Happy Sunday, Everyone!
I’ve spent much of the past week traveling – which has given me plenty of time to both write and think. As I’ve been doing that, I keep coming back to one uncomfortable conclusion: most marketing is built on a foundation that’s about as stable as quicksand.
That sounds extreme, but it’s true: we assume our target audiences are rational decision-making machines. Everything we do from a marketing communications standpoint flows from that assumption - we meticulously craft feature lists, build intricate logical arguments, cite experts and studies and media, then share it all via hyper-logical, optimized campaigns. All the while, we assume our audience is giving us their undivided attention.
All of that is a fantasy. It's not how people operate. It’s not even close.
So, this week, I want to talk about how people actually operate – and how you can leverage human irrationality to create remarkable results through behavioral economics.
In 2023, researchers at Harvard Business School found that the average person makes 33,000 - 35,000 decisions per day – but 95% of those, including 90% of purchasing decisions - are made subconsciously.
Think about how insane that finding is: 9 out of 10 purchasing decisions (not just an auto-pilot decision, like which route you’ll take on your commute home) are made subconsciously. Many of these are high-leverage decisions - investments, homes, cars, care decisions, luxury purchases, vacations, businesses - all being made by what Danny Kahneman terms “System 1” (the “thinking fast” system). That’s mind-blowing. But it’s true.
As someone who does a lot of marketing, the implications are quite humbling: most of the time, the audience I’m investing hours (or days, or weeks) of thought into don’t care. They’re not even paying attention, much less weighing features or parsing my nuanced, well-researched arguments. Instead, they’re reacting to emotion, context, and internal scripts they can’t even articulate. This often manifests itself in interviews or focus groups with responses like, “Yeah, [X] just felt right,” or, “It really resonated with me.” – this is little more than thinly-veiled rationalizing.
What’s really going on is this: the person has *no idea* why s/he made the decision, so s/he is attempting to reverse-engineer a “rational” explanation that they believe will present his/her decision in the best possible light to the person asking the questions. Where things get really wild is that some of the best marketers in the world (read: the ones who actually invest in audience insights + research) use this reverse-engineered data to inform, optimize and fund their marketing investments. Don’t believe that happens to you? Open up your CRM/CDP, pick a random recent buyer, call him/her on the phone, and see for yourself.
The bad news is that a lot of the things you probably thought were true (based on all that data you collected) might not be true. The good news is that if you accept that what I wrote above is probably true, and is probably true for your target audience, then you can take advantage of the inherent irrationality (or emotional rationality) of most people.
This is where behavioral economics flips the script. It gives you the tools to shape decisions in real time, by designing for how people actually behave, not how textbooks (or people) say they should.
Put another way, traditional marketing asks: “What did users do?”
Behavioral economics asks: “Why did they decide the way they did?”
I’ve loved behavioral economics since my undergraduate days (I even wrote a philosophy paper on it, way back in 2008 while the world economy was on the brink of collapse). I think it is absolutely fascinating to explore why people make the decisions they do, and it’s wildly fun to see how small changes to what we marketers do can have outsized impacts on how our audience responds.
- When someone chooses the second-most expensive wine on the menu, that’s anchoring.
- When someone abandons a cart because the options feel overwhelming, that’s choice overload.
- When a user hesitates because s/he doesn't want to “miss out,” that’s loss aversion
The most successful marketers (and operators) don’t simply optimize offers or design landing pages; they engineer human behavior. The cheat code for doing that isn’t new-fangled tech or ChatGPT - it’s good, old-fashioned (well, old-ish) behavioral economics.
Behavioral Economics in a Nutshell
Behavioral economics is one of those things that we’ve all heard of, but most people don’t actually know what it is (or how it can be helpful). The quick summary is this: behavior economics is where psychology, human behavior and economics collide. It studies how real people make real decisions in real-world settings, especially when they’re stressed, distracted, or overwhelmed.
Unlike classical economic theory, which assumes people are rational actors, behavioral economics assumes the opposite: people use rules of thumb (heuristics), are influenced by bias, and often act in predictably irrational ways.
Forget the idea that people are logical. They use shortcuts, they're biased, they're often irrational. And that's not a bug, it's a feature.
There are three overarching rules that can help you navigate the world of behavioral economics:
First: Emotion dictates. Logic justifies. People buy on a gut feeling, then they scramble to find reasons to back it up. We all do it. And if you're not building that emotional connection first, you're already losing.
Second: cognitive overload is a silent killer. We all (especially product teams) want to throw a million options at someone. We want to give our audience all manner of choices so they find what’s perfect for them. The problem: people don't get excited, they get overwhelmed. They give up. They leave. The harsh truth is that most members of your target audience don’t want endless options, they want curation. They want you (the brand) to tell them what they need, but to do it in a nice way.
