Brainsights

We tend to favour suggestions from automated decision-making systems because they're easier, not because they're right!

Attribute substitution occurs when we must make a decision that is mentally complex - instead our brain substitutes a more easily calculated attribute.

Attentional bias is the inability to see all sides of a story. When you fail to consider the things you don't see, you are displaying Attentional Bias.

An anchoring effect is the tendency for the brain to rely too much on the first piece of information it received in relation to decisions made later on.

The ambiguity effect is a cognitive bias where decision making is biased by a lack of information (ambiguity).

There's a psychological phenomenon commonly known as the "Ben Franklin Effect" that explains why people like you more when they do you a favour.

Ever snapped up a last-minute offer by the tills? A small chocolate bar? A packet of chewing gum? That's impulse buying, aka Restraint Bias.

Congruence Bias refers to the fact that, as a species, we prefer to only test against our initial hypothesis, neglecting to explore alternative outcomes.

Default refers to the option that shoppers end up with if they do not make an active choice - something given to them on a plate, sometimes quite literally!

Courtesy Response, a downfall of humankind - we're often so afraid of offending our listener that we hide away from speaking the truth.

Reading may not be top of mind for many contemporary marketers. But given the valuable lessons these books hold, it’s definitely worth picking up the habit.

What is Amazon Go technology and how will it impact retail stores and supermarkets alike? We're looking at the impact on shopping experiences and convenience.

In an increasingly competitive market, reducing friction is critical for retaining customers and outperforming your competition.

Based on 30 years' experience of effective shopper marketing research, here are 5 proven activation techniques for brands and retailers.

Marginal gains - small, practical improvements to make it better and easier for shoppers to buy your brand.

Humans are immensely affected by their vision. Get the right thing in front of the right eyeballs and you're on a winning streak!

As we are all too well aware, the government has decided to introduce legislation to restrict promotions of HFSS products in most retail environments.

When it comes to sustainability and shopping, psychology and behavioural science can provide powerful initiatives that are both effective and appreciated.

Although it difficult to predict how people in the same segments will behave, you can predict how people with the same need states will.

Attention business travelers! This is what quarantine is really like.

Clients rarely want data. They want insights and need to know what to do with the data to deliver improved business outcomes.

Learn about the mind of the consumer with this FREE reference guide to help you better align your brand with the mind of the consumer.

The Bandwagon Effect is the tendency for the brain to conclude that something must be desirable because other people desire it.

Groupthink is a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people, resulting in an irrational or dysfunctional decision-making outcome.

A consumer psychology specialist applies psychology in the field of marketing to improve brand appeal.

The IKEA effect is a cognitive bias in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products that they partially created.

Online sales are growing and growing fast. But just how psychologically optimised is the typical online selling environment?

Understanding the psychology of promotions boosts sales and frees you from a never-ending cycle of needlessly giving away margin.

Leading brands and retailers have been incorporating shopper psychology for a competitive advantage and insight into the shopping process.

High fat, sugar and salt (HFSS) products are being targeted by the UK government and food companies alike. But what impact will this have on society?

We think of shopping in terms of what we buy. But the reason we spend money goes beyond just acquiring things.

A cognitive bias is a limitation in rational thinking caused by the tendency for the human brain to take short cuts to save energy.

Discover how to generate more stand out attention in today's cluttered stores and competitive online marketplace.

Did loss aversion hold back the England football team in the Euros 2021?

It isn’t so much about the amount you charge shoppers for your product, but how you communicate the price that determines its appeal.

Grocery shopping has become boring! If the only thing I can compare is price, then guess what: I'll compare price!

Post purchase rationalisation, or choice-supportive cognitive bias, is the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to an option one has selected.

Shopping preparation starts before you set foot in the supermarket. Here, you can find several simple techniques that you can think about before you even start.

Paying attention to your surroundings is a crucial part of shopping more effectively. Now, more than, ever we must be alert and aware as shopping opens back up.

Being influenced is inevitable, whether it’s by our surroundings, the actions of others, our internal instincts or the clever marketing of the brands around us.

Hyperbolic discounting is a cognitive bias where people choose smaller, immediate rewards rather than larger, later rewards.

Salience Bias is the cognitive bias that predisposes shoppers to focus on items that are more prominent or emotionally striking.

Coca-Cola Zero Sugar cans are to be revamped with an alleged ‘sleek’ smooth new look. But why has Coke done this? Here’s some interesting science...

The third-person effect determines that we tend to perceive that mass media messages have a greater effect on others than on ourselves.

In prospect theory, the Pseudocertainty Effect is the tendency for people to perceive an outcome as certain while it is actually uncertain.

Present Bias is the tendency to rather settle for a smaller present reward than to wait for a larger future reward, in a trade-off situation.

When it comes to how we feel, although time of day isn't everything, it's much more important that you might think.

Shopper thoughts, beliefs, feelings and perceptions influence shoppers' decision-making and alter buying behaviour.

As part of Raydiant's Future of Brick & Mortar series, I share insights on the retail industry and coming out of Covid.

When retailers connect with consumers’ emotions, the payoff can be huge.

10 ways to apply shopper and consumer psychology, category management and retail merchandising to your own lockdown home.

Loss aversion bias refers to our human tendency to prefer avoiding losses to acquiring equivalent gains.

The decoy effect is the phenomenon whereby shoppers will have a specific change in preference between two options when presented with a third option.

Sustainable shopper and consumer behaviour is behaviour that attempts to satisfy present needs while simultaneously benefiting or limiting environmental impact.

