Cognitive dissonance and its application in marketing

What is cognitive dissonance?

Cognitive dissonance is a psychological discomfort, which is caused by the contradiction between the existing well-established notion of a person and fresh incoming information, to put it simply - this is any discrepancy between expectations and reality.
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An example of cognitive dissonance is Krylov's fable, "Fox and Grapes." The hungry fox saw a vine with dangling clusters and wanted to reach them, but she could not and, going away, said to herself: “Well, well! At a glance, he is good, Yes, green - the berries are not mature: you will fill your teeth with the edge ”.

There were two incompatible feelings in the fox - desire and disappointment. Her criticism was a way to neutralize this imbalance and resolve the conflict.

People subconsciously seek internal consistency. Inconsistency leads to psychological discomfort, so a person avoids information that does not coincide with his beliefs and values. So he tries to keep his balance and be happy.

In most cases, people try to lower their cognitive dissonance in one of four ways:

Suppose you lose weight and a donut lies in front of you.

1. Change behavior: "I will not eat a donut."
2. They justify their behavior by changing conflicting thoughts or adding new ones: “I can eat a donut once a week” or “Now I eat a donut, and in the evening I go for a run to burn extra calories”.
3. They alter self-esteem or values, reduce or exaggerate their importance: “Why should I press and have a flat stomach, life is short, and she should have time to enjoy.”
4. Ignore or deny information that contradicts existing beliefs: "This is a non-nutritious donut, so I eat it," or: "I read that regular donut use is good for health."

How to use cognitive dissonance in design and marketing

Before correlating cognitive dissonance and marketing, it is important to understand that when faced with cognitive dissonance, people want to do something to reduce the internal conflict that they feel.

Let's go back to the donut example. A café can introduce a truly low-calorie product into the menu or emphasize the fact that it contains natural and healthy ingredients in order to reduce the guilt of the dieter.


The task of the marketer is to reduce user dissonance. If you assure that your product is easy to use, but it’s difficult to navigate the site, visitors will begin to doubt the promised simplicity of the product.

Remember: any inconsistency in your design and marketing increases dissonance.

Good ways to use cognitive dissonance

Cognitive dissonance can be a tool of persuasion. Often it is used in the form of technology Foot-in-the-Door (translated from English - the foot in the doorway). Its essence is to reduce the user's resistance by gradually complicating the task assigned to him.

Imagine that you are working on onboarding for your product. Before asking users for a great service (to become a paying customer), first ask them for such a small service (register for free in one click) that they are likely to fulfill your request.

As soon as they have “stepped out the door,” after waiting a bit, you can ask them for a larger service. In the end, you can encourage them to become a paying user of your product.

How else can you use this principle in marketing:

• Discount on first purchase. In addition to the magnetic impact of the word “discount”, the Foot-in-the-Door technique is included here. The discount can be very large, and buy for modest money is not difficult. The first step took place, and then a person can offer a product for a great price.
• Product line. The offer as a whole interests the client, but it’s scary to buy an expensive product right away. But to buy something inexpensive (or get free) people can immediately. Then you can follow the purchase of more expensive products, and with good quality, many buyers will get to the segment with the maximum prices.

At Fotostrana we actively use this technique. We offer users to take a free gift:



A little later, buy a set at a discount:

• Promote cheap goods, and sell profitable. So do Ikea shops, releasing billboards and leaflets with glasses and towels almost at cost. But, having come to the store for glasses, almost every visitor comes with a cart loaded with high-margin goods.

Often, people register for free services because they are imposed on them, and not because they need it. Here a small cognitive dissonance appears, which people try to neutralize with the help of one of the four mentioned ways.

Using the technique of Foot-in-the-Door, you increase the likelihood that someone will fulfill your request. It is important not to be too persistent, because the user will turn away from you. It is extremely important to give people time to relax and sort out their thoughts if you want this technique to be effective.

The fact is that when performing an action for the first time, a certain model of behavior is formed in the mind of a person, to which he will resort at the next identical call to action.

Every time you ask a user for a service, you create a small cognitive dissonance that is proportional to the scale of the service. That is why the product needs such a design so that the user has time to deal with cognitive dissonance himself.

Imagine the user's thoughts after registering for free: “Why did I subscribe to this product? I think he can be useful to me ... I think I like him. ” Now is the time to ask for another little favor, then pause and continue.

The more services the user has provided, the largest your next request may be. By encouraging people to invest in your product, you create trust and dependence.

With cognitive dissonance, you can turn users into a loyal audience. But this is only possible if you use the dissonance correctly. Do not be annoying and persuade users so that the interaction with your product gives them pleasure.