LITTLE LIES

Written By Jackie Mockridge Mattina

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE

Psychological stress caused by behavior to belief misalignment.

If you've felt unsettled after breaking a promise to yourself (sneaking Nutella on a diet or consuming TikTok instead of a book), you've experienced Cognitive Dissonance.

When our actions don’t reflect our values, our brain flags the contradiction with feelings of tension or guilt. To ease the discomfort, we feign consistency by rationalizing our behaviors “it was a skinny margarita, this watch is an investment…”.

Next time you have that icky feeling (it’s not the Nutella), assess where your heart and your hands don’t harmonize.

SO WHAT

Consumers are particularly inclined to act when their behaviors fall short of their values. 

NOW WHAT

  • Emphasize how your product advances the consumer’s aspirations (e.g., eco-friendly, fuels self-improvement).

  • Mitigate buyer's remorse with follow-up emails that reinforce your product’s positive aspects.

  • Use messaging to create dissonance (“the hidden health dangers of skipping breakfast”) and position your product as the resolution.

AUDIENCE IMPLICATION

To contend with cognitive dissonance effectively, assess your audience's beliefs and attitudes regularly as aspirations change.  How has your target audience evolved since last year?

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge.

- Daniel J Boorstin

Sources & Additional Reading

https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/cognitive-dissonance

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/cognitive-dissonance-marketing


Jackie Mockridge Mattina
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