If you remember my previous article on What Bugs America Most?, then you’ll remember that hidden fees and not getting a human on the phone are the top annoying things that bugs America.
Recently, I came across an interesting research conducted by New York science journalists Flora Lichtman and Joe Palca who have devised a formula for annoyance:
Annoyance = Unpleasant + Unpredictable + Temporary
The example used in the research was the sound of nails scraping down a blackboard. It is unpleasant because most people find the noise to be very irritating. It is unpredictable because the scraping sound consists of varying pitches which is very disturbing to the human ears. It is temporary because we don’t know how long the sound will last.
This seems easy to understand. The idea that we are presented with something that we dislike and have no control over is enough to overwhelm even the strongest of heart. From a marketing perspective, what I am interested in is whether changing just one of these variables can create a positive affect on consumer behaviour. Here is my hypothesis:
Contagious Marketing = Pleasant + Unpredictable + Temporary
The only difference with this new formula is that the ‘unpleasant’ variable has been changed to ‘pleasant’.
Let’s use Groupon as an example. The online deals website offers pleasant deals everyday. These daily deals are unpredictable – we don’t know the details of the deal until the offer is posted online and there is no way to find out what are the future deals. This creates a surprise element to entice visitors to keep checking the site for new and unpredictable deals. The deals are also temporary since each deal is offered for only a limited amount of time which will be displayed as a countdown until expiration.
In conclusion, we can see that the ‘unpredictable’ and ‘temporary’ variables are neutral factors. When applied to something that is unpleasant, the factors will enhance the unpleasantness creating something that is considered as annoying for most people. On the other hand, when applied to something this is pleasant or desirable, it teases the consumers with something that is pleasant and creates a favourable response from them.
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