This Google research shines a light on some of the key biases that influence our purchase decisions — and how retailers learn from them.

Shoppers looking for ideas and inspiration this Christmas have a world of choice: search engines, price comparison sites, aggregators, review sites, social media, and more. 

Add a reopened high street back into the mix, and this creates a very messy middle between trigger and purchase for retailers to understand and untangle. 

It’s a challenge that we’ve been exploring in depth at Google. We revisited our Decoding Decisions research, where we explored what the messy middle meant for brands — and how retailers can now adopt some of these tips for their own marketing strategies. 

Watch now: Think with Google’s Global Executive Editor, Natalie Zmuda, and Google U.K.’s Research Lead - Thought Leadership, EMEA, Alistair Rennie, discuss the messy middle in more detail. 

As part of this work, we set up shopping observation studies, search trend analyses, and an experiment with real in-market shoppers simulating 310,000 purchase scenarios across multiple verticals. Here are the key takeaways and what they mean for marketers this festive season and beyond.

Two mental modes where customers are won and lost 

In the messy middle of the purchase journey, people look for information about a category’s products and brands and then consider all the options available. 

We unravelled this spaghetti-like mess of touchpoints and split shoppers’ behaviours into two distinct states: exploration and evaluation. 

When you’re exploring, you’re adding products to your list of potentials. When you’re evaluating, you’re pruning that list back down. But because consumers are constantly encouraged to go back into exploration mode by the sheer amount of choice, they can end up feeling overwhelmed.  

For retailers looking to drive sales and growth this peak season, this clearly presents a challenge, but there is also an opportunity to shift or completely disrupt consumer’s preferences, both for the brands they buy and the choice of the retailer. One option for retailers this Christmas season is applying behavioural science to their marketing strategies and broader retail proposition. We’ve picked out six behaviours or biases from our review that we feel are particularly relevant to the space we call the messy middle.

1.   Category heuristics: The value of shortcuts

One way retailers can help consumers in navigating the endless amount of choice and information is to provide useful shortcuts. These category heuristics — essentially “mental shortcuts” — help people identify and understand key characteristics of a product. This can be incredibly valuable to shoppers to find the right best-suited product for them. If a retailer does this more effectively than their competitors, they are more likely to capture the sale.

2.   Power of now: Embrace immediacy

The “power of now” is a tremendously appealing and significant driver of purchase decisions. If you tell a consumer they can have something tomorrow, they’re more likely to order it today. This might prove a challenge as supply chain issues mount, but we’re seeing plenty of examples of innovation this peak season, such as retailers promoting products online that are available in-store for next-day collection.

3.   Social proof: The role of reviews

It’s easy to understate just how important “social proof” is in attracting new customers to a brand or retailer. For retailers, this can be as simple as providing short descriptions of key products or recommendations based on other consumers’ purchases. From a behavioural science perspective, it’s simple: In the online sphere, recommendations and reviews from others can make products more attractive to potential buyers. Look to well-known platforms such as TrustPilot and encourage your customers to leave reviews on your Google Business Profile to earn trust and drive purchases.

4.   Scarcity bias: Less can be more

When the availability of a product decreases, it becomes more desirable. As these moments occur, retailers can demonstrate the popularity of a product to shoppers due to its limited quantity, while alleviating the feeling of “missing out”. Another related way to help: if you know a popular product or competitor brand is running low, consider using Smart Shopping campaigns to reach potential customers with similar products you currently have in stock.

5.   Authority bias: Know the value of experts

Because of a phenomenon called “authority bias”, consumers are more empowered to make a purchase if they feel confident that what they’re buying has been backed by an expert or a trusted source. There are plenty of ways to lean into this beyond a celebrity advert — such as collaborating with an influencer or YouTube creator on a brand partnership, where they already have the engagement with the audiences you’re trying to reach.

6.   Power of free: Give something back

Say someone is making a complex purchase decision, but they don’t understand all the variables — what they will quickly understand is the value of “free”. What happens if you offer an incentive, free sample, or loyalty programme? Instantly, a purchase becomes more appealing. Prominently promoting products that come with some kind of perk can help a prospective customer feel valued and inspire a shift to purchase that product. 

Watch now: Think with Google’s Global Executive Editor, Natalie Zmuda, and Google U.K.’s Research Lead - Thought Leadership, EMEA, Alistair Rennie, discuss six principles of behavioural science during the consumer decision-making process.

Succeeding in the messy middle 

Although the messy middle might seem a complex place, it’s important to remember that to consumers it just feels like normal shopping. The role of the marketer isn’t to force people to exit the loop of endless choice but to provide them with the information and reassurance they need to make a decision. For retailers big and small, the approach is the same — starting with showing up at the right time and ensuring you have a good user experience. If your page loading speed is poor or the navigation isn’t intuitive, you’re giving the shopper every excuse to go and explore somewhere else.  

The final big takeaway is the intelligent and responsible use of the principles of behavioural science we’ve outlined above. For retailers, even applying small changes here can be transformative — making a difference between an average Christmas trading period and a phenomenal one.