Zero-risk Bias is a tendency to prefer the complete elimination of a risk even when alternative options produce a greater reduction in risk overall.

Covid-19 has changed supermarket shopping, having significant implications for retailers and brands.

The Sunk Cost Fallacy is a human behaviour pattern in which people continue a behaviour as a result of previously invested resources (time, money or effort).

How do you answer “tell me about a time you failed”? Here are some tips and strategies for crafting a compelling answer.

Is the in-store performance of your brand suffering because it isn’t aligned with the minds of shoppers?

Want to know how to get more from your packaging? How to make it leap off the shelf into the hands, hearts and minds of passing shoppers?

Positioning refers to the ability to influence consumer perception of a brand or product.

When you understand the psychological factors that motivate shoppers to purchase, you can use shopper marketing to form more meaningful relationships with them.

The mere-exposure effect is a psychological phenomenon in which people tend to develop a preference for things merely because they are familiar with them.

Choice-supportive bias is the tendency to retroactively ascribe positive attributes to an option one has selected and/or to demote the forgone options.

21st-century supermarkets have become giant, faceless warehouses lacking in emotion. As a result, they've lost some of their ability to appeal and engage.

The secret of making shopping better for shoppers is in engaging with them in-store, not just bombarding them with special offers.

The framing effect is a cognitive bias where people make decisions based on whether the options are presented with positive or negative connotations.

There's no better selling point than one person desiring what another person has.

The negativity bias is the notion that things of a more negative nature have a greater effect on one's psychological state than neutral or positive things.

As we all know, Covid-19 had and is still having massive impacts on consumer behaviour. Shopping experiences have changed and retailers have had to adapt.

The Availability Heuristic is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a shopper’s mind when evaluating a purchase decision.

The endowment effect is an emotional bias that says that once we own something, or have a sense of ownership, we irrationally overvalue it.

A Free Standing Display Unit (FSDU) maximises product visibility and enhances your brand's appearance. FSDUs can contribute significantly to brand awareness.

Stop thinking about when you might go it alone or leave the corporate rat-race to be an entrepreneur, just do it!

Although supermarkets bombard shoppers with offers, the fact is that they’re just giving money away – ultimately, they're pouring profit down the drain!

The world today is obsessed with making the things that are measurable appear important, as opposed to making the truly important things measurable.

Emotion is massively important, when it comes to generating positive shopper and consumer engagement.

Shopper habits are changing and brand loyalties are shifting - historical sales data may well come into question as we emerge from this pandemic.

We’re all guilty of grabbing the odd chocolate bar, sweet treat or sticky bun whilst out shopping. But why is it so difficult to resist those tempting treats?

Ease. Simplicity. Convenience. In a world where the human population is becoming increasingly time-poor, speed and clarity are of the essence.

The best defence against buying things you don't need is knowledge. This article will help you Recognise some of the sophisticated tactics used to persuade you to buy in-store

The Less is Better Effect is a preference reversal that occurs when the lesser or smaller alternative is preferred when evaluated separately, but not together.

The Illusory Truth Effect is the tendency to believe false information to be correct after repeated exposure.

A cognitive bias relating to currency, suggesting people are less likely to spend larger currency denominations than their same value in smaller denominations.

The Focusing Effect is the tendency for the brain to rely too much on the first piece of information it received in relation to decisions made later on.

Distinction Bias is the tendency to view two options as more different when evaluating them simultaneously than when evaluating them separately.

Confirmation bias is the tendency for the brain to value new information more if it supports existing ideas and beliefs.

A phenomenon known as base rate fallacy illustrates how people can sometimes jump to inappropriate conclusions, with significant consequences.

Ask yourself, do you need more than 90 different pizzas to choose from, or 100+ coffees? Is it necessary to have a range of 200 cheeses in-store?

In the spirit of 2019 goodwill, here are 5 straightforward insights that would definitely improve the fortunes of M&S. What’s more, each has already been proven elsewhere to make shopping better for shoppers, better for brands & better for retailers.

Imagine that you are in your local supermarket and want to buy a box of chocolates. Which would be more appealing? A horizontal block of products or a vertical one?

Every day, shoppers make choices, lots of them. In this article I’ll reveal how you can actively help shoppers to make better purchase decisions. Learn how to make it mentally easier for shoppers to buy your brand

Can just the way in which a product is visually depicted affect the extent to which shoppers imagine using the product? The answer is an unequivocal YES!

For many years now, leading supermarket chains have invested serious advertising spend to convince us shoppers that each of them is cheaper than the rest.

Given the enormous opportunity to create improved bricks and mortar retail and to offer a definitive alternative to the threat of online, brands and retailers should pursue emotional connections as a science based major strategy. But for most, building these connections is more haphazard guesswork than science

If you run promotions as part of your trade marketing activity, then chances are you are giving away much more than you need to

For more than 100 years, shoppers have hunted and gathered for all manner of stuff from bricks & mortar stores. Then all of a sudden along came the internet: And on-line shopping! Is on-line shopping actually shopping as we know it? There are no goods to touch, sniff, shake rattle or purloin.

Here’s a challenge for anyone serious about growing their share of market: Instead of only analysing the details of those who buy your brand and those already buying from the category it resides within, focus on those that don’t buy; those that aren't even in the aisle!

Here are 5 well-established 'facts' about shoppers and shopping. Unfortunately, they are more fiction than fact based. Fact 6 is that shoppers and consumers provide responses during different types of market research surveys that are not entirely truthful. Not due to any evil plan to mislead, but more to do with the make up of the human brain.

Brand growth opportunities from in-depth analysis of more than 100,000 grocery shoppers