For Day Seventeen, discover why Head of Copy Stuart Clark is recommending we should all read The Choice Factory, by Richard Shotton. You could win a copy of this excellent book just by sharing this post.
The Choice Factory: 25 Behavioural Biases That Influence What We Buy
Author: Richard Shotton
First published: 2018
If you’re an email marketer you’ve no doubt comes across emails like this before: the subject line says simply, ‘Sorry’. When you open the email, it states that there’s been some kind of problem on the brand’s website and by way of an apology for your inconvenience, they are offering you a discount code – which you duly accept.
Maybe these emails are a genuine response to technical glitches. Or maybe it’s an example of a wily marketing department exploiting ‘The Pratfall Effect’ – the tendency for people to behave positively towards someone who has demonstrated a flaw.
This book is all about the subconscious biases that drive people’s decision-making. The premise is simple: people are overwhelmed with the amount of decisions they have to make every day, so they take shortcuts to make them. And these shortcuts are prone to biases.
So, if you’ve ever wondered why people have a tendency to ‘follow the herd’ (Social Proof), or why flash sales are so effective (Scarcity Effect), or why personalisation is so powerful (Cocktail Party Effect)… this fascinating book reveals all.
My favourite quote?
Here’s my favourite quote: “Few consumers admit that they’d be less likely to help a stranger if others were asked at the same time, or that their headache would disappear faster with a different coloured pill. Yet, when we watch how consumers actually behave, it’s apparent that we are affected by such nuances.”
The seventeenth of twenty-five of the best business books we’ve ever read. Our recommended reading for your Christmas break. And to celebrate our 25th Anniversary, we’re giving you the chance to win these coveted, sought-after reads, just by sharing and re-posting one of our daily recommendations.
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