Finally: context is king. How you frame your offer, your angle, your value proposition, your story matters more than what you actually say. That's what moves the needle. It's not what you say, it's how you say it, where you say it and when you say it. You can completely blow the message but still convert wonderfully well if you nail the context.
We make 35,000 decisions a day (at least according to researchers at Cornell). Most are subconscious. Stop pretending your audience is meticulously analyzing every detail. They're scrolling, distracted, and using mental shortcuts.
That may not sound like your problem, but it is: the average landing page converts at 2.35%. For all of the advancements in digital technology, website design, CRO, etc., that 2.00%(ish) number has not budged in two decades. Think about that – that’s insane. 20 years, I don’t want to know how many billions of dollars, millions of hours of research - and website conversion rates are unchanged.
At some point, it’s not an engineering problem. It’s certainly not a creative problem. That leaves only one option: it’s a behavioral problem. We're designing for a fantasy, not reality. Our campaigns fail because they ignore how people actually think and act.
The obvious solution: start designing your campaigns, ads and landing pages for how people actually make decisions. Lean into the irrationality. Make it your ally instead of your enemy.
Behavioral Economics Principles That Actually Move the Needle
1. Loss Aversion
Loss aversion is perhaps the most well-documented principle in behavioral economics. The idea is simple: people feel the pain of a loss roughly twice as intensely as they experience the pleasure of a comparable gain. What’s fascinating is how deeply this impacts decision-making, particularly when the stakes feel personal or irreversible.
Many of the clients we work with make the mistake of focusing on what a user or potential customer stands to gain from working with our company or buying from our brand. But, in many cases, that’s exactly the wrong way to look at it - the inverse is often more persuasive. Framing the absence of action as a potential loss activates urgency, self-preservation, and a desire to maintain the status quo.
This may sound crazy, but you’ve probably JUST seen it in action. Tuesday was tax day (I hope it was as joyful an experience for you as it was for me). And for the last 2+ months, we’ve all been inundated with ads from Turbo Tax hammering home a message of, “Don’t leave money on the table” and, “This is filing your taxes in 2025 (with boxes overflowing with receipts).” That framing implies the user is already entitled to a refund, and not filing with their software risks losing some (or all) of that money due to the complexity/overwhelming nature of filing.
That same, visceral feeling is created by Dropbox, who famously (infamously?) warns users their files will be deleted upon trial expiration. That’s not a value proposition; it’s a psychological jolt.
To apply this effectively, reposition value as something at risk. Not acting should feel like forfeiting something meaningful: time, savings, status, access, or safety.
Conversely, instead of asking your audience to do something (i.e. shop now and save $10), give them the $10, then tell them it will be taken away in 24 hours (“We’ve added $10 to your account; your balance resets tomorrow”). Losses loom larger than gains. The feeling that the $10 they were just given will be taken away unless they do something hits twice as hard as the option to save it if they shop.
Don’t believe me? Give it a try in your marketing. Re-frame a value proposition as a risk, then see if that doesn’t encourage more of your audience to convert.
2. Anchoring
Anchoring occurs when people rely too heavily on the first piece of information they encounter to guide a decision. It’s not logical, but it’s remarkably sticky. It’s why pricing pages, product comparisons, and even headlines have outsized influence vs. the more substantive, thoughtful and nuanced content that follows lower down the page.
Let’s say you’re a top-tier marketing agency pitching a full-funnel engagement to a growth-stage brand that just raised a Series C. You know your work isn’t cheap—and you don’t want it to be. The goal isn’t to sell hours. It’s to frame value.
So instead of leading with your core monthly retainer, you anchor high.
You open with the “Full Spectrum Growth Engine.” This includes audience insights, market segmentation, intense creative research, comprehensive brand strategy, integrated media planning, behavioral-based funnel optimization, high-velocity creative production, and ongoing CRO - the works. All delivered by an elite team of top talent that will be working with the brand every day through this process. You price this premium service at $225,000 per month (sounds like a lot, but plenty of brands are paying plenty of large agencies far more for far less).
Then, you introduce the “Performance Accelerator.” This is still a substantial engagement, but focused more narrowly on paid media strategy, funnel optimization, and creative iteration. The resourcing is less intense, but still enough to create positive outcomes. The price for this next tier is $110,000 per month.
Finally, you position the “Foundation Sprint.” A one-time engagement to audit their current marketing tech stack, ad accounts, CRM and funnels, identify missed opportunities, and deliver a 90-day tactical plan. The cost? $95,000.
What’s happening here?
