Their approach is more scientific than you might think
Founded by Sam Walton in 1962, Walmart is a retail juggernaut. Walmart is the world’s largest company by revenue, with $514.405 billion according to Fortune’s 2019 Global 500 list. The company employs 2.2 million people — that’s more than the population of New Mexico (and 15 other U.S. states).
Walmart’s reason to exist is value. Their entire brand hinges on “Everyday Low Prices,” and everything they do must deliver value for customers. That’s a promise Walmart delivers on, with shoppers saving around 15% on a typical cart of groceries.
Because of low prices, Walmart’s experience must deliver lots of sales
Walmart might have rock bottom prices, but to make those prices deliver profit for the business, they have to get customers in the door and convert them as effectively as possible. …
Why some moments matter more than others
I’m so excited to introduce the Choice Hacking podcast, a weekly show dedicated to exploring the ways behavioral science and psychology intersect with experience design, marketing, startups, and more.
We’re just getting started, but if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review. Thanks!
Listen and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Deezer, Pocketcast, Google Podcasts, and Simplecast.
Episode 103: Peak-end Rule
Have you ever had a terrible meal that was completely transformed by an amazing dessert? How about a great movie that was ruined by a bad ending?
Why do these moments have the power to stick out in our memories, and change otherwise good or bad experiences?
It’s down to a behavioral science principle known as the Peak-end Rule.
In this episode, we’ll explore the Peak-end Rule, and talk about how we can use it to our advantage in business, marketing, and experience design.
Listen and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Deezer, Pocketcast, Google Podcasts, and Simplecast.
Related and referenced resources:
The secret science of meatballs and cheap furniture
Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA sells ready-to-assemble furniture, appliances, and home accessories. What started as a vision to bring interior design to the masses grew to 433 IKEA stores operating in 52 countries. It’s been the world’s largest furniture retailer since 2008.
But did you know that IKEA uses psychology to help drive that success? Principles like Scarcity, the Endowment Effect, and the Priming Effect laid the foundation for the company’s success.
How IKEA uses psychology to create addictive products
1. The IKEA Effect
This effect states that people attribute more value to products they’ve helped create. In other words, labor leads to love.
Researchers described the experiment that gave the IKEA Effect its name this…
Check out the new Choice Hacking podcast
I’m so excited to introduce the Choice Hacking podcast, a weekly show dedicated to exploring the ways behavioral science and psychology intersect with experience design, marketing, startups, and more.
We’re just getting started, but if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review. Thanks!
Listen and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Deezer, Pocketcast, Google Podcasts, and Simplecast.
Episode 102: Confirmation Bias
Have you ever ordered dinner in a restaurant, and after telling the waiter your order they comment “Good choice!”. How did it make you feel? Did you begin looking forward to your meal a little more, knowing that your choice was a “good” one? If so, you’re not alone.
When taking a risk, making a choice, or buying a product, people love to hear that their decision was a good one. So much so, that they’ll ignore information that directly conflicts with this belief. …
A framework for getting started with customer journey mapping
If you’re like me, you do a lot of searching for example journey maps to get inspired. And like me, you’ve probably noticed there are a lot of different opinions on what should be included in a journey map. It can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to learn how to create a map.
In my career, I’ve found that though the design “skin” of a journey map might change, the underlying structure should stay consistent —a successful journey map is made up of six essential parts.
I’ve outlined those parts below, included a few example journey maps that apply these sections, and shared a free downloadable journey map template (if you want to skip the story and go straight to the template, click here). …
Check out the new Choice Hacking podcast
I’m so excited to introduce the Choice Hacking podcast, a weekly show dedicated to exploring the ways behavioral science and psychology intersect with experience design, marketing, startups, and more.
We’re just getting started, but if you enjoy it, please consider subscribing and leaving a rating or review. Thanks!
Listen and subscribe: Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music, Stitcher, Deezer, Pocketcast, Google Podcasts, and Simplecast.
Episode 101: Choice Overload
Have you ever experienced analysis paralysis? It’s that feeling of anxiety when you have so much information that any action feels like the wrong one, so you don’t do anything at all.
We often assume that giving people more information is better. But to customers, more options can be paralyzing.
In this episode, we’ll explore the behavioral science of the Choice Overload Effect, and talk about how we can use it to our advantage in business, marketing, and experience design. …
Customer Journey Maps are a visual story about how people interact with your brand. They help brands gain a deep understanding of their customers and act as a bridge between business and buyers.
In a single illustration, the journey map aims to capture the entire customer experience. No small task.
But if you type “customer journey map” into an image search, you’re likely to be more confused than enlightened.
Journey Mapping has its roots in design, but since its adoption into the business mainstream, the number of design approaches have exploded. Hundreds of boutique CX agencies put their own spin on the look and feel of a journey map. …
Why sweeping, sudden changes are more likely to stick
When David Goggins wanted to join the Navy Seals, he was given three months to lose over 100 pounds. He describes himself at that time as “lazy” with a “victim’s mentality”.
But he dedicated himself to the task with superhuman determination.
How did David Goggins get started? He had a “lightning bolt moment”. In an instant, he committed to making a sudden, radical change.
Goggins’ lightning bolt moment came in the form of a television show about the Navy SEALS. He describes it this way in his book, Can’t Hurt Me:
“The show followed Basic Underwater Demolition SEAL (BUD/S) Training Class 224 through Hell Week: the most arduous series of tasks in the most physically demanding training in the…
The behavioral science principles behind their experience
Coursera, the online education platform, was founded by professors at Stanford University. During the height of the global lockdown in early 2020, Coursera added 10 million new users in only two months, 7x the pace of new sign-ups in the previous year.
Like many online education platforms, commonly known as MOOCs, Coursera has struggled with low course completion rates. Many students will start a class with high hopes, only to quit partway through. A recent study by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that online courses have a 96% dropout rate on average, over five years.
To increase their completion rates Coursera applies several strategies, with underlying behavioral science and psychology…
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This month’s new reads:
- 📚 [USE CASE] How Trader Joe’s uses psychology to perfect their experience
- 📚 [USE CASE] The Psychology Behind Disney’s “10 Commandments” for Experience Design
- 🧠 [FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES] What is the Fresh Start Effect?
- 🧠 [FUNDAMENTAL PRINCPLES] What is Loss Aversion?
- 🧠 [FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES] What is the Anchoring Effect?
Don’t forget about these helpful resources:
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