Psychology and Science- the next factor in your growth equation

The growth equation as we know it is fundamental across all sectors of business. Usually, it is defined as follows:

(Total Available Market) x (%Penetration) x (Frequency of Consumption) x (Average Weight of Consumption) x (Price at which it is consumed)        

But as competitions increase, businesses need to work harder to differentiate themselves or use different techniques to derive growth. One of the most legendary examples, that most of us know is the case of widening the mouth of toothpaste tubes, which would increase the average weight of consumption and therefore more sales. In this article, let’s look at few more different examples where the companies have leveraged science and human psychology to drive growth for themselves.

Smaller mouths in cola bottles.

If you are a regular consumer of soft drinks, you might have noticed that the opening of the bottle is smaller than that of the bigger bottles, which is quite contrary to the toothpaste example.

The underlying reason behind this is that with a smaller mouth opening, one would have to take more sips to drink the contents, which would take a longer time to consume the drink and thus create an impression in the mind of the consumer that more volume has been provided. This would lead to better satisfaction and might as well earn their loyalty.

The unique shape of Pringles Chips.

If you have had Pringles chips, one of the most distinct features that you might have noticed is that its shape is unique.

Scientifically, this shape is called hyperbolic paraboloid and is considered to be one of the most visually appealing shapes.

So, is the reason behind this shape, just to create a point of differentiation?

No, there’s more to it. Firstly, you can stack more chips in less space because of this unique shape.

Secondly, this shape has nice structural integrity and thus, they are less prone to be broken when carried. Thirdly, and most importantly, it delivers a better eating experience to the consumer.

If you have eaten other chips, especially the unbranded ones, you might have experienced your inner cheeks getting scraped from the irregular shapes. And in the case of food, as much as taste and packaging matter, texture matters equally. Therefore, to derive maximum benefit, Pringles not only took care of the taste but also worked on the shape so that people don’t end up hurting themselves and have a memorable eating experience.

Walmart’s action alley: disrupting shopper’s minds

We'd quickly become fatigued if we had to think thoroughly about every moment of our day. Our brains build shortcuts to avoid being continuously overwhelmed by information. These shortcuts, called ‘’behavioral scripts help us navigate everyday situations. In simple words, a behavioral script is a sequence of things we expect to happen in any situation, based on our routines and habits. These scripts are developed through continuous repetition and since they are in order, we repeat all the time, we come to expect them, and it is exactly this routine that Walmart is disrupting.

?They've designated a section of their store as Action Alley. It's a slew of pallets stacked in the middle of the aisles with products, and this is where the best deals in Walmart is live, and by putting them in the middle of an aisle, (which restricts the flow in the store), Walmart guarantees that people will act on those deals. The principle of psychology that has been used here is called salience bias or the tendency of our brain to pay attention to strikingly different elements of an experience.

If you know of any more such examples, where human psychology is leveraged to drive growth, let me know in the comments.