Ready for Black Friday?
The Black Friday tradition began in the US. As the day after Thanksgiving, Black Friday was considered a huge shopping day as buyers got ready for the holiday season. Retailers started offering deals to try and capture this attention (and spend) – and thus the tradition was born.
Despite the lack of Thanksgiving in other countries, the idea of Black Friday has spread internationally, meaning many people now expect deals on the last Friday of November.
But there’s more to Black Friday than simply lower prices. In fact, the day can tap into some interesting behavioural science that can influence buying.
Let’s take a look at five insights to see how (and why) they work:
What it is:
We are often influenced by information we’ve just heard, which our brains then use to try and take mental shortcuts.
For instance, if we’re talking about Christmas and I ask you to think of someone who wears red, you’re much more likely to say jolly ol’ Santa Claus than if we were talking about, say, movies.
Example of Black Friday:
“Ready for our Black Friday deals?”
Why it works:
The sheer scale of Black Friday mean we hear about the day – and the deals – for weeks before. This means we’re primed to both make purchases and expect discounts, so we go into each potential purchase with the expectation that the price is a deal.
What it is:
We often place disproportionate importance on the first information we receive on a topic, allowing this to skew later information so we lose our objectivity.
Example of Black Friday:
Was £159.99, now only £99.99!
Why it works:
Because we latch onto the first information (the higher price), this forms our basis from which to judge the later information (the current price) – regardless of any objective metric for what the item is really ‘worth’.
So, when brands put a higher original price, by comparison it feels like a bargain.
What it is:
We tend to be influenced by others around us, especially when we’re in unfamiliar or intense situations (like busy buying days).
Example of Black Friday:
“34 people have bought this in the last hour”
Why it works:
When we see people queueing round the corner, carrying big purchases, fighting over items it all adds to the feel that this is how we should be behaving – after all, how could so many people be wrong?
You can even see this online, with counts of recent online purchases or reviews from previous buyers all providing a gentle nudge towards becoming one of those buyers yourself.
What it is:
We are motivated to avoid losses, even more so than to make gains of equal value. For instance, if you lost £10 in the morning, then found £10 in the afternoon, the gain wouldn’t quite cancel out the loss (even though you’d have the same amount of money).
Example of Black Friday:
“Sale must end at midnight!”
Why it works:
When brands put a ticking clock (sometimes literally), we fear losing the deal. This means we’re much more likely to throw caution to the wind and act impulsively.
What it is:
We tend to think of items that have a limited supply as being more valuable. After all, if items were cheap, shops could stack them to the ceiling, right?
Example of Black Friday:
“Only four left – when they’re gone, they’re gone!”
Why it works:
When brands advertise a limited number of particular items, or visibly show the availability dropping with a ticker, it can pressure us into impulsive decisions for many similar reasons to loss aversion.
How to use behavioural science ethically
Black Friday can be a great way to find gift ideas while making savings on purchases you were already considering. And, of course, the idea of using behavioural insights to fuel sales is nothing new – and certainly not unique to Black Friday.
But such tactics can raise some interesting ethical questions, especially when it involves using subconscious influence to create impulsive, unplanned purchases that buyers may even regret.
So where’s the line between legitimate tactic and malevolent manipulation?
It’s questions like that that make ethics such a huge part of behavioural science, and rightly so.
And while perhaps there’s no ‘right’ answer, you can find out more about the ethical use of behavioural science – as well as why we recommend in the Nudge FORGOOD framework – in this blog post.
