The Placebo Effect and Marketing

I have always love the quote by Henry Ford, "If you think you can or can't, your right." This quote is so powerful, because it shows the power of our mind.

Today, I want to share with you the "placebo effect". It is a term used in a number of different disciplines to refer to the way a person's behavior, attitude or feelings can change when they are convinced they've received or experienced something attributable to the change.

It's all false but the effect is real and powerful. This is because of our powerful mind. Placebos have been known to work in medicine, and they can work in business too. Ultimately though, their success can only be measured by their results, and they're only going to come if the product – or the person – is effective anyway.

Placebos are a fascinating and incredible phenomenon that demonstrates the power of our minds to shape how we perceive reality. For example, a patient who is given a sugar pill instead of an actual pain reliever can feel the same decrease in pain as if they were to receive a medication with chemicals that block the pain receptors at the cellular level. One explanation of the placebo effect is that we tend to experience what we expect. This is not just physical yet emotional. Here are some more examples: if you expect to hate a new restaurant, you probably will; or if a friend hints that the movie you are about to enter received great reviews, you will probably enjoy it. Our expectations can be so strong, they can create feelings that contradict the actual reality.

A study of this contradiction was performed by MIT professor Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational. In one study he asked people to rate how they liked two beers, one was a Sam Adams and the other was a Sam Adams with balsamic vinegar. Most people preferred the Sam Adams with the balsamic vinegar. However when he told people beforehand that one contained balsamic vinegar, most people hated it.

Marketers can take this knowledge and use it to improve real experiences of consumers by creating an environment of positive expectations. The best example of this is visual appeal of a product or service. The second would be Customer Reviews. These two are the strongest placebos in Marketing.

Have you not bought a product, but really enjoyed a product or service more only because of it's look, or what a friend told you. Now that you know the power of expectations to shape perceptions of customer’s experience, what will you do to improve a future customer's experience?

I will end with the quote I began by Henry Ford, "If you think you can or can't, your right." I am my greatest own greatest customer review of myself. This is why positive self-talk is so important. 

Here is a video I found that you might enjoy: