In Pursuit of The Trivial
Why Behavioural Science Belongs in Your CRM Stack
Marketing technology has delivered dazzling precision—yet many programmes still rely on volume, discounts and hope. Behavioural science ( understanding the customer) could offer the missing human operating system. The MINDSPACE framework, born out of the UK’s Institute for Government, distils nine universal biases that quietly guide customer (human) decision-making.
Here are the principles of the MINDSPACE model:
Messenger: Our actions are heavily influenced by who is communicating information.
Incentives: Our responses to incentives are shaped by predictable mental shortcuts, such as a strong desire to avoid losses.
Norms: We are heavily influenced by what others do, often exhibiting herd behaviour.
Defaults: We tend to "go with the flow" of pre-set options.
Salience: Our attention is drawn to novel things that seem relevant to us.
Priming: Our actions are often influenced by subconscious cues.
Affect: Our actions can be powerfully shaped by our emotional associations.
Commitments: We seek to be consistent with our public promises and to reciprocate actions.
Ego: We act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves.
Messenger – credibility converts
Buying an outdoor jacket felt different when Patagonia’s climate-activist founder Yvon Chouinard, not a generic “no-reply”, wrote “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Traffic to the announcement page eclipsed the brand’s top-performing product launch emails, proving the power of the right voice.
Thought: Audit your lifecycle emails. Where can an expert, founder or peer replace “Marketing Team”? Even an automated “Smart-Saver Bot” can boost opens if its authority/credibility is clear.
Incentives – frame around loss
Spotify’s low-price Premium trial ends with a countdown email: “Don’t lose ad-free listening.” Users feel the pain of forfeiting benefits they already enjoy, nudging conversion without extra discounting.
Thought: Re-label expiring points, trials or vouchers as something the customer will lose, then A/B-test vs. gain-framed copy.
Norms – show the herd
Travel giant Booking.com flashes messages such as “78% of London travellers choose flexible tickets,” a tactic that lifted conversions by up to 18%.
Thought: Surface local cohort data (“Most parents in Manchester buy kids’ tickets on Tuesdays”) to strengthen social proof.
Defaults – go with the (green) flow
UK supplier Octopus Energy on-boards customers to a renewable “Flexible Octopus” tariff by default—so effectively that the firm now runs Britain’s cheapest standard plan among large suppliers.
Thought: List the value-adding option first, pre-selected. Measure opt-outs, not opt-ins.
Salience – personal novelty wins attention
Estée Lauder’s virtual try-on lets shoppers see their own name engraved on a lipstick in AR—a highly novel, self-relevant image that stops thumbs mid-scroll.
Thought: Think beyond {First-Name}. Use contextual oddities—abandoned-sofa GIFs, heat-wave subject lines—to spike relevance. ( Although I do confess to a dislike of of those GIFs and emojis)
Priming – invisible nudges
Colour alone can steer mood: research shows green emails evoke calm and trust, boosting click-through for retailers like Barnes & Noble.
Thought: Embed subtle, on-brand primes—palette, micro-animations, ambient sounds—in templates. If users notice consciously, you’ve gone too far.
Affect – emotion outperforms coupons
When a customer’s pet dies, Chewy often sends flowers and a handwritten note. The stories flood social media, generating priceless advocacy at zero discount cost.
Thought: Map emotional peaks/troughs. Deploy surprise-and-delight or empathy where feelings already run high, not at quarter-end.
Commitments – public promises stick
Language app Duolingo turns its daily “streak” into a badge of honour; users with three-digit streaks churn far less because breaking the chain would betray a public commitment.
Thought: Let customers declare goals (“Plastic-free 2025 supporter”) and display progress bars. Social accountability fuels repeat engagement.
Ego – help them look good
Each December, Xbox emails players a personalised “Year in Review” with heroic stats—hours played, rare achievements—feeding self-esteem and deepening brand affinity.
Thought: Rename tiers and dashboards to mirror aspirational identities (“Explorer”, “Connoisseur”), not just spend thresholds.
Putting it together
Diagnose which bias best suits each journey stage.
Tag the required data in your CDP/SCV—expiry dates, cohort norms, emotion triggers.
Test bias-infused vs. control variants; track incremental revenue per message and fatigue rates.
Scale the winners via automation and retire tactics once novelty fades.
By merging MINDSPACE with rich first-party data, you’ll move from campaign blasts to motivation engineering—earning loyalty that no rival coupon can steal.
gianfranco
First published on LinkedIn but as from July 2025 all posts will be published here first