You’ve anchored the conversation around world-class scale and impact. By leading with your most comprehensive offer, you’ve reset their perception of what serious investment looks like. Now, that $110,000 engagement feels like a surgical strike instead of a budget risk. And the $95,000 sprint? That feels borderline accessible.
Without that top anchor, the $110,000 scope might’ve triggered sticker shock. But with it? It’s a value play. This isn’t a pricing trick. It’s narrative control. You’re showing your audience what elite looks like, and then backing into options that meet their reality, without compromising your positioning.
Salespeople do this all the time - marketers (for some reason) are averse to trying it.
Now apply the same logic to eCommerce.
Imagine you run a DTC apparel brand selling high-end hoodies. Instead of just listing three hoodies on your shop page and letting customers figure it out, you build an anchored product architecture and show your audience your products in sequence:
You lead with The Edition Hoodie: a tailored, limited-run, hand-numbered, ultra-premium blend (Alpaca/Merino/Cashmere), with bespoke finishings, luxe packaging, classic branding & early access perks. Price: $550.
Then you offer The Heritage Hoodie: same tailored fit, high-end alpaca blend, high-end finishings, limited branding. Price: $225.
And finally, you drop in The Essentials Hoodie: the top-selling SKU, made from high-end, organic cotton blend and available in a few classic colors. Unlike the Edition and the Heritage, there’s no branding and no extras. Price: $98.
By positioning the $550 hoodie first, you’re not expecting every customer to buy it. In fact, you’re not expecting *most* to buy it - you’re simply using it to create context. That $225 tier now feels like quiet luxury at a fair price, not a stretch. And the $98 option feels like a steal, not because it changed, but because the frame did. If you would have started with the $98 and worked up to the $550, your customers would be frustrated and dejected - the options got better and better, but now they have to “go back” to the one that’s in their budget (or they just leave and resign themselves to not buying the Edition).
It’s the same product architecture strategy: control the top, shape the middle, support with the base (lowest) option. Most marketers look at a product or pricing page as a way to present options. That’s wrong. These pages (and ads, and experiences) are opportunities to engineer value perception.
3. Choice Architecture + The Decoy Effect
Let’s talk about how you structure your pricing (or any set of options) - because the way you frame the choices available to your audience matters just as much as the options themselves.
Take The Economist’s famous pricing test. Three offers:
- Digital-only for $59
- Print-only for $125
- Print + Digital for... also $125
Thankfully, no one picked the print-only (if they did, I would have had serious questions about whether they should be reading The Economist at all). That’s not a flaw, that was the strategy. The print-only was a decoy. Its entire job was to make the bundle look like a no-brainer. And it worked (84% of respondents selected the bundle when the decoy was present, vs. 32% when it was not). The bundle dominated because it felt like a steal, even though nothing changed about the product.
That’s anchoring + choice architecture. It wasn’t about evaluating features. It was about shifting perception and manufacturing value through context.
If you control the comparison, you control the choice.
Want to drive users to a specific plan, SKU, or bundle? Design the menu of options available to your audience to guide them there:
- Start with the premium. Anchor high. Establish the ceiling
- Add a decoy. Slightly worse value at a similar price. That makes your target shine
- Position your target. Your “hero” option should feel like the obvious middle ground
- Include a basic tier. It’s the contrast point. It makes everything else look richer
Done right, this turns a difficult decision into an easy yes.
It’s not manipulation. It’s behavioral design that removes friction, clarifies value, and guides your audience toward the best-fit outcome. Most marketers present options in isolation. Smart ones design them in sequence, which is what enables you to turn choice architecture into a growth lever.
4. Social Proof
Virtually every marketer and designer will tell you that social proof is important. It’s a decision accelerant.
In a world where people are overwhelmed, risk-averse, and short on time, social proof becomes a behavioral shortcut. It answers the unspoken questions: “What’s everyone else doing?” and “Should I be doing it, too?”
Social proof is (ironically) not about being persuasive; it’s about reducing perceived risk and collapsing the time it takes to say yes. When people are overwhelmed, uncertain, or short on time, they instinctively look to others for guidance. It’s not laziness, it’s efficiency (the great thing about humans is that evolution has not caught up with our technological progress). Social proof functions like behavioral GPS: it illustrates for your audience what’s safe, what’s popular, and what others like them are already doing.
That’s why smart marketers/brands don’t just use testimonials and logos - they deploy them in a way that reduces the perceived risk of making their desired decision and adds credibility to their offer. Done right, this achieves three positive outcomes:
- Signals safety – “10,000 others already bought this.”
- Builds relevance – “People like you chose this solution.”
- Compresses due diligence – “If companies like mine use it, I don’t need to overthink.”
