The Science of Familiarity: Accelerating Conversions through Being Unoriginal
Do you recall when Slack first debuted? I was a devoted HipChat user back then. It goes without saying that I had no desire to try Slack.
I regarded it as little more than a fad. Now? I use it for both personal and professional purposes on average for ten hours every day. (Apologies to HipChat).
What is happening here? How did I go from hating something to utilising it every day in just three to four weeks? The mere-exposure effect refers to the tendency we have to form preferences for items simply because we are familiar with them.
I can’t even begin to fathom how frequently I heard or read about Slack throughout those three to four weeks. Every publication, including TechCrunch, The Next Web, Fast Company, Gigaom, WSJ, and Inc., discussed this new app. Slack became more comfortable for me than HipChat, which is why I started to prefer it.
Whether we are aware of it or not, familiarity has a significant impact on our decision-making process. That implies that it also has a significant effect on conversions. Having a greater understanding of the many psychological theories underlying familiarity will improve UX/design, copy, and calls to action.
The Science Behind Familiarity
Unconsciously, we favour things and people who are familiar to us. In fact, psychologists have discovered that the more frequently you see someone, the more likely you are to fall in love with them. Even if the stimuli you’re exposed to on a regular basis are harmful (such as an abusive relationship), you’ll unconsciously find solace in its familiarity.
It makes logical from an evolutionary standpoint that comfort comes from familiarity. Anything that is comfortable for you will be less likely to harm you. Or at the very least, harm you unexpectedly. We don’t want to take a chance on the unfamiliar.
Happiness, according to psychologists, is closely proportional to how many things (such as genres of music, cuisine, pastimes, and nations) we are familiar with.
Three theories—cognitive fluency, prototypicality, and habit—get to the heart of familiarity.
1. Cognitive Fluency
A measure of cognitive fluency is how simple it is to think about something. It influences who we are, how we invest, and what and how we define beauty.
Our minds are slothful. We are more likely to believe something if it is simple to understand. Cognitive fluency, according to scientists, affects any circumstance where we must weigh information (such as voting, purchasing, or marriage).
Shares are likely to perform better if your company’s name is simple to pronounce.
People are more inclined to think you are communicating a fact if you write in a legible typeface.
2. Prototypicality
The prototypicality of an object refers to how representative it is of the category to which it belongs. People are more inclined to think you are communicating a fact if you write in a legible typeface.
The brain is drawn to prototypes. Once we have a vision of what something ought to be, we desire other things that are comparable to it to possess the same attributes.
For instance, we are all familiar with the car prototype. Imagine that Ford later introduces a vehicle with two wheels in the back and one in the front. That wouldn’t sell well, and I’ll bet on that. Why? because our brains find its low prototypicality unsettling.
When we don’t have first-hand experience with something, we want it to be like something we have.
3. Habit
Psychology defines a habit as a more or less established style of thinking, acting, or feeling that is acquired via the repeated exposure to a mental event.
We are creatures of habit in our brains. This is true if you’ve ever tried to stop smoking or reduce weight. The likelihood that you will continue doing something increases with frequency.
As you’ve been made to believe, habits are not as simple to form and break as you may think.
You are aware that it takes a new habit 21 days to take hold. Let’s dispel that rumour straight away. Its theory is mainly based on a sloppy interpretation of what plastic surgeon Maxwell Maltz discovered in 1960. Recent research conducted by licenced psychologists has revealed that developing a habit actually takes more than two months.
All of your habits—good or bad—serve you in some unspoken way. They are very challenging to break because of this. You are aware that checking your email first thing in the morning reduces productivity, but you still do it. Trying as you would, it’s hard to break the regular behaviour.
overall, It can be quite challenging to convince someone to give up a habit. Instead, convince them based on their existing behaviour.
Websites Using Familiarity to Convert You
Given your newfound understanding of familiarity, you may now explore some of your favourite websites to find out how they have been trying to convert you.
1. E-business
Compare Amazon to the companies listed in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
The Top 500’s average conversion rate is 3.32%, while Amazon’s average conversion rate is 13%. (nearly quadruple).
