Psychological manipulation in the development of e-commerce sites
By: Christina Bjoran
Source: www.uxbooth.com/blog/psychological-manipulation-in-ecommerce-design
Web designers and web architects use a whole arsenal of psychological traps to manipulate users and provoke them into certain patterns of behavior. What can you learn from these techniques? And more importantly, are they ethical?
In July 2011, Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and a behavioral economics expert, Dan Ariely, published an article on psychological techniques used today by several major websites in one of the editions of the Wired Internet publication. In this article, called “Gamed” (“Caught”), the author demonstrated how sites such as Amazon and Groupon, with the help of design elements, stimulate certain behavioral scenarios aimed at making a purchase.
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Notice, “stimulate” is just one of the words that can describe this technique. If you look at a different angle, this tactic looks like a frank manipulation.
Most recently, I met and talked with Professor Arieli about his book, Predictably Irrational (Predictably Irrational), which explores many cases of seemingly irrational behavior of people, and how companies have learned to profit from it.
When it came to e-commerce sites (in fact, these are stores that benefit from the ease with which buyers break up money by shopping), Professor Ariely stressed that the main idea of ​​these sites is not to teach buyers to take reasonable decisions, but to provide them with an excuse for their own habit of spending money. The more the site visitor is satisfied with the purchase, the higher the likelihood of re-visiting this site, and, more importantly, the re-purchase.
It goes without saying that companies have long understood how to make a profit using various human conditions. But since these methods (at least their part) are now more than ever before in the hands of web designers and interface developers, it is worthwhile to linger for a moment and talk about the ethical side of the issue and the responsibility of these people. Since the creation of impressions and experience gained by the user has now become a craft, the line between offering a recommendation and true manipulation is hardly distinguished as never before.
Let's look at some of the most vivid examples. You can take whatever you want from this study — you may take it as valuable advice or as a warning.
Default conditions and conflicts
Usability guru Jacob Nielsen once asked the question: "How gullible are Internet users?" And he answered it himself: "It is sad but very gullible." At the same time, he talked about the “power of the default settings” or how quickly users accept any default settings that simplify their lives. And this is obviously one of the most important aspects of the user experience.
“The possibility of circumventing even small conflicts can drastically affect our decision making,” says Arieli in her article. Think about it from the height of your own experience in finding something and shopping on the Internet. How likely is it that you follow the first link in search results? And how about immediately going to Amazon in search of a book, even if you can buy it cheaper on eBay or from some other seller?
Here it is, this is the very smoothing of small internal conflicts that turned Amazon into a giant, which it is now. Users are more likely to return to Amazon again and again due to “one-click purchase” (which is debatable). And in fact, for most, shopping at Amazon is simpler, since our credit card information is already stored on this site. Indeed, Amazon has become one of the (if not the only) online stores used by default.
Let's take a closer look at the Amazon checkout page.
As Professor Arieli accurately noted in his article, one of the initial barriers for a visitor who made an e-purchase for the first time was the thought of transportation costs (and despite the fact that by that time most of us were already buying something on the Internet). Amazon is well aware of this small conflict and therefore solves this problem in a very original way.
Look at the illustration carefully. You see how Amazon conveniently added a shopping basket to the choice of delivery method, while at the same time encouraging visitors not only to spend more than $ 25 to get the right to free delivery (section “Super economical delivery”), but also to become a member of Amazon Prime. If there are those among you who still do not know what Prime is, I will explain: the buyer is required to pay an annual fee of $ 79 in order to be eligible for free delivery of almost any purchase within 2 days.
How generous this Amazon is, right? However, given that these methods inspire buyers to spend at least $ 25 on one purchase (I myself recently fell for this bait, and this screenshot confirms this), it becomes clear that we are being manipulated again, affecting our need to try to save - even if you need to spend more money. Of course, the main feeling is pleasant - more books, equipment, clothes and everything that you ordered. But in reality, it is a trap that forces us to spend more in order to avoid approaching the “psychological barrier” in the form of transportation costs. In addition, we think that we have acted very cleverly by paying more.
In other words, the sellers goal is to make buyers feel smarter, even if they make decisions that are not too smart. And the more intelligent buyers feel, the better.
Impulse buying
Online store owners are not stupid people. They are well aware that once an internal conflict is resolved, it is much easier for buyers to make impulse purchases. However, impulsive purchases can lead to a feeling of guilt at the buyer and, worse (oh, horror!), To return the purchase.
Smart sellers have long figured it out. By smart sellers, I mean specifically Apple.
Just think: you went for a walk into the city, wandering aimlessly around your favorite shops and stare at the windows. And here you see a great watch. You can even afford them, but you don’t have a great need for them, and you can easily do without them. Go ahead, you say to yourself. But where are there ... the clock calls on you so clearly that you happily go to the store and buy them. You may regret it immediately or perhaps only when you return home. But the main thing is that our fault for the impulsive purchase is something that companies like Apple know very well.
