At the ‘Psychology in Action’ conference attended by Year 12 psychology students, Patrick Fagan delivered a fascinating and thought-provoking talk on Applied Behavioural Science. It was all about how do brands and politicians ‘nudge’ us into doing what they want. Fagan gave us several examples of how this ‘nudge’ policy is used in marketing and political campaigns and went into detail on personalised persuasion – that is, how your data is used to read your mind and then change it. He said that we are only physically aware of 0.0004% of everything the brain is doing at one particular moment, therefore we are unable to concentrate on everything that is happening – meaning we use a heuristic approach. This approach lets us take mental shortcuts that help us navigate choices on autopilot, but brands and the government can manipulate these shortcuts we make and subtly manoeuvre us into doing what they want. For example, in just a 19 word COVID-19 announcement, there are 6 nudges that you are highly likely to not notice to ‘nudge’ you to action:

 

You have reached the top of the queue and are a priority for getting a Free NHS COVID-19 vaccine. Please book yours now at https://www.nhs.uk/covid-vaccination or by calling 119.

 

1. ‘Reached’ – This gives a sense of commitment, making people feel rewarded so they are more likely to follow through
2. ‘Top’ – This effects the persons ego and motivates them by tapping into the need to gain social status
3. ‘Queue’ – This allows the person to have a feeling of social identity and makes their behaviour feel popular and good
4. ‘Priority’ – This gives the impression that there is a scarcity and the person therefore has more desire to obtain it
5. ‘Free’ – This is an example of reciprocity and means people feel indebted so they are more likely to comply
6. ‘NHS’ – The authority used here is a highly liked and respected one so people are more likely to accept the message

 

Moreover, he explained that all businesses around the world, especially the more successful ones, such as Apple or Microsoft, use these ‘nudges’ constantly and wouldn’t be where they are now without them. They use this ability to turn and manipulate people’s minds in order to create money. We are more likely to be sensitive to loss then gain. For example, if we lose 50 pounds we are feeling around double the pain than the happiness felt if we had won 50 pounds. This leads to companies like Apple constantly releasing new models as we begin to feel we are losing out and losing money.

 

Fagan also delved into the fact that sometimes ‘nudges’ are usually applied to rational things, as in the example above, but sometimes they are applied to non-rational actions too. For example, a study found that people are more likely to concentrate if it is sunny. Also, if a judge gave a harsh sentence to a criminal, there are increasingly likely to give a less severe sentence to the criminal who comes next.

 

All this demonstrates that humans are susceptible to manipulation and subtle coercion, highlighting the importance of Applied Behavioural Science is it formulates part of the fabric of modern human life.

By Harry B