Changing behavior is the #1 job of marketing, but also the toughest. Getting people to do something different means a lot has to go right. It’s why teams diligently connect the dots between consumer, category, competitors and culture to develop detailed strategies and tactics. It’s why they invest in research to optimize messages, creative campaigns and customer experiences. Logical steps to be sure, but despite it all why do so many initiatives fall short of expectations?
It’s because there is a missing ingredient, a hidden influence that filters the manner in which customers interpret our intention without us even realizing it’s happening. Cognitive biases (a.k.a. heuristics) that are mental shortcuts we use to make choices. Sometimes right, other times less than ideal. For example, “present bias” makes us bad savers because we’d rather spend today than worry about tomorrow. The concept of “representativeness” can lead us to judge something unfamiliar in a way that is grossly incorrect for no other reason than it reminds us of something else. We all do it…even HCPs.
For instance, we had a situation where a client’s brand made patients’ lives so much better it seemed crazy that more doctors didn’t adopt it. Now, it did require them to work a bit harder to train their patients to make sure it was applied properly. Sounds worthwhile, right? Nope. Hearing how they spoke about it, the interpretation was clear…the patient didn’t need it, they’re “just fine,” why do I need to go to the trouble? That is called the “empathy gap.” Can you imagine saying that out loud? Of course not. Does it comport with someone who said earlier in the conversation they always do right by their patients? Of course not. However, that kind of thinking lives within us. The trick is getting it on the table so we can do something about it, build it into our plans and up our odds of success.
How did we do it? With S+R Guided Deliberations™, a unique methodology that is more like a learning lab designed to reveal the biases coloring and shaping a customers’ viewpoint. It is grounded on the breakthrough work of Leo J Shapiro (our founder) and Dr Hans Zeisel, a sociologist and legal scholar who taught at the University of Chicago law school. Dr. Zeisel was deeply interested in the jury deliberation process, how the human mind makes decisions in that context and the manner in which those decisions align with one’s sensibilities or interests.
The jury room is a microcosm of decision making on steroids, a perfect petri dish to observe the human mind at work and in the context of a group dynamic. Many factors come into play…race, gender, age, personality, sexual orientation, past experiences, recent events, etc. What started as a means of deconstructing the principles behind winning cases became the basis for a manageable decision-making learning research tool for marketing.
Fast forward to today. S+R Guided Deliberations™ has been a boon to clients who want to identify the biases hiding in plain sight that inspire more compelling ways to frame messages, inject “nudges” into their creative and customer experience, and preempt objections to the fullest extent possible.
Here’s how it works…
We recruit a diverse group of customers who hold opposing opinions and behaviors relevant to the challenge at hand. For example, traditionalists loyal to the market leader versus early adopters of emerging trends. Community versus academic docs to understand how setting impacts selection. After some background discussion to establish context, the group examines and talks about our client’s product or service. There is no moderation…we simply observe what transpires; the pace and intensity of the conversation, what they consider important, where they agree and disagree, and the language they use.
Once we know which offering each participant prefers, the moderator divides the group into teams, each assigned to convince the other why their preference should prevail. Again, we sit back and listen for the arguments they use to woo the other side, the manner in which points are framed and countered that reveal their mindset, how they respond to questions and objections, which arguments triumph and fall flat. We even inject new information to see how the dynamics change.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Once participants’ contrasting views are exposed, we throw them a curve ball and tell them they’re all on the same panel tasked with making a blue-ribbon recommendation. In other words, they have to work together to find common ground. Now we get to see where they will give and where they will dig in. In the end, we can catalogue, classify and interpret the language choices into biases that are impacting their decision making. Some we need to counteract. Others we can lean into. The value is that we now know where to put our efforts to maximize the opportunity.
We look forward to getting back to business as usual. However, over these past months we’ve perfected the execution of this methods in a virtual context with our friends at Civicom®, a digital technology provider with a capability tailor-made for this method. Unlike typical viewing portals, they have virtual break out rooms that are easy to assign, simple to engage by separate moderators as needed, and seamlessly toggle back to a group setting. So, we can conduct these sessions as well virtually as we do in person.
Louis Pasteur once famously said, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.” With S+R Guided Deliberations™ you have a learning lab for how to get ahead of potential headwinds so you can maximize your performance and ROI. In the end, you’ll know what biases are in play and how to best leverage them in ways that will get customers to act on your behalf.
For more details, cases and discussion of how this can work best for you just reach out and we will arrange a time that works for you.
Shapiro+Raj
S+R is a research and strategy firm that uses social and behavioral sciences to solve the toughest business and marketing challenges. Our next-gen methods dig deep to unlock market-ready insights. Then our brand planners turn these into strategic marketplace actions that create brand evolution and innovation; customer experiences and loyalty; and new platforms for growth.
