How to use psychology to design persuasive contexts
Choice architecture noun "organizing the context in which people make decisions" - Robert H. Thaler & C. Sunstein, The Behavioral Foundations of Public Policy
Think back to the last time you ate at a restaurant. You looked down at the menu and probably imagined that you were choosing your own meal based on what you felt like eating that particular day.
Or think about when you were picking up your groceries. Deciding what to buy was, presumably, a conscious decision based on personal preference, taste, and brand choices. Or was it?
Choice architecture theory states that it's the way things are presented to us, and the context they are in, which nudges us in a particular direction. Choice architects allow consumers to make their own choice from a range of options while steering them towards one outcome in particular.
The fact is that choice architecture is all around us. It's used in restaurants to nudge customers to choose the best or most expensive option. It's used in supermarkets to encourage shoppers towards making healthier food selections.
For marketers and salespeople, getting clued up on this psychological principle can lead to more persuasive content. Let's dive into how it works.
A cafeteria owner notices a pattern in customer's orders. Far more people tend to order the items at the beginning and end of the menu than the items in between.
The owner decides to experiment and change the order of the items on the menu to find out if it's the items themselves or the ordering that accounts for this pattern. It turns out that the items at the start and end of the menu are always the most popular even in a new menu configuration.
This means that the owner can be a 'choice architect' and order the items based on which decisions they want to steer their customers towards making. This could mean putting healthier options first and last to encourage healthy eating, or placing the most stocked item at the top of the list.
One of the easiest ways to put choice architecture into practice yourself is by making the most out of the default option.
It's a staple of choice architecture that people are more likely to accept the default option than any custom option available. This is not only the simpler option, but in most cases, means that the user doesn't have to weigh up the benefits and risks of each choice themselves.
In 2010, the British government established its Behavioural Insights Team, which was responsible for helping the public make more responsible decisions.
The Behavioral Insights Team - or the Nudge Unit as it was commonly known - was informed by Richard Thaler that people have a tendency to accept default settings. Based on this, the government changed the default settings from opt-out to opt-in on company pensions. As a result, saving for pensions has become commonplace, and it's now a new normal for people to have savings into retirement. Successful choice architecture in practice.
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