Most people are exposed to—whether they like it or not—hundreds, if not thousands, of advertisements every single day. If the same ad is viewed again and again the message might start to resonate and could lead to a purchase, known as the mere exposure effect. There are a plethora of cognitive biases just like this that influence our decision-making abilities on any given day and whether you want to expel or exploit them, you must first learn them.
Have you ever learned a new word only to hear it used in more and more conversations? Or have you ever believed something your parent, boss, or even a world leader has said without once questioning its truthfulness? If you answered yes to these questions, you have fallen victim to the frequency illusion and authority bias, two very common cognitive biases.
The teams behind huge marketing budgets fuel the fire of these cognitive biases in their advertising campaigns. When you see an item you really want is on sale and the original price has been marked down substantially, you will certainly consider this a worthy purchase. What if you learn that the product has never sold for that original price but you had been duped by the anchoring bias? You might continue to justify your purchase by any means only to find yourself in another cognitive bias, post-purchase rationalization.
The psychology of business can be used in your favor no matter which side of the metaphorical negotiating table you are on. In this visual from GetVoIP, you will learn about 25 common cognitive biases and how your business can leverage them:
