Marketing psychology

Marketing Psychology

Leading words: loss aversion, social proof, anchoring, paradox of choice, Zeigarnik effect, IKEA effect, reciprocity, commitment & consistency, Fogg behavior model, ethical influence.

Apply cognitive biases and behavioral models to product surfaces — ethically. The goal is to reduce cognitive load, surface genuine value, and help the user act on what they already want — not to manipulate.

Decision model — surface → principle

Pick the surface the user is working on, then apply the primary principle (secondary principles reinforce). Depth on each principle lives in references/principles.md.

Surface	Primary principle	Secondary principle
CTA (call-to-action)	Commitment & consistency	Reciprocity
Pricing tier comparison	Anchoring	Loss aversion
Onboarding flow	IKEA effect	Paradox of choice (avoid)
Feature description	Loss aversion	Social proof
Reviews / testimonials / trust	Social proof	Reciprocity
Dashboard engagement	Zeigarnik effect	Loss aversion
Error / empty state	Reciprocity	Fogg: reduce ability cost

Phase 1 — Audit

- [ ] Identify the surface type from the decision model table above.
- [ ] Map the primary + secondary principle for that surface.
- [ ] Check the current copy's cognitive load (how many concepts must the
      user hold at once to act?).
- [ ] Check ethics: would the ethical-influence test pass? (see references/)

🛑 Checkpoint: State the surface type, primary/secondary principles, and cognitive-load assessment in one sentence. Do not proceed to Design until the audit is named.

Phase 2 — Design

- [ ] Choose 1-2 principles max for the surface (more = noise).
- [ ] Inject the leading word for the chosen principle into the copy.
- [ ] Apply the pattern for that principle (see references/principles.md).
- [ ] Verify the principle is real, not fabricated (real metrics, real
      testimonials, real scarcity).

🛑 Checkpoint: Show the chosen principle(s) and the planned copy structure. Do not draft prose until the design is named.

Phase 3 — Write

- [ ] Draft the copy anchored by the leading word.
- [ ] Use concrete metrics over vague adjectives ("3 missed calls last week"
      > "many missed calls").
- [ ] Run the read-aloud test — does it sound like a person, not a marketer?
- [ ] Run the ethical-influence test (see references/ethical_boundaries.md).

Phase 4 — Validate

- [ ] No dark patterns (fabricated stats, manufactured urgency, confirm-shaming,
      roach motel, bait-and-switch, asymmetric consent).
- [ ] No addiction design (infinite scroll without exit, variable reward
      exploitation).
- [ ] No product-truth overrides (claims must match what the feature actually
      does).
- [ ] Cognitive load reduced, not increased.
- [ ] Plain language — no marketing jargon the user would not use themselves.

Any miss → back to Phase 2.

What NOT to do

Hard boundaries — see references/ethical_boundaries.md for the full list and the ethical-influence test. Summary:

• No fabricated stats. Real metrics only; if unknown, omit the figure.
• No manufactured urgency. Real scarcity only — countdowns that reset are deception.
• No confirm-shaming. Opt-out copy must be neutral.
• No addiction design. Surfaces must serve the user's goal, not exploit dopamine response.
• No overriding product truth. Copy must match what the feature actually does.

References

File	Use it for
references/principles.md	Full reasoning behind each cognitive bias + the Fogg Behavior Model
references/ethical_boundaries.md	Dark patterns, addiction design, product-truth overrides, ethical-influence test
references/yappi_examples.md	Worked examples from the Yappi.ai context (the original skill's content)