Panel discussion: The role of behavioural science in consumer decision-making

Recently, Hall & Partners hosted a sold-out event focused on a topic that seems to be top-of-mind for all marketers nowadays: behavioural science, and its impact on consumer decision-making.

The event was anchored by keynote speaker, Richard Shotton (behavioural science expert and author of The Choice Factory and The Illusion of Choice), and featured a fireside chat moderated by Managing Partner at Hall & Partners, Branka Orosnjak, that highlighted branding and insights experts: Heidi Krogstrup Pederson (Global Consumer Insights Manager at Pandora), Nathan Omare (EMEA Consumer Market Insights Director at SharkNinja) and Alice McGinn (Strategy Partner at Lucky Generals).

In his keynote, Richard laid out the crucial behavioural science principles that influence consumer decision-making, organised by Hall & Partners’ strategic brand growth framework: See. Feel. Think. Do.

Hall & Partners’ proven framework is a way of measuring and maximising brand growth, by understanding what consumers See, Feel, Think and Do as they engage with brands. Behavioural science principles like the ‘isolation effect,’ ‘social proof,’ ‘framing’ and the ‘intention to action gap’ help explain the framework, and, by understanding how these principles work, marketers can influence how consumers receive, process, and act on information.

The panel discussion presented an opportunity for our branding and insights experts to contextualise the behavioural science principles Richard outlined, and frame them in a way that is applicable to the brands they represent.

Doing so helped bring these principles to life and emphasise the pivotal role that behavioural science plays within insights to help drive brand growth.

So, what inspiration did Richard’s talk provide for our panellists?

The discussion kicked off with Branka asking participants which of Richard’s principles resonated with them and their brands.

Alice from Lucky Generals was quick to reference ‘See’ within the H&P growth framework and explained how the ‘isolation effect’ (i.e., the idea that consumers are hardwired to remember things that are distinctive) applies to her Virgin Atlantic (VA) client.

VA, though well-known, is relatively small compared to its competitors, and constantly seeks to improve its distinctiveness beyond the iconic Virgin ‘red.’ One initiative to drive distinctiveness came from an internal push to encourage VA staff to embrace their individuality. This ambition led to the ‘See the World Differently’ campaign, which champions self-expression for both staff and passengers alike – a unique and distinguishing proposition in the airline space, which is often focused on volume and standardisation.

In addition to luxury, Heidi’s background is in FMCG. She also resonated with ‘See,’ but in a retail context. She explained how consumers often go on ‘autopilot’ while shopping, and so standing out on the shelf is crucial. She gave an example from working with Gilette Fusion (GF), and how a choice to change from the classic orange associated with the sub-brand to blue was reconsidered, because consumers were already conditioned to associate ‘orange’ with GF. Consumers often use ‘heuristics’ or shortcuts when shopping for FMCG products. In such a commoditised category where products are easily interchangeable, it is crucial to play on this tendency to keep consumers engaged.

Nathan referred to ‘Feel’ as it relates to SharkNinja. He explained the role of ‘social proof’ (i.e., the idea that people are deeply influenced by others and, if you make your product appeal popular, people are more likely to adopt it) in marketing the Ninja SLUSHi frozen drink maker. Richard taught us that ‘social proof’ is most effective in situations of uncertainty, and, from a demographic perspective, younger cohorts are often more susceptible to the impact of ‘social proof’. SharkNinja takes advantage of this principle by using social media to build hype and a sense of FOMO around the Ninja SLUSHi, which currently has a 146k person waiting list.

Nathan also touched on ‘Think’ and the use of ‘framing’ (i.e., influencing consumers’ mental comparison set to change their willingness to pay). Nathan drew on his previous experience at Samsung to highlight the importance of framing Samsung as a distinct territory from Apple, showcasing tech-focused features like its superior camera and battery. The challenge for Samsung, according to Nathan, is telling this tech-centric story in a succinct way that doesn’t overload consumers with too many features in one advert.

