Strategygram: Here Are Your Bragging Rights

Could it be that when brands equip us with bragging rights, they are fulfilling our neurologically hard-wired yearnings?

Social norms unfailingly advocate modesty, but see how easily social media channels liberate our peacocking. What’s with us?

In 2012, two Harvard University neuroscientists, Diana Tamir and Jason Mitchell, published a paper titled ‘Disclosing information about the self is intrinsically rewarding’ in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.?

Using fMRI scans and cognitive methods, the neuroscientists conducted five experiments that revealed when we share information about ourselves, the same areas of the brain—the mesolimbic dopamine system—is activated as when we derive pleasure from food, sex, or money.??

When we share information about ourselves, the same areas of the brain—the mesolimbic dopamine system—is activated as when we derive pleasure from food, sex, or money.

In one section of the research study, participants were offered a choice: they could either talk about themselves or get a small amount of money, on a sliding scale, if they answered a few questions about somebody else, such as President Barack Obama.?

“Just as monkeys are willing to forgo juice rewards to view dominant groupmates and college students are willing to give up money to view attractive members of the opposite sex,” the neuroscientists reported, “our participants were willing to forego money to think and talk about themselves.”

Aaah, the sheer joy of talking about somebody truly fascinating—ourselves!—even if, as behavioural scientist Irene Scopelliti and two of her colleagues at City, University of London, concluded through a series of experiments in 2016 “self-promoters significantly over-estimate the extent to which their listeners are happy for them and are proud of them when they brag. And at the same time, they under-estimate how much the recipients are annoyed by their bragging.”

The phenomenon—elegantly referred to as ‘the empathy gap’ by Scopelliti and other behavioural scientists—does remind you, doesn’t it, of the Robert Burns poem written in Scottish:

“O wad some Pow’r the giftie gie us

To see oursels as others see us!

It wad frae monie a blunder free us

An’ foolish notion”

English translation:

“Oh, would some Power give us the gift

To see ourselves as others see us!

It would from many a blunder free us,

And foolish notion”

Robert Burns, excerpted from “To A Louse, On Seeing One on a Lady’s Bonnet at Church”, 1786.

We brag because we are insecure about our social standing and seek social acceptance, or we brag because playing one-upmanship makes us feel better about putting the hearer down. Regardless of the motivation, brands leverage it to create cachet and customers.

For example, do you have a smart tv that works on voice commands? Then it’s not just the tv that’s smart—you are a smart shopper too. Your tv has conferred bragging rights.

But here’s the point: people often pay more for product specifications they don’t fully understand or are unlikely to use, just in the hope of obtaining a purchase they can swagger about.

“The first thing many digital camera buyers consider is megapixels,” say four behavioural scientists in their paper, ‘Specification Seeking: How Product Specifications Influence Consumer Preference’ published in?Journal of Consumer Research, April 2009.?

“In reality, beyond a certain threshold (around 2 megapixels), the resolution (sharpness) of a digital camera, for most amateur consumers, matters little to their experiences, and other features, such as portability and image vividness, become relatively more important. Yet the presence of specifications such as the megapixel ratings leads consumers to pursue megapixels by spending extra money or by sacrificing other features.”

Recognising the desire of consumers to signal social status, some brands astutely modulate their brand cues so that they can simultaneously attract the wannabes on one side and the?cognoscenti?on the other.?

Recognising the desire of consumers to signal social status, some brands astutely modulate their brand cues so that they can simultaneously attract the wannabes on one side and the?cognoscenti?on the other.?

For example, a German luxury car brand places a larger logo on its low-priced models aimed at entry-level buyers than it does on its high-priced models meant for the genuinely rich. Then again, a pre-eminent Italian fashion house charges?less?for handbags that feature its logo prominently and?more?for its handbags with a subtler logo presence.?

A famous Italian leather goods brand goes even further: “Luxurious leather goods, made using a particular?intrecciato weaving technique, became the first products of the brand, and over time, their business card. Each product, from the bag to the smallest accessory, was made entirely by hand by the craftsmen, thus making limitations, exceptional quality, and justifiably high cost an integral part of the brand.…The brand never needed a logo—the highest quality and unique weave ensured brand recognition. In support of this idea, the slogan ‘When your own initials are enough’ appeared, which explained the absence of a logo and the general concept of the brand.”

That company’s two founders pioneered, in the late 1960s, an intricate weaving technique called?intrecciato?where, say, a leather handbag is woven entirely as a single piece instead of the handbag being produced through the common practice of stitching together leather pieces. The brand situates it logo discreetly?only inside?the handbag, radiating the attitude that if you can’t identify the brand by its signature-level craftsmanship, then it isn’t for you.?

The brand radiates the attitude that if you can’t identify the brand by its signature-level craftsmanship, then it isn’t for you.?

Why does the price of a brand go up when its logo is sized down? “Analysis of multiple product categories, indicates an inverted-U relationship between price and the presence of logos or brand names: High-end products are actually less likely to contain such clear brand markers,” note two professors, Jonah Berger and Morgan Ward, in their 2010 paper titled, ‘Subtle Signals of Inconspicuous Consumption’.?

Their research “explains this seeming inconsistency through social identity and distinction” and goes on to state “Mainstream consumers prefer explicitly marked products which are widely recognisable symbols of prestige. Consequently, insiders prefer subtle markers that differentiate them from the mainstream and thus facilitate communication with others in the know.”

Soft, subtle signals or loud, look-at-me signals—which ones are right for your brand? That depends not only on your brand’s purpose, positioning, and personality but also on the context of the specific attribute one is considering. A loud roar from the engine of a sports car is?de rigueur; in a luxury car, a soft purr will do nicely.??

When your brand acquires attributes and associations that attract attention and prompt mention, the consumer gains a better social return on her investment. ‘Brag’ may be a four-letter word in polite company—the word comes from the Old Norse word?braka, meaning ‘to creak noisily’, and thence to the Middle English?braggen?conveying “to make a loud noise; to speak boastfully”—but the social trend towards Insta-worthy purchases and experiences cannot be laughed off. Even holiday destinations are chosen by tourists based on the Instagrammability of experiences on offer.?

When your brand acquires attributes and associations that attract attention and prompt mention, the consumer gains a better social return on her investment.

The nature of the customer’s bragging ranges from the humble brag, where a boast is tinged with a self-belittling complaint to take the edge off—“It’s crazy what it costs to maintain a sports car these days” (translation: “I own an expensive sports car”)—to the bore’s wearying bragathon.?

Nevertheless, it’s useful to ascertain where your brand ranks on your Customers’ Bragging Index and how you can up its ratings. People are neurologically designed to brag, even if they cheekily deny that inclination, as that iconoclastic multi-billionaire CEO—one of the richest people in the world—did in his Tweet on November 19, 2021: “Don’t want to brag but…I’m the best at humility.”

Sattar Khan

This Strategygram titled ‘Here Are Your Bragging Rights’ is part of the series I’ve created where each Strategygram condenses one strategic thought into one image.?

The series is a visual guide to strategic thinking and provides handy image prompts for brand strategy workouts.??

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