That’s why testimonials, user counts, influencer UGC, and recognizable logos matter, not as window dressing, but as performance drivers. When a prospective customer sees a banner that says, “10,397 other customers purchased this product”, it reduces perceived risk. When they see brands like theirs using your platform, they skip half the due diligence.
One of my favorite, go-to examples for social proof is Booking.com (seriously, go check it out). Unlike most others, Booking.com does not stop at “Popular.” They hit users with:
- “Booked 6 times today.”
- “12 people are viewing this.”
- “Only 2 rooms left.”
That’s layered behavioral design: validation + urgency + scarcity, right where the decision happens.
This applies far beyond travel.
A DTC apparel brand added a simple block below their Add to Cart button: “3,127 purchased in the last 30 days.” That one change increased the PDP conversion rate by 14%, because it gave shoppers exactly what they needed: confirmation that others like them had made the same choice.
The same thing can be used in real estate or senior living. One luxury community added a real-time callout to its tour scheduling form: “7 families scheduled tours this week.” Pair that urgency driver with a relevant testimonial from adult children (people in the same decision context) addressing the same core pain points / challenges and you have a recipe for better outcomes (read: more tours booked) via behavioral design.
But here’s the part most marketers get wrong: the best social proof isn’t the loudest. It’s the most relevant. Recency matters. Specificity matters. Authenticity matters. A testimonial from someone who looks, thinks, and decides like your buyer will always outperform a generic logo wall.
“4,237 creators launched stores using this template in the last 60 days” hits way harder (and converts way better) vs. “Join thousands of happy customers.”
If your product/service is legit, don’t bury the proof. Show it near the action. Social proof isn’t a design element. It’s a conversion strategy. When used right, it moves the needle faster than almost anything else.
5. Choice Overload
Most people love the idea of choice. We like the illusion of being in control and crafting something unique to us. I’ll give you a concrete example: this past week, I was in LA visiting a client, and we went to an ultra-luxury car dealership (because, why not? Maybe I’ll run into LeBron, and if I don’t, sitting in a Lamborghini and a Bentley is cool). The dealership was absolutely insane: each room featured a different luxury brand, and each one was built out to the nines. If you wanted to see a car in random colors, you could. If you wanted to touch a dozen different types of leather, they were there. If you wanted to see how different color threads would look in your custom Bentley, they had over 50 different threads there. There were millions of different possible combinations available. As we were gawking at these supercars, the sales manager dropped an absolutely mind-blowing nugget: the vast majority of people who buy cars from him simply walk around and pick out one already on the lot, even though customizing the car is included in the price.
Think about that. This dealership spent over $10M (yes, ten million dollars) building out their customization suite for each of their supported brands. The table where they unroll fabrics for the Bentleys alone was $25k. And the vast majority of customers - people spending $200k+ on a car - don’t even bother to use it.
How is that possible?
This is where choice overload comes into play: too many options increases the cognitive load, delays decisions, and amplifies regret. This is the essence of choice overload. Abundance leads to paralysis rather than empowerment.
The famous jam study by Iyengar and Lepper proved this in retail: more jam varieties meant lower sales. But it applies just as powerfully in digital settings. When users encounter 12 product SKUs, six pricing tiers, or 25 navigation items, their mental processing stalls. Analysis paralysis takes over, and the user (or potential customer) does not feel that s/he has enough time/information to make the “right” decision. The end result? An abandoned (at worst) or delayed (at best) checkout/conversion experience.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Take Apple. Its product strategy is intentionally constrained. Four iPhones, clearly delineated. It’s simple, intuitive, and easy. By restricting choice, Apple has made it easier for their customers to choose with confidence.
To reduce overload, simplify where you can. Group similar options. Use “Best for most” recommendations. Default to a top pick. Each of these tactics makes the decision feel easier, faster, and safer, especially for users who don’t want to overthink.
6. Commitment & Consistency
Once someone takes a small step, such as subscribing to a list, completing a quiz, personalizing their dashboard, they’re more likely to continue taking related actions in the future.
Why? Because most people crave internal consistency. We like to behave in ways that align with our prior behavior and our public commitments. There’s a reason why tech founders build in public (and it isn’t just for the likes) - public commitments create accountability and foster motivation.
Robert Cialdini, the godfather of persuasion science, found that even tiny public commitments, such as signing a petition, dramatically increase subsequent follow-through behavior. The primary reason for this? Most people don’t want to appear to be cognitively dissonant. We want our behavior to align with our commitments.
Want to see this in action? Check out Duolingo.
The app begins with a 5-minute commitment. It’s low-friction and non-threatening. But then the user gets a streak. They see progress. Throughout this process, the app reminds them of how much they’ve learned, how far they’ve come. The user then begins to self-identify as “someone who is learning Spanish.” And when that identity becomes real (i.e. shared with others), quitting becomes inconsistent with self-perception AND their prior statements/commitments.
