The scientific study of human behavior, behavioral science, helps us understand how and why we act in certain ways, and the cognitive processes that drive our actions.

More and more, innovative marketers and product designers are turning to behavioral science in order to create the most effective marketing strategies.

How has behavioral science been used to improve marketing?

The Wall Street Journal documented a study conducted in Washington, DC that aimed to find out how researchers could encourage energy saving by getting consumers to use fans instead of air conditioning each month.

Four different marketing tag lines were shown to four different groups. Group one were told that they could save $40 per month on bills. Group two were told they could prevent 262 pounds of greenhouse gases being released into the atmosphere each month. Group three were told it was ‘socially responsible’ for them to save energy. Group four were told that 77% of their neighbors were already actively saving energy by using fans.

By far, the fourth group was the most successfully converted to fan use, in a behavioral science marketing tactic known as ‘social proof’ – the mindset that because other consumers are doing something, they should too. This is why listing something as a ‘bestseller’ – or listing relatable testimonials – can help to increase purchases, as consumers seek to be part of the herd.

How has behavioral science been used to improve product design?

In addition to marketing a product successfully, product design can similarly be enhanced by the findings from behavioral science. CARD Bank conducted a behavioral study to find out why people weren’t using their savings accounts – even if they’d opened one – with their bank, identifying psychological barriers preventing them from using the account. By digging into the data they saw that even after opening the account, people rarely made a second transaction and failed to make regular savings.  People were focusing on opening their savings account, not using it, and hadn’t made the behavioral adjustments needed to allow them to build their savings balance.

In response, the bank altered their approach, taking a more personal stance with their customers and building a savings plan with each new account holder, allowing them to plan their future deposits. This lead to many more savings being made by their customers, showing they had improved their financial product.  Financial apps and services have increasingly used behavioral science and a subset of the field to increase positive consumer behavior like saving--using concepts like setting defaults to investing/saving, social norms or proof, and loss aversion.

‍

What is ‘behavioral economics’?

Looking more narrowly at consumer behaviors, behavioral economics is the study of the psychology of economic decision making, such as the reasoning behind why someone makes a certain purchase.  Behavioral economics has been codified into a framework that can help any product designer or marketer turn an experience into a more engaging and fruitful interaction.

These are just a few of many examples in where behavioral science – and behavioral economics – can be used to maximize the success of businesses’ marketing and product design efforts, and increase the likelihood of a customer making a purchase. Contact us today to see if we can guide your strategy and user experience using best practices and proven tactics from behavioral science.

‍