I use psychology to my advantage on a daily basis. 20 years of studying the subject gives me a powerful edge in optimising my own communication as well as my clients’. Given its power to influence, the question of ethics does occasionally pop into the conversation and I’ll be honest; it’s given me pause for thought more than once. Am I doing the right thing by applying this powerful tool for the gain of myself and my clients? Where is the line drawn between ethical and unethical use?
What is it?
It’s called many things; Behavioural Economics, Cognitive Science, Neuromarketing or simply Psychology. It’s the science of how we humans think, process information, and make decisions. It might pain you to know this, but our brains work in very predictable ways, and once you know how the mind works, it’s relatively easy to reverse-engineer that process to therefore influence how it thinks.
Combine that with the decades of experimental research that has gone into understanding what works, and you’re left with a powerful recipe for influencing people.
Notice how I say influencing and not manipulating. There’s a reason for that, which I’ll go into later.
How effective is it?
The power of psychology is actually one of the reasons why I think its ethical use is in question. It's like finding a cheat code in a video game that takes you straight to the final level. Here are a few examples:
We took a poorly performing website with a conversion rate of 0.3%. After applying psychological enhancements to it, we were able to increase its conversion rate to 6%. That’s a 1,900% increase in the number of leads generated from the same marketing investment. In other words, the client went from 3 leads per month to 2 leads per day.
In retail, research shows that if someone physically holds a product, they are 4.5X more likely to make a purchase. This same principle applies to service companies when you get the prospect to hold your brochure.
The Economist increased its sales by 43% by applying decoy pricing and making one subscription appear to be more valuable, despite never actually changing their prices.
One of our clients came to us with an existing marketing strategy, and without changing that strategy, we simply optimised their funnel using psychology. The result was over 2X increase in revenue, totalling over £1,000,000 directly attributable to Grow’s optimisations.
The Dark Side of the Force
Of course, the power of psychology can be used for evil as well. The Cambridge Analytica scandal is probably the most prominent example of how the line between ethical and unethical was crossed.
Cambridge Analytica was a British political consulting firm that obtained the psychological profiles of millions of users on Facebook, without their permission. The company used these profiles for targeted political advertising, leveraging a psychological model called OCEAN (Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, Neuroticism) to predict personality traits and influence voting behaviour. This was done by tailoring messages, news, and advertisements to resonate with the fears, anxieties, hopes, and interests of individuals based on their psychological profile.
Cambridge Analytica worked with Donald Trump’s election team as well as pro Brexit campaigners (both of which obviously won their respective campaigns). It’s unclear what level of influence this had on the outcomes of the elections, but I don’t think many people would argue that using this approach is an ethical line that should not be crossed. Having said that, even politicians use psychological tactics to influence voters. From the way they dress, to the words they use, and all the way down to things like standing on a soap box to appear taller (as taller people are more likely to be voted in). Where do we draw the line between what’s ethical and what isn’t?
Manipulation
In my opinion, the ethical boundary is crossed when people lose their free will. As long as consumers retain the ability to make informed decisions, the use of psychology in marketing can be seen as a tool to enhance communication. However, when it leads to manipulation or coercion, causing people to make choices they wouldn't have made otherwise, that's when we've strayed into the murky waters of unethical practices.
Communication at its core
At the end of the day, sales & marketing are both forms of communication, plain and simple. And psychology is at the heart of communication. It’s the very definition of how we process information and understand what’s being communicated. Using psychology in these endeavours is essentially supercharging that communication.
If something is conveyed in such a way that it makes you feel good about the product or service, and you choose to buy it, is that unethical? I’d argue not, provided that free will is maintained, and that the message communicated is genuine. To be honest, it doesn't make business sense to approach it any other way, because if you aren't genuine about your value, you're setting the wrong expectations which is only going to hurt you in the long run.
Yes, the use of psychology in marketing is a double-edged sword. It can be a powerful tool for understanding and connecting with our customers, but it must be used with respect for their autonomy and free will. After all, we're marketers, not Sith Lords!
I hope this email has given you some food for thought. As always, I'd love to hear your views on this topic.
