In our Total BS Series (Behavioral Science) we’re breaking down key insights from behavioral science that can help your marketing and business strategies work more effectively.
At its core, marketing is about creating value. It heavily relies on understanding psychology, perception, and human behavior to achieve meaningful results.
At Smith, we’ve made behavioral science an integral part of our approach since 2016. What surprises us is how many agencies overlook a fundamental truth: they’re communicating with human brains, yet they don’t fully understand how those brains work.
All marketing hinges on getting customers to take action—whether that’s buying a product for the first time, switching brands, or purchasing more of an existing product.
In this series, we’re going to illuminate how we craft effective marketing communications for our clients, with a particular focus on how our subconscious brain processes information.
To start, we need to introduce a pivotal book that started it all for us.
Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow is a groundbreaking book that explores two distinct modes of human thinking:
System 1 (Fast Thinking):
Intuitive, automatic, and quick. This system operates with little effort, driven by instincts and emotions. It handles snap judgments, pattern recognition, and immediate reactions, like recognising a friend’s face or responding to danger.
System 2 (Slow Thinking):
Deliberate, analytical, and effortful. This system requires concentration, reasoning, and time. It engages when solving complex problems, making plans, or evaluating difficult decisions.
Understanding these two modes of thinking allows us to tailor our communications for maximum impact.
For instance, when selling food and drink, we’ll likely engage System 1—our messaging should be quick, simple, and emotionally driven. But if we’re marketing a six-figure consultancy transformation program or navigating a complex legal decision like divorce, System 2 comes into play, requiring more detailed, logical, and deliberate communication.
Knowing which frame of thinking your customers use to make decisions is critical to creating work that not only resonates but also drives commercial success.