In competitive markets, understanding what customers truly want is a very crucial factor in advertising. As a behavioral consultant with a background in strategic marketing and communication, I’ve come to deeply appreciate this fact. It’s not just about knowing who your target audience is.

It’s about understanding their needs, desires, and decision-making processes. Behavioral science reveals the subtle yet powerful drivers behind consumer behavior, such as the cognitive biases that shape purchasing decisions and the emotional triggers that influence brand loyalty.

In today’s saturated market landscape, where every brand is vying for consumers’ attention, leveraging these behavioral insights can make the difference between a campaign that resonates and one that fades into the noise. A decade ago, I might not have fully grasped the significance of psychological nuances, but experience has taught me that they are the cornerstone of effective advertising. Understanding what truly matters to your audience isn’t just a strategy, it’s the key to building meaningful, lasting connections.

Imagine you have produced a natural energizing juice that could tap into the growing health and wellness market. In this scenario, you need to find a way to break through the clutter and tap into the target market wants and needs. Traditional marketing and communication methods often rely on what customers say they want. However, what if I told you there’s a more accurate way to uncover their true preferences?

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The Challenge: Listening vs. Observing

Take a look at the above two illustrative images for an energy drinks ad; which ad do you think would be more appealing to consumers? A quick survey would have probably shown that participants preferred ad B – an ad highlighting the health benefits of the new energy juice. On the surface, this makes sense – the health and wellness trend is booming, and consumers claim to prioritize natural healthy products. However, relying solely on responses can be misleading, as we often find in our personal life, a gap may exist between what we say we want and what we actually end up doing. Behavioral Insights (BI) offer a deeper understanding by observing what people actually do, not just what they say.

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What could advertisers miss?

While the natural ingredients and health benefits are important, highlighting those facts may not be enough. Context is key. Energy drinks aren’t just for physical performance—they’re about focus, productivity, and mental stamina. An image of someone drinking energy juice while working (ad A), would speak directly to professionals who need energy to power through their day, making the product relatable to larger audience. Our wants and desires are multi-faceted and intertwined, and so consumers consciously and subconsciously consider a multitude of elements beyond the apparent benefits that could create a stronger emotional connection that motivates them to consume that healthy product. These might include:

• Excitement and ‘Focused’ Energy: While health benefits are appealing, energy drinks are traditionally linked to excitement, vitality, and performance (whether physical or mental). An ad focusing solely on wellness risks missing the dynamic, energizing appeal customers expect. By connecting the drink to both mental focus and high-energy outcomes, advertisers can bridge excitement with productivity to drive real impact.
• Social Proof: Seeing others, especially influential figures or peers, using and endorsing the product can significantly impact purchasing decisions. Social proof creates a sense of trust and community around the product.
• Brand Identity and Storytelling: Customers are much more likely to connect with brands that have a compelling story or a strong identity. Ads that incorporate storytelling and a unique brand persona can create a deeper, more emotional connection.
• Immediate Gratification: Customers are often driven by immediate gratification. Highlighting instant energy boosts and performance enhancements can be more compelling than long-term health benefits.
• Visual Appeal: Aesthetics matter. Ads that are visually striking and engaging can capture attention more effectively than those that are purely informational.
• Convenience and Lifestyle Fit: Showing how the product fits seamlessly into the consumer’s lifestyle, whether through portability, taste, or ease of use, can make the product more appealing.

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Harnessing BI for Effective Advertising: Lessons Learned

Reflecting on my past campaigns, I see how Behavioural Insights (BI) could have taken them further—not by replacing traditional approaches but by building on and complementing them. Traditional marketing tools like sales data and customer feedback are still invaluable for understanding brand awareness and initial preferences. BI expands on these methods, providing a deeper dive into the behavioural drivers and barriers to bridges the gap between what customers say they want and what truly drives their decisions. By putting as much focus on measurable behaviors as on awareness measures, BI helps refine advertising strategies and tactics, ensuring they resonate not just with customer ideals but with their real-world choices.

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1. Digital/Online Experiments

Digital experiments, which are often conducted through A/B testing, involve testing different versions of an advertisement or a marketing message online to see which performs better. This can be done for example using Google Ads where you can run two versions of an ad—one highlighting natural ingredients and another showcasing high-energy activities. You can also use an email campaign to send different email versions to segmented audiences, one focusing on health benefits, another on immediate energy boosts. As another option, you can conduct an A/B test on a website where you display different homepage banners, one emphasizing health, the other excitement. And lastly, you can use social media posts where you post variations of content to see which garners more engagement.

How it works:

1. Create Variants: Develop multiple versions of digital content. Change only one element and leave the rest the same (for example, the headline).
2. Randomize Audience: Use the tools available for A/B tests to ensure each variant reaches a distinct group and that no overlapping occurs, i.e., each distinct group receives only one variant.
3. Track Engagement: Monitor metrics such as clicks, shares, and conversions.
4. Evaluate Effectiveness: Analyze which variant performs best across the different metrics.

By running A/B tests simultaneously and analyzing the engagement, click-through rates, and conversions, you will be able to see which variant resonates more with our audience. This real-time data provides a more accurate understanding of customer preferences and behaviors that allows you to test tailored variants to different segments within your audience.

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2. Field Experiments

Field experiments involve testing interventions in real-world settings. For example, you could launch the energy drink in selected stores with different promotional strategies. One store could display an ad that emphasizes health benefits, while another an ad that focuses on excitement or social proof. By observing sales data and customer feedback between the different supermarkets, you could determine which approach resonates better.

How it works:

1. Determine the Test Environment: Choose different regions or clusters of stores for different ad strategies.
2. Implement Interventions: Roll out the targeted ads in these regions/stores.
3. Collect Data: Gather sales figures, customer feedback, and engagement metrics.
4. Analyze Results: Compare performance across regions to identify the most effective strategy.

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3. Survey Experiments

Survey experiments combine traditional surveys with experimental manipulations. By embedding experimental conditions within surveys, we can test different scenarios and measure responses. Create survey versions that show participants either a health-focused or excitement-focused ad before asking questions about their purchase intentions and perceptions.

How it works:

1. Design the Survey Experiment: Develop multiple versions with varying content. For instance, develop one version featuring the health benefits of the energy drink, another focusing on the excitement and immediate energy boost, and a third one using social proof by including testimonials or endorsements. Test visual elements like images or videos of the ads.
2. Randomize Participants: Ensure respondents are randomly assigned to different versions.
3. Collect Responses: Use survey tools to gather data that measure purchase intentions, brand perceptions, and emotional responses, etc.
4. Analyze Data: Compare responses to understand which elements drive positive perceptions and intentions.

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Complementing Traditional Marketing with BI

Incorporating BI doesn’t mean abandoning traditional marketing methods. Surveys and focus groups are valuable for initial insights, but BI tools like field experiments, digital experiments, and survey experiments offer straightforward ways to gather actionable insights and real-time analytics. This combination ensures we target customers more effectively, reducing guesswork and maximizing impact.

By leveraging BI and marketing, we can understand what truly drives customer behavior and make informed decisions that enhance marketing effectiveness with more accurate results.

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Dr. Maha Baz

Dr. Maha Baz is a Senior Researcher / Senior Consultant at Behavia and a Strategic Communication and Media Advisor for Excellence. She has 20 years of experience in strategic marketing, communication, and consumer behavior. She holds a PhD in Marketing from the University of Leicester on the subject of ‘Sharing Economy in the Arab world’ and has written a book chapter about it in the “Handbook on the Sharing Economy”. She advises and consults public and private sector clients on marketing with behavioral insights.