Many years ago, the King of Prussia, Fredrick the Great, decided he wanted his subjects to eat more potatoes because they were a cheap source of carbs. He tried to encourage them by giving out free samples, sharing recipes, promoting them through town criers, but nothing worked. Finally, he tried a different approach. He filled the royal gardens with potato plants behind a big wall with guards patrolling to keep people out. However, the guards were told to be lenient and the wall was filled with many holes. It worked. The citizens were so intrigued by what the royal family was eating so much of that before long everyone was eating potatoes.
Why didn’t his original tactics work? It’s called reactance theory - human behavior in response to the perceived loss of freedom in an environment. When we’re bombarded with commercial persuasive messaging, we may rebel against it. In fact, a whopping 55% of people said they will not buy a product if they see a retargeted ad, according to InSkin Media’s consumer survey. Learn more here.