The reason for this is because the human brain is wired in a way which makes objective thinking difficult and this makes us prone to all kinds of biases which affect how we process information and ultimately make decisions.

It is estimated that there are 180 such biases, some of which are better known than others. The ‘gambler’s fallacy’, for example, is a cognitive bias that leads some people to believe that a certain random event is less likely or more likely to happen based on the outcome of a previous event or series of events. The best example of this is a gambler who is on a roll and who mistakenly thinks that the same outcome will be repeated again in the future.

One of my favourites is the instantly recognisable Dunning-Kruger effect, a type of cognitive bias where people with little expertise assume they have superior expertise. 

Not only can it be applied to former orange-coloured presidents who claim they are stable geniuses, but there is evidence of the Dunning-Kruger effect in all walks of life, from politics, big business and, ahem, media, right through to the army of armchair detectives, social media trolls and conspiracy theorists we come across on a daily basis.

Thanks to the work of eminent and pioneering behavioural scientists like Daniel Kahneman and Richard Thaler, who have unlocked a treasure trove of insights into human behaviour, we now have a better understanding of how people make decisions and what influences their behaviour.

In the same way that Professor Byron Sharpe and the Ehrenberg Bass Institute in Australia have argued that marketing should be treated as a science, as opposed to an art, behavioural science has been able to offer up its own empirical research that bolsters the case for marketing.

One of the leading advocates for applying the lessons of behavioural science in marketing is Richard Shotton who was in Dublin this week to address an event hosted by Institute of Advertising Practitioners Ireland (IAPI) and to promote his new book The Illusion of Choice which offers marketers practical and useful guidance when it comes to understanding and applying the many learnings it offers.

Shotton’s consultancy firm, Astroten, which is based in the UK, has helped brands such as Meta, Google and Brew Dog to use behavioural science to their advantage. This is Shotton’s second book on the applications of behavioural science in marketing. The Choice Factory came out in 2018 and went on to win best marketing book in the Business Book Awards.

This time out, however, he has another worthy contender for best marketing book on his hands and it has already been critically acclaimed by the great and the good in the global marketing and advertising community, including Rory Sutherland, Mark Ritson and Dave Trott.

Examining ‘16 psychological biases that influence what we buy,’ Shotton delves deep into a rich reservoir of research and studies that highlights some of the more important ones that marketers are confronted with and offers relatable and useful advice about how these biases can be addressed.

While a lot of marketing books can be dense and often boring, Shotton makes behavioural science and its applications easy to understand. It should be required reading for all marketers or, for that matter, anybody trying to sell goods or service.

‘The Illusion of Choice’ is published by Harriman House is available from bookstores and Amazon for €12.51

GNI puts the energy into gas networks campaign

Gas Networks Ireland has launched a new campaign to highlight its role delivering energy to homes and businesses throughout the country, making it an essential component of Ireland’s energy system and the country’s sustainable energy future.

Created by the agency Publicis Dublin, with media buying managed by OMD, the new campaign is called ‘Moving Ireland’s Energy’ and is running across TV, radio, digital and social.

And then there were 117

Mediahuis, publisher of this newspaper, has been confirmed as one of the sponsors of this year’s Media Awards which take place in the RDS in Dublin on April 27. 

Earlier this week, the shortlist for the Awards was published, having been whittled down from 299 entries to 117 after the first round of judging was completed. Round 2 of the judging takes place on April 20 and 21 and will take the form of live presentations to the judges.