Published inChoice Hacking·May 25Member-onlyHow Duolingo Used Psychology to Make Learning AddictivePart One of the ultimate guide to Duolingo’s use of behavioral science and design — Duolingo is one of the world’s most successful learning-based businesses. In 2022, it made nearly half a billion dollars in revenue (a 46% increase from the year prior) and had 16.3M daily active users. Maybe its success isn’t surprising — there are lots of reasons to want to learn a…Psychology11 min readPsychology11 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·May 9Member-onlyFalse Consensus Effect: Why it’s so hard to understand customersOne of the biggest challenges in design marketing is empathy — feeling what your customers feel. Why is it so important to have empathy for your customers? It’s down to a cognitive bias called the False Consensus Effect. What is the False Consensus Effect? This principle describes peoples’ tendency to think that our own beliefs, behaviors…Business4 min readBusiness4 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·May 2Member-onlyStatus Quo Bias: The Power of the “Devil You Know”Have you ever worked for a company where all your new ideas were shot down? It probably wasn’t because people didn’t like your ideas. They were fearful of these new ideas — knowingly or not. They were used to the way things were — the status quo — and didn’t…Marketing3 min readMarketing3 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Apr 20Member-onlyRead THIS before you hire a Behavioral Science expert for your agencyBehavioral Science is a hot topic — but according to Choice Hacking research, more than 50% of agencies in the US and the UK don’t know where it fits, how it can help them, or — most importantly — how to hire for it inside an agency environment. Most folks…Marketing4 min readMarketing4 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Apr 20Member-only27 Ways Creative Agencies Can Use Behavioral ScienceI recently asked US and UK-based advertising professionals if/how they use Behavioral Science in their businesses. And the vast majority (53%) said “we see the potential but aren’t sure how to action it.” To help creative agencies get started applying Behavioral Science, I put together these 27 thought-starter questions (…Marketing3 min readMarketing3 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Apr 14Member-onlyHow Mini Used Psychology to Conquer AmericaHow did the Mini go from being a post-war budget saver to one of the most beloved cars on Earth? It’s not as fast as a Lamborghini or as sexy as a Ferrari. It’s not as tough as a Jeep or as fancy as a Mercedes. But, unsurprisingly, Mini (and…Marketing4 min readMarketing4 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Feb 6Member-onlyThinking Traps: What is In-Group Bias?Have you ever fallen into this sneaky thinking trap? Let’s say your interviewing two people for the same job: ✅ Person A is extremely qualified and experienced. …Startup2 min readStartup2 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Jan 16Member-onlyHow Marketing Creates MemoriesAnd why “memories make sales” — Imagine you’ve snagged a face serum after it’s gone viral on TikTok. The serum promised fantastic results, but only if you used it every night. You were really excited to see your skin transform, so you used the serum every night… for a few days. Then your old skincare habits…Marketing6 min readMarketing6 min read
Published inChoice Hacking·Jan 13Member-onlyHow to Keep Users Engaged: PrecommitmentHumans like our behaviors to stay consistent with the image we hold of ourselves. For example, someone who sees themselves as athletic is more likely to join an amateur sports league than those who don’t see themselves as active. That’s why getting ourselves to make a commitment to future behavior…UX3 min readUX3 min read
Jan 6Member-onlyHow Dominos Used Psychology to Become the World’s Biggest Pizza ChainIn 2009, a viral video almost destroyed Domino's Pizza. But with some hard work, difficult choices, and a bit of psychology, they managed to go from being the world’s worst pizza chain to the biggest — with 17, 000 stores in 90 countries as of 2022. Dominos’ PR Crisis Begins In one of the…Marketing7 min readMarketing7 min read