How to get your customers to say yes

Whether you’re coming up with explanations for your website, app, or computer program, these are the first steps you need to go through.

Generally, your customers process the information you provide them on one of two levels: systematic, or heuristic.

Systematic processing usually takes place when the customer has a high interest in understanding the information and, therefore, they take the time needed to break down and process information thoroughly. As a result of this intense session, it’s also hard to change a customer’s mind when they follow this process to make a decision.

On the other hand, when a customer is uninterested, or unable to process information deeply, this is referred to as heuristic processing. In this case, the customer would rather use easily available information, or other mental cues (e.g. follow what others are doing) to make a decision. 

In 1978, Ellen Langer conducted an experiment that showed that people rarely use systematic processes. The study found that people were more likely to allow someone to cut in line if they used the word “because” in their question. Here are some of the findings.

Statement	People who accepted
“Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine?”	60%
“Excuse me, I have 5 pages. May I use the xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”	94%

Social psychologists, Richard Petty, John Cacioppo, and Shelly Chaiken determined that the processing method is determined by an individual’s motivation and cognitive ability. In business, when determining whether the user will use a systematic or heuristic process to understand an explanation, it’s necessary to ask the questions: who the user is, and what is their context.

• Who is the user

The mental process followed by a data scientist trying to determine whether there’s any bias in data is different from the process followed by a layperson who has received an AI-powered medical diagnosis. The type of user will determine the depth of your explanation (read more about mental processes here).

• What is the context?

An in-depth explanation for an outcome provided is more important for someone who has been rejected for a loan application, than someone who has received a new movie recommendation on Netflix.

It is necessary to understand your typical customer’s context, and what is important to them, as this will determine what explanation is “good enough”.

Do you know of any other example of how the type of user or their context can affect how they process your information?