If you recently bought something on iTunes or the App Store, you probably noticed that your receipt does not immediately appear in your inbox. Sometimes it even takes a couple of days before it appears. When the receipt finally arrives, the buyer may not immediately see it - the main thing is that the painful moment of parting with the money has already passed. Guilt for making a spontaneous purchase is also faded, and the emotional outburst associated with an impulsive purchase is not so acutely experienced.
This is the main point in understanding the response of the buyer: it is believed that when you see the consequences of a purchase, it will negatively affect the subsequent impulse purchases. In the electronic environment, the response is easier to control. Intangible goods that we buy on the iTunes or the App Store are not at all like the watches, the purchase of which we were so embarrassed at the exit from the store. Real watches are like a ritual bonfire in which your money burned.
The moral is: if a negative emotional reaction cannot be avoided, then the best thing a seller can do is to postpone such a reaction as much as possible. This is a tricky move, but also a bit cunning.
Convince them that this is important.
When the probability of impulsive purchases is small, it is just necessary to make visitors not just feel the need to make a purchase, but realize that they need to do this as soon as possible.
Groupon brought this technique almost to perfection. Well, of course, they successfully got rid of the old-fashioned raid, which was associated with the collection of coupons, and the copywriters did their best, writing a text that aroused enthusiasm among users. But that's not the main focus. In the arsenal of this resource - the eternally relevant factor in the countdown and the pressure of the environment in a hidden form.
As can be seen in this screenshot, buying dishes from an Indian kitchen with a 50 percent discount becomes a kind of game: besides you, there are many more “players” and there is a ticking clock. It is even somewhat similar to throwing a puck in hockey: like Amazon, Groupon shows visitors how much money they can save (even if a potential buyer doesn’t need this product). The seller forces the visitor to act quickly and react in real time. Add to this the syndrome called “everyone is doing it.”
The swiftness and charm with which Groupon makes its visitors act in the right way is just super-effective (proof of this is the incredible success of this project). However, like most of the methods described here, he undoubtedly uses manipulation techniques.
Discussion
As mentioned, psychological manipulation in business is as old as commerce itself. However, we are interested in the following: since a large proportion of commerce has shifted to the Internet and personal interaction in paying for goods is slowly but surely losing its value, does the art of squeezing money out of buyers lose the latest ethical principles? To be more specific, what do the experts in the field of user interaction think about such manipulation and approach to website design?
Source: www.uxbooth.com/blog/psychological-manipulation-in-ecommerce-design
Web designers and web architects use a whole arsenal of psychological traps to manipulate users and provoke them into certain patterns of behavior. What can you learn from these techniques? And more importantly, are they ethical?In July 2011, Dan Ariely, a professor of psychology and a behavioral economics expert, Dan Ariely, published an article on psychological techniques used today by several major websites in one of the editions of the Wired Internet publication. In this article, called “Gamed” (“Caught”), the author demonstrated how sites such as Amazon and Groupon, with the help of design elements, stimulate certain behavioral scenarios aimed at making a purchase.
')
Notice, “stimulate” is just one of the words that can describe this technique. If you look at a different angle, this tactic looks like a frank manipulation.
Most recently, I met and talked with Professor Arieli about his book, Predictably Irrational (Predictably Irrational), which explores many cases of seemingly irrational behavior of people, and how companies have learned to profit from it.
When it came to e-commerce sites (in fact, these are stores that benefit from the ease with which buyers break up money by shopping), Professor Ariely stressed that the main idea of ​​these sites is not to teach buyers to take reasonable decisions, but to provide them with an excuse for their own habit of spending money. The more the site visitor is satisfied with the purchase, the higher the likelihood of re-visiting this site, and, more importantly, the re-purchase.
It goes without saying that companies have long understood how to make a profit using various human conditions. But since these methods (at least their part) are now more than ever before in the hands of web designers and interface developers, it is worthwhile to linger for a moment and talk about the ethical side of the issue and the responsibility of these people. Since the creation of impressions and experience gained by the user has now become a craft, the line between offering a recommendation and true manipulation is hardly distinguished as never before.
Let's look at some of the most vivid examples. You can take whatever you want from this study — you may take it as valuable advice or as a warning.
Default conditions and conflicts
Usability guru Jacob Nielsen once asked the question: "How gullible are Internet users?" And he answered it himself: "It is sad but very gullible." At the same time, he talked about the “power of the default settings” or how quickly users accept any default settings that simplify their lives. And this is obviously one of the most important aspects of the user experience.
“The possibility of circumventing even small conflicts can drastically affect our decision making,” says Arieli in her article. Think about it from the height of your own experience in finding something and shopping on the Internet. How likely is it that you follow the first link in search results? And how about immediately going to Amazon in search of a book, even if you can buy it cheaper on eBay or from some other seller?