All of a sudden, this user who was on the fence about learning Spanish is signing up for Duolingo’s “Super” subscription at $12.99 a month (I may, or may not, be trying this now).
I wish more marketers would use this insight to shape their user journeys. Create that initial commitment moment, then build scaffolding around it. Use checklists, badges, and visible progress. Reinforce identity. Your goal should not just be to drive conversions (leads, sales, whatever), but rather to make those conversions feel inevitable.
7. Scarcity
Scarcity works because it triggers one of the most basic behavioral instincts we have: fear of missing out. When people believe something is limited, whether it’s time, access, quantity, or availability, it suddenly becomes more valuable. This is a principle we’ve all lived with since high school (or maybe even middle school): everyone wants what is difficult to obtain – whether it’s a widget, a spot on a team, or a significant other doesn’t matter. The real irony is that this desire is almost never based on the underlying value of the thing; it’s based on the notion that something that’s hard to get is worth getting.
Most marketers think that scarcity is about inventory. That’s wrong. It’s about perception.
When an offer is always available, it feels safe to postpone. There’s no urgency, no reason to act today. But when that same offer is only available to the first 100 customers, or closes at midnight on Friday, the mental calculus changes. Decision speed increases. Doubt decreases. Your audience adopts a bias for action, because not doing so would result in them missing out.
Scarcity isn’t just a tactic—it’s a decision accelerator. It shortens the time users spend deliberating. It reduces the need for justification. And it nudges them out of contemplation and into commitment.
Luxury brands already understand this. Scarcity isn’t just for DTC brands or flash sales; it’s the backbone of luxury positioning.
LVMH, Louis Vuitton, and Hermès don’t sell products. They sell access. Limited runs. Waitlists. Boutique-only exclusives. When you walk into a Louis Vuitton store and they don’t have the item you came for? That’s by design.
The sales manager at that luxury car dealership I referenced earlier actually confirmed it to me while we were talking: even if he has a car on the lot, it often isn’t available to be sold to a random person walking in. They intentionally don’t carry some of the more “popular” models on the lot. Think about that. Imagine knowing what models are most popular / most likely to sell, then deciding NOT to carry those models just to create more exclusivity and scarcity.
This is engineered exclusivity, and it works phenomenally well – not because of artificial constraints, but because scarcity aligns with the core promise of luxury brands: status, rarity, privilege. Scarcity doesn’t cheapen the brand when it’s tied to elevated positioning; paradoxically, it reinforces it.
Fortunately, you don’t have to be Hermes or Maserati to leverage scarcity:
Imagine you’re a premium skincare company launching a new product line. Instead of creating a massive run, you limit it to 2,000 units. Pair that with a visible progress bar showing how many units are remaining, and you have a recipe for decision acceleration (and selling out of 2,000 units really, really fast) This is the same theory that drives the success of product drops: customers know that if the quantity is limited, they must act quickly and decisively.
This isn’t just a commerce trick, either. I recently read about a luxury senior community that offered a “Founders Club” during pre-leasing. Only the first 25 committed (signed lease + deposit) were eligible for early move-in privileges, concierge upgrades, and priority suite selection. The end result? Increased urgency, a higher lead-to-tour conversion rate, and 25 signed leases in record time – all because the opportunity felt finite and meaningful.
Yes, but: scarcity only works when it is legitimate.
I’ve heard so many stories of marketers inventing scarcity, or trying to create the illusion of it when it didn’t exist. This is everything from resetting countdown timers, bogus “Only 1 left” messages, or promotions that magically reappear the next week. We’ve all seen them (hello, Amtrak - 29,305 are not buying train tickets at 1 am on Easter Sunday). Those tricks might spike short-term conversion, but they erode long-term trust.
The best marketers use authentic scarcity—and make it visible:
- Time-based: “Enrollment closes Friday at midnight.”
- Quantity-based: “Only 250 memberships available.”
- Exclusivity-based: “Invitation-only until Q3.”
And they reinforce it with transparency:
- “We limit signups to maintain service quality.”
- “We only release product drops once per quarter.”
- “This price is only valid for the first 100 customers—then it increases.”
Done well, scarcity aligns urgency with credibility. It drives action without resorting to manipulation.
Scarcity isn’t about pressure. It’s about prioritization. It signals that this opportunity matters now, and that waiting carries a real cost. In the environment where we operate, where indecision is a marketer’s biggest competitor, scarcity is one of the most powerful tools in your toolbox.
8. The Endowed Progress Effect
People are far more likely to finish something when they feel like they’ve already started—even if that “progress” was manufactured.