Members of Amazon Prime, the company’s loyalty programme, convert at a rate of 74%. Only 6% of the same Amazon Prime subscribers convert when they purchase at other online merchants.
Such figures are striking. What gives, then? The copy and design on Amazon are not 1,133% superior than those of the competition.
Because it is well-known, Amazon converts so much better than the competition. The brand has grown familiar to the point of habit, not merely the service or products.
It’s doubtful that you’ll shop somewhere else if you’re an Amazon regular. You will check (and prefer to convert via) Amazon even if the item you’re seeking for is available because it is trusted and familiar.
Nearly as common as “Google it” is the statement “I got it on Amazon.” It has evolved into the model. As a result, considering utilising Amazon has gotten so simple that, well, we don’t. Cognitive fluency is that.
2. Tech Startups
This website’s layout is recognisable to those who are familiar with tech firms.
Source: https://twitter.com/jc/status/635880925369380864
This is undoubtedly one of the most popular site designs, particularly in the IT startup industry, as the copy says. Nevertheless, people keep using it rather than coming up with anything more inventive.
Why? But, generally speaking, sloth Following a trend and stealing ideas from the opposition is simple.
Indeed, the design may be optimised and enhanced. Also, a slight dose of surprise could make you stand out from the crowd. In the end, you won’t have a competitive advantage if you blend in with the crowd of similar people. You won’t be seen at all if you perfectly blend in.
Yet, the truth is that a startup site’s design and user experience will be more difficult to understand for an early adopter of technology if they visit it and compare it to the prototype above (lower cognitive fluency).
Well, Startup XYZ just went live. Let’s visit their website. That visitor is fully aware of what to anticipate. Three services or perks, a hero image and headline, and top right navigation. Early users of technology have grown accustomed to finding out about new firms in this way.
Think about social media…
And news sites….
How to Use Familiarity to Enhance Conversions
The question still stands: how can you use all of this psychology to improve conversions on your landing pages?
1. Design & UX
Cognitive Fluency
Your brain works at a relatively sluggish speed of 120 bits per second. It need 60 bits per second to listen to someone speak. The brain is not very good at processing anything when it tries to multitask or process too many things at once.
Think about the implications for a website with excessive calls to action, columns, text, etc. Less attention will be paid to you the more stimuli there are vying for your visitors’ attention.
The cognitive fluency increases with site simplicity and a reduction in stimuli.
Sadly, you only have around 50 milliseconds to convince a visitor that your design is straightforward and will be simple to understand.
Prototypicality
Of course, simplicity isn’t the sole consideration. Sites with low visual complexity and high prototypicality are the most appealing, according to a Google study.
Consider yourself the CMO of a well-known gym chain. Let’s first take a look at the landscape –
Everything appears to be very… standard, right? Danielle has probably visited all four of these websites if she is seeking for a gym. She has an implicit expectation that she will see a similar design if she visits your site, the fifth one.
If not, it will take her brain 50 milliseconds to decide that your site is too confusing and complex.
Habit
We handle information online in a particular way out of habit. People typically read in a F pattern, so the top left corner of your website, for instance, will probably attract the most attention.
It would be pointless to try to change these kinds of habits. design instead with the behaviours in mind. Have a look at how CollegeHumor makes use of routines that already exist.
You can see that CollegeHumor draws attention to their best pieces by superimposing the F pattern. Although I don’t have access to CollegeHumor’s data, I’m ready to wager that their engagement and retention metrics rise if they persuade a reader to visit one article on the homepage.
Remember that the F pattern has weaknesses and was first found in 2006.
About a year later, Shrestha looked at the distinctions between searching and browsing, which is still widely acknowledged and covered. Visitors followed the F pattern when browsing, according to Shrestha’s research. Their eyes would jump over the screen less methodically if they were searching more actively.
So, despite being a habit for the majority of Internet users, the F pattern is not true for everyone. Use monitoring applications like SessionCam to examine the viewing patterns of your target market and create content that speaks to their needs.