Here it is, this is the very smoothing of small internal conflicts that turned Amazon into a giant, which it is now. Users are more likely to return to Amazon again and again due to “one-click purchase” (which is debatable). And in fact, for most, shopping at Amazon is simpler, since our credit card information is already stored on this site. Indeed, Amazon has become one of the (if not the only) online stores used by default.
Let's take a closer look at the Amazon checkout page.
As Professor Arieli accurately noted in his article, one of the initial barriers for a visitor who made an e-purchase for the first time was the thought of transportation costs (and despite the fact that by that time most of us were already buying something on the Internet). Amazon is well aware of this small conflict and therefore solves this problem in a very original way.
Look at the illustration carefully. You see how Amazon conveniently added a shopping basket to the choice of delivery method, while at the same time encouraging visitors not only to spend more than $ 25 to get the right to free delivery (section “Super economical delivery”), but also to become a member of Amazon Prime. If there are those among you who still do not know what Prime is, I will explain: the buyer is required to pay an annual fee of $ 79 in order to be eligible for free delivery of almost any purchase within 2 days.
How generous this Amazon is, right? However, given that these methods inspire buyers to spend at least $ 25 on one purchase (I myself recently fell for this bait, and this screenshot confirms this), it becomes clear that we are being manipulated again, affecting our need to try to save - even if you need to spend more money. Of course, the main feeling is pleasant - more books, equipment, clothes and everything that you ordered. But in reality, it is a trap that forces us to spend more in order to avoid approaching the “psychological barrier” in the form of transportation costs. In addition, we think that we have acted very cleverly by paying more.
In other words, the sellers goal is to make buyers feel smarter, even if they make decisions that are not too smart. And the more intelligent buyers feel, the better.
Impulse buying
Online store owners are not stupid people. They are well aware that once an internal conflict is resolved, it is much easier for buyers to make impulse purchases. However, impulsive purchases can lead to a feeling of guilt at the buyer and, worse (oh, horror!), To return the purchase.
Smart sellers have long figured it out. By smart sellers, I mean specifically Apple.
Just think: you went for a walk into the city, wandering aimlessly around your favorite shops and stare at the windows. And here you see a great watch. You can even afford them, but you don’t have a great need for them, and you can easily do without them. Go ahead, you say to yourself. But where are there ... the clock calls on you so clearly that you happily go to the store and buy them. You may regret it immediately or perhaps only when you return home. But the main thing is that our fault for the impulsive purchase is something that companies like Apple know very well.
If you recently bought something on iTunes or the App Store, you probably noticed that your receipt does not immediately appear in your inbox. Sometimes it even takes a couple of days before it appears. When the receipt finally arrives, the buyer may not immediately see it - the main thing is that the painful moment of parting with the money has already passed. Guilt for making a spontaneous purchase is also faded, and the emotional outburst associated with an impulsive purchase is not so acutely experienced.
This is the main point in understanding the response of the buyer: it is believed that when you see the consequences of a purchase, it will negatively affect the subsequent impulse purchases. In the electronic environment, the response is easier to control. Intangible goods that we buy on the iTunes or the App Store are not at all like the watches, the purchase of which we were so embarrassed at the exit from the store. Real watches are like a ritual bonfire in which your money burned.
The moral is: if a negative emotional reaction cannot be avoided, then the best thing a seller can do is to postpone such a reaction as much as possible. This is a tricky move, but also a bit cunning.
Convince them that this is important.
When the probability of impulsive purchases is small, it is just necessary to make visitors not just feel the need to make a purchase, but realize that they need to do this as soon as possible.
Groupon brought this technique almost to perfection. Well, of course, they successfully got rid of the old-fashioned raid, which was associated with the collection of coupons, and the copywriters did their best, writing a text that aroused enthusiasm among users. But that's not the main focus. In the arsenal of this resource - the eternally relevant factor in the countdown and the pressure of the environment in a hidden form.
As can be seen in this screenshot, buying dishes from an Indian kitchen with a 50 percent discount becomes a kind of game: besides you, there are many more “players” and there is a ticking clock. It is even somewhat similar to throwing a puck in hockey: like Amazon, Groupon shows visitors how much money they can save (even if a potential buyer doesn’t need this product). The seller forces the visitor to act quickly and react in real time. Add to this the syndrome called “everyone is doing it.”
The swiftness and charm with which Groupon makes its visitors act in the right way is just super-effective (proof of this is the incredible success of this project). However, like most of the methods described here, he undoubtedly uses manipulation techniques.
Discussion
As mentioned, psychological manipulation in business is as old as commerce itself. However, we are interested in the following: since a large proportion of commerce has shifted to the Internet and personal interaction in paying for goods is slowly but surely losing its value, does the art of squeezing money out of buyers lose the latest ethical principles? To be more specific, what do the experts in the field of user interaction think about such manipulation and approach to website design?
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/125954/
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