That’s the core of the endowed progress effect. It’s not about the size of the task, it’s about the momentum. The second someone feels like they’ve made headway, even if that headway requires next-to-no effort, the likelihood they’ll complete the journey increases dramatically.
Loyalty programs have known this for years. Give someone a coffee card with 10 blank stamps? It’s more likely to end up in the washing machine than it is to be fully completed. But, give that same person a card with 12 spaces and the first 2 pre-stamped, and suddenly, they’re already on their way. Notice that the difficulty of the task (getting 10 more stamps) has not changed; the only thing you did is re-framed how much progress they’ve made. And that small psychological shift increases participation, frequency, and completion, without changing the task (get 10 more stamps) or the reward (free coffee) at all.
Where This Shows Up in Marketing
This isn’t just a gimmick. It’s a behavioral lever. It belongs in your onboarding flows, referral mechanics, upgrade paths, loyalty programs and account creation sequences. I sincerely wish more marketers would think about how the Endowment Effect can be integrated into every element of their customer experience.
Onboarding:
Start with something already checked off.
- “Step 1: Account created ✅”
- “Step 2: Set preferences”
- “Step 3: Unlock your dashboard”
That feels achievable. Three steps feels like a small hill, not a mountain. And when the user sees that first step already done, the remaining two feel even easier! After all, if they’ve already accomplished one with so little effort, the remaining two can’t be that bad.
Product setup:
Don’t drop users into a blank slate. Pre-fill fields, use defaults, and show visual progress bars. The friction isn’t the task itself of customizing the blank slate; it’s the feeling of starting from zero.
Referral programs:
Instead of “Get rewards for sharing,” say “You’ve already earned your first 100 points, just refer one friend to unlock your bonus.” Now you’re not offering an incentive; you’re completing a cycle the user is already halfway through.
SaaS trials:
The worst experience is a blank dashboard. The best? Pre-loaded sample data, a setup checklist with one or two steps already marked complete, and clear next actions with visual indicators. The user isn’t “trying your software.” They’re “wrapping up their onboarding.” It’s an assumptive close, but it’s one that is remarkably effective because it leverages both the Endowment Effect AND Loss Aversion.
LinkedIn nails the Endowment Effect in its profile completion journey. When you create a LinkedIn profile, there’s a little progress bar pushing you toward “All-Star status.” That’s behavioral design. It’s not just telling you what’s incomplete, it’s telling you you’re almost there. And once you’re close, quitting doesn’t feel like an option - so you finish. LinkedIn wins (better data, more time on site, a higher perception of value), and so do you (a completed profile).
If you want users to act, show them they’re already in motion. Completion feels easier when it looks like continuation, not initiation. To do that, make the first step effortless. Then highlight the progress. Suddenly, the rest isn’t a decision - it is merely follow-through. Meet your audience where they are, then give them just enough momentum to cross the finish line.
9. Price Framing Effects
Last, but certainly not least, is framing - one of the most overlooked (but most powerful) behavioral economics tools available. It’s not about what you say. It’s how you say it. The words, the sequence, the mental model you tap into.
The content can be identical. But change the frame, and you change the outcome.
Here’s a classic example from medicine:
“This procedure has a 90% success rate.” vs. This procedure has a 10% failure rate.”
Mathematically, these are identical statements. There’s no difference. But from an emotional impact standpoint? Completely different. The first sounds safe and effective. The second sounds risky. The numbers didn’t move, but the perception did.
In marketing, framing is everywhere. It quietly shapes user decisions at every step.
- A product isn’t $100/year; it’s 27 cents a day
- A plan isn’t our most expensive; it’s our most comprehensive
- A membership isn’t $185.00/mo; it’s less than a coffee a day
- A shipping fee isn’t a surcharge; it’s priority handling
These aren’t gimmicks. They’re clarity enhancers. They help users mentally categorize your offer in a way that aligns with how they already make decisions.
Framing works because people don’t evaluate offers objectively. We compare, contextualize, and judge based on relative value. Framing leverages that instinct. It guides perception by creating a reference point that makes the right choice feel obvious.
This is especially important in:
- Pricing pages – where plan tiers need to feel distinct, not just different
- Product descriptions – where features become outcomes
- Objection handling – where “commitment” becomes “flexibility with accountability.”
Successful brands leverage framing all the time. Take a typical streaming subscription plan:
- $19.99/month = slightly expensive.
- $0.66/day = negligible.
- “Unlocks unlimited access to 10,000+ hours of content” = now it feels like ROI.
Nothing changed but the framing—and suddenly $19.99 feels like a no-brainer.
There are people who say framing is spin or reality distortion. I say they’re wrong. All a frame does is reveal value in a way that feels intuitive and easy to say yes to. Done right, framing can lift conversion rates, increase AOV, and reduce objections, all without touching the product, the pricing, or the offer. The only thing that changes is the lens through which your audience sees what has always been there.
