The Content Strategist’s Guide to Behavioral Economics
Taking UX to the next level just might require going back to school. These three behavioral economics theories can be a part of any UXer’s toolkit.
Content strategy — much like cooking or navigating Boston’s subway system — is somewhere between art and science. There’s no one right way to do it, but trial and error is usually part of the process.
Behavioral economics is also a combination of data and creativity. It’s the study of how different social, cultural and psychological factors impact the decisions people make every day, and it’s becoming an indispensable tool for UX designers and content strategists.
Being in the insurance industry, there’s a special responsibility we have when communicating with our policyholders. By nature, the information that is necessary to share can be complicated. Compound this with the fact that insurance information may be accessed as a result of an accident, or other stressful scenarios, and the margin for error is increasingly slim.
The more we learn, the more effective we’ve become at crafting helpful content solutions for our customers. Along the way, we’ve begun weaving in some behavioral economics tips and tricks to boost our efficacy. Here are a few of our favorites:
The Ostrich Effect
“Hear no evil, speak no evil…”
Around the turn of the financial crisis, psychologists noticed a very peculiar trend among investors. As stock markets continued to dip, people were less likely to check their own portfolios and retirement accounts. If poor performance were suspected by an investor, they would review their account at a lower frequency. This deliberate avoidance was dubbed the Ostrich Effect.
This very specific human response to potentially harmful news creates a unique opportunity for content strategists. For UXers in financial industries or insurance markets, the Ostrich Effect is a constant presence. By definition, these types of accounts don’t require constant monitoring, and the more time between visits, the lower the confidence level.
There are more subtle ways, of course, that this particular ostrich can rear its head. Screens with too much copy and unclear value propositions can effectively force a user into avoidance. What’s more, prioritizing a strong first impression for users who haven’t visited their account in an extended period of time is key. Anticipate anxiety, and welcome them with compassion.
Friction and loss aversion
“This item’s not for sale…”
Here’s a scene. You’re sitting in the middle of your living room floor, attempting to assemble the new bookshelf you purchased that day. You’re staring at nonsensical instructions while oblong wooden parts and unmarked bags of screws form a halo of frustration around you. But you’re determined. You’re going to finish putting that thing together if it takes you a week. When it’s all said and done, you’ll be proud. You’ll also probably assign a lot of value to that bookshelf, because you put it together yourself.
This feeling of accomplishment can be a very powerful motivator for human beings. Creating a digital experience that requires input from a user may increase the amount of value they put on the outcome. This is tricky, of course, because it’s impossible to determine a baseline level of effort for an entire customer base.
Labor leads to love if a user is able to finish a task successfully. This has proven helpful in the insurance space. We want our users to feel comfortable making changes to their accounts online. Our operating assumption has been that by providing substantive information to the customer, they’ll take the time to consume it. This investment of energy leads to an increased perceived value.
Social proof and mirroring
“Everybody’s doing it…”
People want to know they’re making informed decisions. We read reviews before we buy and ask our friends and family about their experiences. There’s wisdom in the crowd.
Social proofing serves two major purposes: creating context and offering security. Context is necessary to place difficult decisions in more understandable terms. In our work, a customer could benefit from understanding the likelihood of a specific coverage being needed in their state over the course of any given year. Security is gained by a user understanding how many people like themselves opt into those coverages and the associated benefits and risks.
Giving a user understanding of a challenging concept is critical to building trust. Helping them see the actual implications of those concepts — what they mean to their families and lives and wallets — is what good content strategy, and good UX, can aspire to.
Before the bell rings…
There’s no perfect solution when it comes to predicting human behavior. Obviously, no two people are motivated by the same things, and we have all made irrational decisions in our lives. I, for one, once bought five VHS tapes at a yard sale. I don’t have a VCR. It made sense at the time.
We can’t change the way people think, but we can craft digital experiences that help customers feel confident in the actions that they take.