The discussion continued with Branka asking the panel about the most important and difficult to influence element of the H&P brand growth framework: the ‘Do.’ Specifically, how to drive desired consumer behaviour by using behavioural science mechanisms like ‘nudges,’ ‘cues’ and ‘rituals.’

Heidi kicked us off, this time with an example from Pandora, and the importance of becoming part of relevant occasions in consumers’ lives, rather than just focusing on major events like Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Pandora uses their iconic charm bracelets to build ‘rituals’ through the act of collecting and gifting the charms, while the bracelet itself acts as a visual ‘cue,’ or reminder to continue to add charms. Further, ‘nudges’ come in the form of ‘social proof,’ as more and more people adopt the charm bracelet to participate in the trend.

Heidi also talked about the importance of accessibility to drive consideration in the luxury space. Pandora’s introduction of the more affordable lab-grown diamonds (chemically identical to natural diamonds), the focal point of a campaign called ‘Diamonds for All,’ is meant to rebrand diamonds as approachable luxury that don’t have to be a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. What is still a work-in-progress, according to Heidi, is providing consumers the right education around lab-grown diamonds.

Nathan continued, again drawing on his experience at Samsung. He spoke about key competitor Apple’s ability to drive behaviour with Airpods by addressing a consumer pain point and, simultaneously, illustrating a benefit. He praised one of Apple’s first Airpods ads – ‘Sway’ – for debunking consumer scepticism around dropping and losing Airpods if you move around too much, while also highlighting a new benefit: seamlessly sharing music with another.

Alice’s example focused on closing the ‘intention-to-action gap’ in her work with Co-op. The brand wanted to make recycling easier for consumers, especially when it came to soft plastics. Co-op decided to turn 2,500 of their stores into soft plastic recycling stations. Behavioural science tells us that in order to close the ‘intention-to-action gap’ (i.e., get consumers to actually take action rather than just plan to), brands must create a trigger for consumption. For Co-op, this was done with a simple mnemonic device: ‘Clean it. Scrunch it. Co-op it.’ Such a strategy simplified the recycling process for consumers, encouraging the behaviour.

Alice also shared another example from Co-op in Glasgow, where COP26 took place in 2021. Co-op played on Glasgow consumers’ dedication to sustainability and the climate, turning the store closest to the conference into ‘Co-op 26,’ outfitting it with various sustainability ‘nudges,’ showing consumers that they can take impactful action at a grassroots level.

Lastly, Branka asked the panel for their final thoughts on how insights feed into helping understand behavioural science and consumer decision-making.

Nathan put it plainly: ‘insights are at the heart of marketing.’ Rather than making assumptions about consumer behaviour, it is crucial to use insights to tell a story and understand which biases consumers are prone to and how to harness or overcome them.

Heidi added that insights are crucial for identifying new territories and sense-checking them with consumers. She also mentioned their importance in understanding pain points and barriers to consumption.

Finally, Alice spoke to the difference between upstream (offering and proposition development to bring about a desired consumer behaviour) and downstream (tactical framing of those propositions to consumers in an easy to digest, resonant way), and the role that behavioural science and consumer insights play across both in unpicking the voice of the consumer.

At Hall & Partners, we are increasingly leveraging behavioural and social science to deliver richer insights to drive brand strategy and effective comms. By applying principles like the ones mentioned here, we offer brands the tools to understand and shape consumer perceptions, grow engagement and, of course, inspire action.

Hall & Partners power the world’s most successful brands. We work with various clients across industries to understand the brand and market landscape, monitor brand reputation and perceptions, assess comms performance, and determine whether messages are landing as intended to support brand positioning. Because we work across the brand planning cycle, we partner with our clients across different stages of development to build an insights roadmap for growth.

We believe in democratising data to help clients make decisions quickly and efficiently. Our award-winning brand intelligence platform, Enlyta, ensures insights are easily available to stakeholders to inform strategic decision-making and enable commercial storytelling that travels across the business.