Written by
Jade
Date Published
21 February 2024
Inspired by Richard Shotton’s "The Illusion of Choice", we explore how much of what we perceive as free decision-making is actually shaped by subtle psychological and environmental influences. We look at how context, framing, and behavioural biases can guide our choices in ways we rarely notice, and what this means for marketers, brands, and anyone looking to understand how people really make decisions.
Working in marketing, and within a brand agency, means I support the team with comms, messaging, user experience, measurement, and tracking across various campaigns and mediums.
I made it my personal mission to further understand the human psyche after becoming somewhat fascinated whilst reading Google’s ‘The Middle Messy’ with its reference to the six biases of marketing in behavioural science.
I quickly recognised the value and power in understanding consumer behaviours at this level. After all, marketing is all about creating human connections.
It’s one thing to know who your audience is, it’s another to know how they think.
And that’s why I like it (and why we use behavioural science to better cater our comms and strategy).
So, when "The Illusion of Choice" by Richard Shotton popped up on my feed one day (shout out to my previous boss, Nick) with its 16.5 psychological biases that influence what we buy, I didn’t hesitate to hit that ‘buy now’ button.
My colleagues in the office are bored of me banging on about the various mind-blowing examples and experiments within the book, so I decided to spare their ears for once and share it with you all, here. (You’re welcome, team.)
There’s far too many golden threads of insight and science in Shotton’s book for me to share it all here now, so ultimately (and obviously) I would strongly advise that you read it for yourself.
However, in case you don’t have a copy immediately to hand or need further convincing (how!?), here are my personal favourite takeaways to show you why I’m fangirling so hard.
This is about eliminating friction. Even when you think something couldn’t be any simpler, you can usually find a way to make it even more simple.
Shotton’s example of the ‘press for champagne’ button at Bob Bob Ricard epitomises this perfectly. Most people wouldn’t think that ordering a drink from a waiter and them bringing it to you could be much easier, but they sought to streamline the process. They added a ‘press for champagne’ button to every table. Almost as soon as you pressed it, a glass would appear.
They sell more champagne than any other restaurant in Britain.
Words have the power to change behaviour.
There are a few areas within this that Shotton touches on, including focusing on what people are likely to lose out on, rather than what they will gain, using nouns over verbs and using different descriptive words to frame situations differently.
He provides an example of a brilliant experiment where various people were shown the same clip of a car accident. Different terms were used to describe the speed at which the car was travelling and, as a result, perceptions differed between the groups, despite being shown the exact same clip.
He also notes that using nouns has a greater persuasive power. For example, ‘thank you for subscribing’ isn’t quite as powerful as ‘thank you for becoming a subscriber’.
And in an experiment where people were told they would lose 75 cents a day if they didn’t insulate their house versus others who were told it would cost 75 cents a day to insulate their house, 61% requested more info when told what they stood to lose, versus 39% who were told what they would gain.
Quite simply, this is based on people not liking being told what to do. Or not do. Giving people a voice increases their willingness to comply. So, when trying to get your audience to do something, provide opportunity for choice, or be less demanding (i.e rather than ‘buy now’ consider ‘spring 23/24 collection’).
Put simply, this is about ending on a high. We tend to remember the most (and least) enjoyable parts of an experience, and the final moments. Minimise negatives and maximise positives.
Shotton recognises that trying to fix everything all at once isn’t the answer here but flipping the most negative experience to a more positive one can often have a considerable impact.
Houston airport is a brilliant case study for this. They kept receiving complaints from passengers about how long they had to wait for their luggage at the baggage carousel, which was an average of 8 mins.
Instead of trying to speed up the process, which would have been costly and timely to achieve, they re-routed passengers from passport control so that it took them longer to walk to baggage claim… about 8 minutes longer. When they arrived, their bags were already there. Hey presto, happy customers. Genius.
I could go on, but hopefully that gives you a little insight to the book. If you've made it this far, I strongly recommend you invest in your very own copy of the book. If you deal with people for a living, you won't be disappointed.
It's a practical exploration of the psychological biases that shape how people make decisions (such as purchasing decisions). Shotton draws on behavioural science research to show that much of what we assume is rational, free choice is in fact influenced by subtle factors like framing, context, and the way options are presented. For anyone working in marketing, brand, communications, or sales, it reframes how you think about connecting with an audience.
Because people are resistant to feeling directed. When people feel like they're being told what to do, it can trigger the opposite reaction. Giving people a degree of autonomy, or simply softening the language around a call to action, increases willingness to engage. It's a small shift in approach that can make a meaningful difference to conversion.
The Peak End Rule is the principle that people judge an experience based on how they felt at its conclusion, not as an average across the whole thing. For businesses, this means the final touchpoint of any customer interaction carries disproportionate weight. A strong ending can offset earlier friction; a poor one can undermine an otherwise positive experience. It's a useful lens for auditing where your customer journey creates lasting impressions, positive or negative.
Yes, and the evidence is compelling. Research shows that describing the same situation in terms of what someone stands to lose, rather than what they might gain, meaningfully increases engagement. Word choice matters too. For example, framing someone as a "subscriber" rather than someone who has "subscribed" creates a stronger sense of identity and belonging. The message itself may be the same, but how it's framed shapes how it lands.
Because understanding how people actually make decisions is more valuable than knowing who they are. Audience demographics and personas tell you who you're talking to and behavioural science tells you how they think, act, and what influences them. That's a significantly more powerful foundation for building communications, campaigns, and brand strategy that genuinely connect and convert.
There's plenty more where that came from. Find recommended articles below covering tips and advice across brand culture, perception, and business operations.
Vol 3D
