Manual Camera
Do you know how to take a photograph on a smartphone? Of course, you do. How about on a manual DSLR camera where you must select the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and other settings for each photo you take? Very unlikely. A better question is why? Why think about photographing when you can simply point and shoot?
This mentality is not unique to photographs. Instead, it is representative of your brain’s approach to decision-making. When it comes to decision-making, your brain prefers to go with the flow instead of stopping to think. In other words, the default form of decision-making is akin to an iPhone photo, not a DSLR.
Naturally, there are countless scenarios where people need to stop and think through their steps in manual mode. Famed neuroscientist Daniel Kahneman calls this System 2. System 2 is the brain’s manual mode of decision-making. It is slow and deliberate. When the brain acts in System 2, it slows down and reviews all available variables before arriving at a decision.
System 2 is key to consumer psychology and crucial for marketing. Anticipating this kind of “deliberate” thinking is paramount for marketers. So when is System 2 most likely engaged? And how can marketing teams optimize for it? Read on.
There are times when exerting the mental energy to take manual control is necessary, and there are clear instances in the consumer world. One instance which consistently engages System 2 is a particular type of product. Therefore, identifying System-2-oriented products is the first step when marketing for this type of thinking.
Review your product portfolio with a decision-making lens. For example, if you categorized your products, would they be System 1 or System 2 products? Are these purchase decisions something that a customer needs to think deeply about, or will she often buy on a whim? If your product is a big-ticket, expensive, complex purchase, such as buying a car, accounting software, or a home loan, consumers often use System 2. In addition, products with a complex array of features to consider also generate high demands for System 2 thinking.
Think about shopping for auto insurance, a therapist, or a new CRM. No one signs a multi-million dollar Salesforce contract on a whim.
Once you’ve identified the product where System 2 thinking is natural, you can market accordingly. It requires a different approach than the more impulsive System-1-oriented products do.
The overall marketing strategy for System 2 is simple - slowing things down.
Review your current activations around your System 2 products. Appealing to impulses or nudging for quick decisions will not work. Instead, you must activate the cognitive side of the consumers and engage them with variables relevant to their educated decision. Since System 2 products often involve a longer sales cycle, be patient. You don’t have to - and likely can’t - sell them all at once.
Invite them in and provide relevant data, features, and other rationally-persuasive content which is more cognitively grounded than typical emotion-based selling.
A general rule is not to speed them up with scarcity tactics and limited-time offers. Instead, take it slow and engage their System 2. Take it at their natural pace. These slower tactics also apply to the buying experiences across the funnel, both in-person and online.
Here, you want to provide your consumer with the mental space and information they need to fuel their intensive cognitive processing. System 2 craves data, so give consumers what they want.
Much like using a DSLR camera, slow users down—present them with the opportunity to analyze the variables before reaching a decision.
