We’re not the rational decision-making beings we think we are
Posted by Sandra Cosser on 27 May 2008 at 03:43 pm | Tagged as: Articles, SEO Strategy
Gord Hotchkiss (CEO of Enquiro) writes a fantastic column called Just Behave on Search Engine Land every Friday. He analyses search behaviour, often delving into the complexities of the human mind to get to the bottom of thorny issues. His most recent column dealt with the illusion of conscious will, which shows that even when we think that we are making conscious decisions, we are in fact acting subconsciously.
This has huge implications for all marketing-related activities, especially search, because it proves that people aren’t motivated by the factors that they think they are. We believe that we’re being honest when we answer survey questions or participate in market studies, but we’re actually not. Hotchkiss cites his first research study as proof of this phenomenon.
Participants in a controlled lab situation were asked why they chose certain search results over others. They provided rational answers, which they backed up with plausible explanations, such as relevancy or brand recognition. Very few admitted that they chose a site because of its position in the search results, yet that is exactly what the search patterns revealed. The first organic result generated the most clicks, about 27%, which, as Hotchkiss said, was double the next result. So, whether we like it or not, there is a discrepancy between what we say we do and what we actually do.
Hotchkiss has promised to discuss the implications for search in his next column, which hasn’t been published yet, but I have a few theories of my own. Firstly, it punches holes in the argument that rankings aren’t that important. If people are making subconscious decisions regarding page placement, then relevancy be damned, as rankings are obviously far more important.
But what does it take to attain the prized number one spot on the rankings? Ethical link building for a start, but you need to offer people something valuable that they are going to want (consciously or subconsciously) to link to, which leads us to quality content.
Keyword research is important so that you rank for the relevant search terms (relevancy was always going to rear its head). Equally important is the quality of your content writing, which should weave your keywords into a tapestry of compelling text. If people are going to act according to what Hotchkiss calls “prewritten scripts”, then you need to be able to tap into their subconscious minds to elicit the appropriate responses. It’s called hypnotic copy and is a somewhat manipulative practice that involves invoking sounds, pictures and feelings to get your audience to respond exactly as you want them to.
Having most of our decisions being driven subconsciously may not appeal to our independent natures, some may even gag at the thought of being dictated to by their own bodies, but in truth it makes our lives much easier on so many levels. If we had to consciously think about everything we did, from all the minute actions associated with making a simple cup of coffee to every stroke we make when brushing our teeth, we would never get anything done.
Unconscious will makes life as we know it possible and ensures that we don’t spend aeons dithering over which dishwashing liquid to buy, or which sites we want to visit. It’s up to marketers to realise that, and to work harder at appealing to emotions rather than logic. The problem lies in how to go about it ethically and not by blatant manipulation and exploitation.
I agree, the hypocrisy of our humanity. We say one thing and do another. It seems like natural selection. It’s rather confusing, even in daily workings, for us to say one thing and do another but it seems we are hard-coded into that pattern of thought. New opportunities arise that prompt us to alter our choices, so who can we blame? The marketing industry bears the brunt as they, or we, really don’t know what we might do next.
Also agree, people don’t often have as much control over the way they would like to go about doing something, as the path that eventually plays out is often not the planned route. By hitting our emotional buttons, advertisers are definitely more likely to get a response from us rather than through logical means. We are ultimately emotional beings, who strive towards logical thinking.