how you may be sabotaging yourself with your online “pig sty:” a cluttered website or email newsletter crammed pack full of links, ads, and promos in extra columns … and how to set yourself apart in commodity or competitive markets without resorting to flashing neon lights, turning up the volume to ELEVEN!, or using irrelevant bikini-clad models to catch people’s attention by triggering their basic sexual instinct.
Find out next time as we continue to chart the underlying currents of psychology, sociology, and economics that flow together as marketing.
In DEEP MARKETING.
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2. Send to me privately if you prefer privacy (bill@rippermarketing.com)
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