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A coffee shop punch card with 10 slots (2 pre-stamped) outperforms one with 8 empty slots. Same requirement – buy 8 coffees. Different behaviour. Goal gradient – we accelerate…

Amazon’s “Frequently bought together” bundle appears after you’ve mentally committed to the main product, not before. Post-decision, the brain is in “yes mode.” You’ve already said yes to the…

Retailers show crossed-out RRP prices next to sale prices. “$299 $199.” You know it’s a tactic. It works anyway. Anchoring – the first number you see becomes the reference…

A used car listed at $4,998 feels more researched than one at $5,000. Same with e-commerce. $47 feels calculated. $50 feels arbitrary. Richard Shotton’s precision principle. Precise numbers imply…

A fintech app added an extra step to their sign-up flow — a “Why are you joining?” question with three options before account creation. Counterintuitive, but the question triggered…

Supreme drops sell out in seconds. Everyone knows it’s manufactured scarcity. It works anyway. Robert Cialdini’s scarcity principle combined with what Richard Shotton calls “the knowing-doing gap.” Knowing something…

Kayak shows a loading animation of searching hundreds of airlines even when results are instant. The delay is artificial. Richard Shotton’s Labour Illusion: we value outcomes more when we…

The Economist famously offered: Digital only ($59), Print only ($125), Print + Digital ($125). The print-only option makes no logical sense. Cialdini’s decoy effect. The $125 print-only exists solely…

IKEA furniture requires assembly. This isn’t a cost-cutting bug – it’s a psychological feature. The IKEA Effect (named by Dan Ariely): we overvalue things we helped create. Assembly creates…

Daniel Kahneman’s peak-end rule: we judge experiences by their most intense moment and how they end, not the average. Most brands optimise the purchase moment. Smart brands optimise the…