Your next steps are:
- Remove as much clutter as you can, including rotating images, flashing elements, excessive calls to action, and complicated design elements like small photos, difficult-to-read fonts, several columns, etc.
- In order to comprehend the design prototype, thoroughly investigate your target audience’s web usage. You must fulfil the fundamental requirements of that prototype.
- To learn about your audience’s preferences, use a service like SessionCam. Design for those viewing preferences using that data.
2. Copywriting
Cognitive Fluency
Consider this: The typical American can read at the seventh or eighth grade level. Only 15% of people are fully literate (a university undergraduate reading level). So, your work is too complex for the average American if a 12-year-old would struggle to read it.
In fact, people regard you as less intelligently the more complicated your text is. The majority of people actually appear to subscribe to the adage, “If you can’t explain it clearly, you don’t understand it well enough.”
Do you recall reviewing your multiplication facts in elementary school? Studies have also proven that, whether or not you are in elementary school, your brain forgets material alarmingly quickly if there is no repetition. (Quick, tell me 7*6).
Prototypicality
What are the phrases that are frequently used in your field? How are rival items frequently described? To some extent, you should try to replicate these terms and phrases in your material.
Let’s use the market for pickup trucks as an illustration.
The main ideas on these sites are power, toughness, and strength. When driving around, pickup truck drivers want to convey that impression and evoke that feeling. If your replica lacked those ideas, you would be breaking the prototype.
Note that we prefer words we hear frequently, according to the mere-exposure effect.
This does not imply, however, that you should outright copy content from rival businesses. Steal it from your audience instead. Talk to your guests and conduct some qualitative research. What terminology do they use to refer to you and your sector? What vocabulary do they regularly employ?
Analyze the patterns in your data. You may start writing your copy once you’ve determined how your audience speaks and writes.
Habit
We have developed the practise of scanning and skimming copy, as Steve Krug noted in Don’t Make Me Think.
When Chartbeat looked at Slate.com in 2013, they discovered that most readers only read roughly 50–60% of an article. Simply said, readers don’t read copy in the way that you expect them to.
In order to increase readability and engagement, Copyblogger recommended authors to start creating more scannable material earlier this year. It’s considerably simpler to accommodate visitors’ existing habits than to try to force them to develop new ones.
Your next steps are:
- Employ basic, easy-to-read vocabulary and phrase patterns. Compose every piece of your material as though it were for a 12-year-old child. Repeat important words, phrases, and ideas a number of times—not for search engines, but for memory retention.
- To learn the terms and phrases that your visitors are already using, conduct qualitative research. Use their inclusion in your material to benefit from reader familiarity.
- Make sure that all of your copy can be scanned. Employ succinct sentences and paragraphs, subheadings frequently, and whenever available, instructive visuals.
3. Social Proof & Calls to Action
Cognitive Fluency
As was already established, there is little risk in the familiar, therefore we find comfort in it. We have survived for the past 200,000 years because of our inherent fear of risk. The majority of judgements are influenced by this aversion, which is frequently at play without your notice.
The psychologist and Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman observed that for most people, the fear of losing $100 is greater than the promise of receiving $150. Many of these observations led [Amos Tversky and I] to the conclusion that people are loss-averse and that “losses loom larger than profits.”
This indicates that visitors are more inclined to forego the potential advantage (your offer) than take a chance on the potential loss if they sense any kind of danger after viewing your call to action (getting spam emails, being scammed out of money, ending up in a lengthy signup funnel, etc.)
We consider everything risky that we don’t know about or that is unknown to us. You are scared of the dark, the ocean, and space because of this. You have no idea what might be out there. Thus, clarity triumphs over cleverness.
As soon as you can, assist site visitors in finding their bearings and offer a risk-free call to action. Risk exists whenever there is uncertainty. Tom won’t likely press the button at all if he doesn’t know what will happen when he does.
Provide your visitors the following information:
- Who am I?
- Can I do anything here?
- Why ought I to do it?
- What follows is what?
Uncertainty results from clever since it gives opportunity for interpretation. You can act with clarity since it explains why you should and what will happen if you do. Clarity converts better than cleverness.