Where to Apply Behavioral Economics in Your Marketing Stack
Knowing the principles of behavioral economics is only step one. Step two is integrating these principles into your marketing ecosystem. Doing this successfully requires going beyond ads and landing pages and emails, to every layer of your stack - from first impression to post-purchase.
Paid Media: Psychology at 60 MPH
Your ad has seconds to hook someone. That means your framing, word choice, and creative must punch above their weight.
Use urgency and loss aversion together: “Don’t lose another sale to slow load speeds.” Reinforce identity: “Savvy CMOs are already switching.” Inject social proof directly into your headline: “Trusted by 12,923 Brands.” Suddenly, you have an ad that is emotionally resonant and incredibly powerful – and you haven’t changed your pricing, offer or targeting.
If you want to up your game even more, leverage contrast to emphasize scarcity. Use imagery that primes users to feel included, elevated, or respected. You want to bypass slow thinking and hit System 1, because that’s where the decision is actually being made. The content on the landing page, welcome flow and onboarding will give your audience the data necessary to rationalize the decision later.
Landing Pages: Where Friction Kills Flow
Landing pages are behavioral minefields. Every distraction, every unnecessary option, every unframed choice adds cognitive load, and every bit of load lowers conversion.
Start by controlling the narrative. Use anchoring to establish value right away: “Most brands waste 28% of their ad spend. Here’s how to stop.” Reduce choice overload with clean pricing grids, clear CTAs, and limited (but strategic) feature comparisons.
Build flow into the structure. Use progress bars in multi-step forms. Frame CTAs in terms of gain and loss. Use trust signals like logos, testimonials, user counts at key points where skepticism tends to spike (usually near the form). If you’re not sure where this occurs, leverage your heatmap data (Clarity is free; Heatmap.com is remarkably good).
Finally, don’t forget to include an exit-intent pop-up. Most marketers/brands are leery of them for fear of seeming desperate, but remember: this isn’t a last-ditch offer. It’s a final chance to reframe what the user is about to lose.
Email Marketing: The Lifecycle of Behavior
Behavioral economics isn’t just about front-end conversions. It’s just as powerful in retention, reactivation, and LTV expansion.
Onboarding emails should lean into commitment and consistency. Remind users what they’ve started. Show them what’s next. Use simple, guided choices to reduce abandonment. Don’t be afraid of high frequency, either – early on, you’re building the habit and creating the identity (i.e. I’m a user of this platform). More is more.
In winback flows, reframe the past: “You’ve come too far to quit now.” Show progress, reinforce identity, and highlight what’s new, because novelty reduces inertia.
Scarcity in email must be authentic. Instead of fake countdowns, try personalized time windows (“Your early access ends Thursday”) or inventory-based thresholds (“Only 6 licenses left at this price”). If you want to take it to the next level, pair that with social proof: “4,385 teams joined in the last 30 days.”
The goal of every email should be to get the user out of the email, which means every click should feel like the obvious next step.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
Behavioral economics principles are fantastically powerful – but as Bill Parker once said, “With great power comes great responsibility.” Just as with any other powerful tool, this can be misused. And when it’s misapplied, the result isn’t just lower performance, its eroded trust, lost sales/leads, and diminished brand reputation. Here are four traps that I see most frequently, and some advice on how to avoid them:
Trap #1: Over-Nudging and Fatigue
If everything is urgent, nothing is. Bombarding users with countdown timers, FOMO CTAs, and popups at every scroll depth leads to what behavioral economists call “reactance”: users push back when they feel manipulated.
Urgency works best when it’s used with intention. It should feel timely, not aggressive. Subtle countdowns, limited spots, and authentic scarcity are useful. When the nudge shifts from being helpful to feeling pushy, you’ve broken the experience. As someone who is working on these every day, it can be difficult to know where the line is (and when you’ve crossed it) – so ask unbiased, neutral third parties. Consult your significant other. Go buy an honest friend a bottle of wine, then ask him/her to go through the journey. If you see them getting annoyed, take note and fix it.
You’re not going to nail the balance right away, but you’ll never nail it if you aren’t willing to take honest feedback, iterate and improve.
Trap #2: Context-Blind Application
Not all audiences respond the same way or to the same tactics. A tactic that boosts eComm conversion by 30% might hurt you in SaaS or absolutely tank in B2B.
Enterprise buyers don’t need urgency - they need clarity. Nothing happens fast in enterprise, so pushing those buyers with faux-scarcity is not doing anything for you. Fundamentally, high-ticket decisions benefit from trust, identity, and consistency, not popups blaring an “Act now” message.
