If you’re anything like most people you don’t think you believe in superstitions. But actually, more Americans believe in superstition than in evolution. Jane Risen, a University of Chicago psychologist says even “educated, emotionally stable” adults engage in this irrational behavior because we all want to feel more in control over our lives… even though we all know deep down that there is little we can control.
We purchase engagement rings because we believe that affects the success of our marriage, and on the day of a big presentation we’ll wear our lucky cologne or knock on wood on the way to work for good measure. Cologne and wood are not related to luck but we want to believe they have a cause-and-effect relationship so we can believe we do have control over what happens to us. And then “confirmation bias,” or our tendency to absorb only the information that supports what we already believe, keeps us superstitious.
This is what brands do. They try to create “superstitious” relationships between the brand and its benefit. They drive us to believe we can achieve love, happiness, confidence etc.throughchoosing their brand. We douse ourselves in body spray and insist on one type of cola over another. We want to believe the relationship we are imagining is real, and that we can can control our fate through making the right purchases.
So what else can brands do with this knowledge?
They can give us something to believe in. If they live this in everything they do, over time the cause and effect between brand and its benefit can become as deep a belief as a superstition. Nike’s promiseisathletic inspiration, but the shoes themselves don’t turn you into an athlete — or do they? Because Nike eats, sleeps, and breathes athletic inspiration in everything they do, we believe, and when you put on Nike equipment you feel like an athlete.
And just like any other superstition, a part of us knows it’s irrational, but as long as the brand works to maintain the connection, we’re willing to believe. But while we’re willing to overlook a few contradictions (as we do for our superstitions), brand+idea connections can fade if the brand doesn’t keep up its end of the bargain. Just look at Apple, whose magic has waned in the decade since it launched the most magical thing of all, the iPhone. The brand made us believe in innovation, but the last few iPhones haven’t changed dramatically, so we’ve stopped believing. Brands can truly tap into the tenacious but less-than-rational power of superstition as long as they can keep us believing.
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