Influence and Non-conscious Persuasion with Roger Dooley

If you've ever felt the pressure to buy something because the website said there were just two left at that price or that the sale was ending soon, you've experienced just two of the many techniques using neuroscience to advertise online.

Today's guest is Roger Dooley. Roger is an author and international speaker. His books include Friction, one of the Best Business Books of 2019, and Brainfluence now in 11 languages. He writes the popular Neuromarketing Blog and Brainy Marketing at Forbes.com. He co-founded College Confidential, the leading college-bound website.

Show Notes:

• [1:02] - Roger's background began in engineering but he found his way into marketing.
• [2:32] - Neuromarketing is using the understanding of how our brains work to market better. Roger describes it in more detail as well.
• [3:47] - One of the major techniques using psychology in marketing is scarcity.
• [5:27] - Another technique is to use social proof. Roger uses travel sites as an example.
• [6:16] - Many large companies, specifically travel sites and hotels, hire psychologists for the purpose of marketing.
• [7:50] - There's nothing wrong with using scarcity in marketing, but Roger and Chris discuss those who do not use this technique ethically.
• [10:03] - Chris shares a personal story of a sales job where his ethical selling and integrity created return customers.
• [14:04] - The first step in recognizing the legitimacy of scarcity techniques is to be aware that they exist.
• [14:27] - Roger discusses another technique called reciprocity.
• [15:47] - Always evaluate the legitimacy of product reviews.
• [16:33] - Authority is another technique used. Roger explains how the psychology behind this works.
• [17:50] - Through Covid, the authority technique was seen often.
• [19:30] - One area that Roger has been recently focused on is the area of friction. How does this work in the sales field? Amazon has been using it for a long time.
• [21:33] - Roger shares a story about how LinkedIn used the friction technique.
• [23:40] - Even news sites use the startup friction technique to gather subscribers.
• [25:18] - How do vendors use more friction to retain subscribers or customers?
• [28:10] - The return process can also be sketchy, but in the case of Amazon, making this process easy has created reciprocal trust.
• [33:07] - There are many rebate offers that can be abused that were very popularly used in the past. Roger explains how that worked and that it isn't used as often anymore.
• [36:20] - When you express the same deal to someone as a loss or a gain, the loss looms bigger than the gain. Deals like this prey on loss aversion.
• [37:54] - There was some research done about random higher prices put onto specific items.
• [39:14] - Decoy marketing is very popular recently because of the surge in subscription services.
• [42:03] - Another form of decoy marketing is when there's a better product offered at the same price of the lesser product.
• [42:52] - Always look for things that might be manipulative.
• [44:02] - Everyone is impacted by these techniques differently. Price sensitivity, urgency, and fear of missing out are traits that are affected differently.
• [45:12] - AI is used to better control personalized/customized offers. Roger explains the pros and cons.
• [47:28] - Generally speaking, engagement on video content is great. When AI suggested videos are accurate, things are great, but engagement can actually be weaponized.
• [49:18] - What happens when there's too much engagement?
• [51:51] - Adding friction in the right places can be a good thing for businesses.

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• Roger Dooley Web Page
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• Friction by Roger Dooley
• Brainfluence by Roger Dooley
• The Persuasion Slide by Roger Dooley