The fix is simple: match the principle to the psychology of the user, not just the KPI.
Trap #3: Dark Patterns and Manipulation
Dark patterns are deceptive UX choices that use behavioral science to push users into decisions they don’t want to make: hidden fees, pre-checked boxes, fake timers, you get the idea. If you look for them, dark patterns are everywhere – from ad platforms (hello, Google Ads) to B2B SaaS to online shopping experiences. Many go unnoticed for a long period of time, but when the user finally catches on (and they do catch on), the result is not good for the brand-customer relationship.
There’s no doubt that dark patterns can (and do) create short-term lift in sales/leads/sign ups/whatever – but they do so by destroying long-term trust and value. And, to borrow a phrase from Kevin Plank, “Trust is built in drops and lost in buckets.” - when it’s gone, it takes years (if ever) to replace. Behavioral design should respect the user’s agency, not remove it.
If the user finds out what you did and feels tricked, you did it wrong.
Trap #4: One-Off Tactics vs. System Design
Behavioral economics isn’t a toolkit of gimmicks. It’s a systems lens. You can’t just slap a countdown timer on a page and call it psychological design or say it’s a “behaviorally engineered” experience. That’s not how this works.
If you want to maximize the impact of these tactics, you must think holistically, then align messaging, design, and journey structure across the entire experience (pre-click, post-click, conversion flow, post-conversion). Think of it like a symphony: each movement builds on what came before, resulting in an experience that is harmonious, emotive and effective.
When in doubt, ask: Are we shaping behavior by reducing resistance, or by artificially inflating urgency? The answer determines whether you’re building long-term brand equity or just short-term clicks.
Rubber, Meet Road: Apply These Principles To Your Marketing.
Theory is interesting. Insight is useful. But execution is everything. If you want to actually benefit from behavioral economics, you need a framework that helps you move fast, test efficiently and scale effectively.
Step 1: Pick a Funnel or Campaign
Start narrow. Don’t try to redesign your entire marketing ecosystem overnight. Choose one funnel, one audience, or one moment in the user journey where conversion matters and drop-off is high. If you’re not sure where this is, consult your GA4, your heatmap software or your sales team. One of them should have a decent answer (and if none do, then it’s time to either fire some salespeople or hire someone to set your GA4 up).
The most common places to start are abandoned cart flows, lead-gen landing pages and/or . checkout/conversion experiences (i.e. the form or quiz). What you want to identify is a place where you're bleeding attention and could be shaping behavior more intentionally.
Step 2: Identify the Friction Point
Before you start throwing behavioral tactics at the wall, pause and observe. Where exactly are users hesitating? What step is underperforming? What action should they be taking that they’re not?
Use analytics, heatmaps, survey data, mildly intoxicated friends and your instinct. When in doubt, test it yourself. Find the moment where the momentum stalls - and (ideally) the cause of that failure.
Step 3: Diagnose the Underlying Bias
Match the observed behavior to the likely psychological blocker. Are users bouncing because of choice overload? Failing to act because there’s no urgency? Fizzling out mid-funnel because they lack momentum?
This is where behavioral principles become prescriptive. Choose the nudge that fits the friction. Adding testimonials to a checkout page does nothing if the blocker is that no-one adds stuff to the cart in the first place.
Step 4: Apply a Specific Behavioral Trigger
Now design around the bias. If it’s loss aversion, reframe the copy: “Stop missing out on X.” If it’s social proof, surface testimonials, usage counts, and community. If it’s consistency, reinforce previous actions.
Start small. Deploy a single tactic. Monitor how (and if) behavior changes.
Step 5: Measure What Matters
Ultimately, the name of the game is driving results that matter to your organization (sales, leads, subscriptions, sign-ups, whatever) – so that’s what you’re solving for.
Behavioral changes often compound. You may not see the impact on Day 1, but you’ll see it over time as drop-offs shrink and flow stabilizes and accelerates. You want your user journey to feel inevitable. Not forced. Not urgent. Natural. Easy as riding a bike.
The Opportunity Ahead
You don’t need a PhD in behavioral science to apply this newsletter to your organization - you just need to stop assuming your audience is rational and embrace their irrationality.
Your target audience is human. Biased. Emotional. Time-starved. Distracted. That may sound bad, but it’s not. It’s an advantage, if you design for it.
The marketers who win aren’t the ones with the fanciest tech stack or the biggest ad budget. They're the ones who deeply understand why people act and design for real human behavior, not hypothetical scenarios. They cut through the noise, bypass the rational brain, and speak directly to the subconscious drivers that create action.
That’s the power of behavioral economics. And it’s the edge smart marketers like you are already using—or about to.
Until next week,
Cheers,
Sam
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