Findings from our “Future of Multichannel Marketing in Hong Kong” whitepaper revealed that consumers feel overwhelmed with communication from brands, yet marketers feel that they are effectively segmenting their communications.  In this post, I’m going to try to explain why this disconnect might exist.

This disparity between what consumers want and what brands are delivering is not entirely the fault of the brands. In the words of Dr. Gregory House “everybody lies”. I don’t mean to undermine the validity of our own research but it’s important not to believe everything a consumer tells you. Here’s a good example. People feel stressed when holding two opposing views at the same time – like the intelligent smokers who understand the lung cancer risk, or anyone who has made a bad purchase but justifies the reason after the purchase was made. In other words, it’s easier for people to rationalise than to be rational. And once people have made up their mind, be it on an issue or a brand choice, it’s very hard to change it. This is called confirmation bias.

Our minds hate change and psychological research shows that people are twice as likely to seek information that confirms their beliefs than consider contradictory information. It’s why so many of us continue to support our childhood football teams and trust the political leanings of our parents. Confirmation bias influences how consumers and marketers make decisions. And it is starting to be recognised as an important factor in brand loyalty. Marketers need to evaluate the reasons why consumers might prefer their brand in light of cognitive bias.

This bias is also what makes marketing analytics such a powerful predictor of future behaviour. And it’s why you should always balance your decisions about how you serve your customers based on both what they say, and what they do. Henry Ford reportedly said, “If I had asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have asked for a faster horse.”

Confirmation bias means that whilst you must listen to your customers to better serve their needs today, don’t count on their views and opinions as your source of innovation. You’ll also need to overcome your own confirmation bias as a marketer, challenge your assumptions and stop doing the same thing if you want to outperform your competitors.