Prototypicality
Examine the industry prototype once more. Browse the websites of your rivals and your target market. What wording do their calls to action use? Are they in the right rails or popups? They are motivated in what way? How often do they occur?
For instance, I’ve noticed that opt-out popup calls to action have taken over the websites I visit frequently.
These appeals to action share the following characteristics:
- a logo to increase trust and lower risk.
- a big header with a number.
- a straightforward email address request.
- huge button with wording emphasising benefits.
- A little, harsh opt-out link.
Once more, you’re not attempting to imitate your immediate and indirect rivals. Instead, you should be aware of the expectations of your audience and do your best to live up to them.
A familiar call to action will be viewed as having less risk.
Habit
We frequently look for social approval before making a choice. Try to think of how many decisions you have made throughout your life based on the assumption that “everyone else was doing it”. I’ll wager that it’s a lot.
We are aware that conversion rate optimization specialists continue to vouch for the influence of social proof. (If the goods or services themselves are unfamiliar, at least the names and/or faces connected with them probably are.) We also know that social influence plays a significant role in our decision-making process according to Robert Cialdini.
You can always borrow familiarity if your product or service is absolutely unknown, lacks a prototype, and lacks social proof.
Your next steps are:
- Minimize any danger that might be associated with your call to action. Because you are inherently biassed in favour of your own website, conduct some qualitative research to pinpoint danger. Inquire of visitors what they believe your website does, what they believe the next step is, and what they believe will occur once they take it. Does reality match perception?
- Recognize the calls to action that both your direct and indirect rivals are advertising. What sort of expectations does this instill in the minds of your audience? How can your call to action live up to such demands?
- Profit on people’s desire for social approval by including social proof near your call to action. If you don’t yet have social proof, you can use familiarity to your advantage by using two well-known concepts to compare your product or service to (e.g., it’s like blank for blank).
Balancing Familiarity and Innovation
Does this all imply that unique thought is passé? Not at all, no.
Unoriginal thinking can be useful and increase conversions, but that doesn’t mean it always is. Innovation is still thriving and transforming. Recall how Optimizely completely rebuilt their website in 2012, getting rid of the majority of the material on the homepage, and experienced a rise in conversions?
Innovation makes use of surprise psychology. In essence, when unexpected events occur, our brains become surprised and pay more attention to the brand-new, fresh inputs.
Entrepreneur and self-described surprisologist Tania Luna claims that surprise is the neuropsychological equivalent of a pause button. We are forced to stop what we’re doing, divert our attention, and pay attention as a result. Additionally, it increases our emotional intensity by about 400%.
Surprise increases the need to think, as opposed to familiarity, which reduces it.
We now have two psychological theories that are in opposition to one another. Which is accurate?
Regrettably, a lot of marketers will pick one over the other, innovation or familiarity. The trick is to use both at once. To satisfy fundamental expectations, employ prototypes, routines, and cognitive fluency. Afterwards, use surprise to thrill.
This has been witnessed before, countless times. For example, take HubSpot’s email unsubscribe page.
And GitHub’s 404 page…
Both pages adhere to the fundamental requirements for 404 and unsubscribe pages, respectively. However, both have intriguing features intended to excite visitors.
Conclusion
It’s a straightforward idea: We like things that are recognisable to us. Yet you can’t leverage familiarity to enhance conversions in a meaningful way until you fully get why that is.
Today you may persuade site visitors in the same manner that Slack persuaded me.
Here is how to do it step-by-step:
- Remove cluttered areas and difficult design aspects.
- Recognize the design prototype used in your sector.
- Examine the behaviour of your target audience.
- Employ simple, easy-to-read vocabulary and phrase constructions frequently.
- Find out what terminology your visitors are already using.
- Make sure that all of your copy can be scanned.
- Minimize any danger that might be associated with your call to action.
- Determine what expectations are being raised by the calls to action of your competitors.
- When describing your product or service, use two well-known notions to lend familiarity or provide social proof close to your call to action.