Have you ever wondered about your subconscious bias?
For example, if I say ‘surgeon’ who do you picture?
A man, a woman, or a transgender person?
We can’t escape that we call carry values and beliefs based on our own personal experience. A TV program recently showed that when 5-year-olds were asked whether a surgeon was male or female 95% of them answered male. 95% of them. I was shocked. How come in the 21st century with Marvel producing Wonder Woman and Jessica Johns films plus a flurry of female pop role models from Pink to Anne Marie could this happen? The answer is, of course, cognitive bias. Mixed in with some old fashioned stereotypes from their parents.
Yet when it comes to advertising, marketing and media we need to be aware of cognitive bias. Otherwise, you risk marketing your great products to the wrong audience. Or worse alienating them and dealing with a reputation problem. Not to mention adding to societal bigotry.
What can you do?
Fear not. If you’re planning your next marketing campaign check out this great article by Jeff Desjardins entitled ‘Every Single Cognitive Bias in One Infographic’. An ambitious title for sure. Fascinating to read. You’ll soon see that there’s more than just gender bias flying around TV ads and billboard campaigns. There’s familiarity bias e.g. I’ll hire him as he seems like myself through to self-attribution bias. This is a key one for business owners. Are you attributing your success all to yourself (ego check anyone?) or are you delving into the factors that may actually include market trends, hard working employees?
This is why all businesses and agencies need a good strategic planner like myself. It’s all too easy to get stuck in groupthink and not see the wood for the trees. I can provide a fair, honest and objective look at your business, competitors, and marketing. Don’t worry I’ve honed my diplomacy skills over the years and I’ll be sure to leave my cognitive bias at the door too.
Discover more
Read more about cognitive bias and how you can watch out from it influencing your recruitment, business, and marketing by reading the full article here in Visual Capitalist. Then pass it onto to a friend or colleague.
