61 episodes

Customer and user behaviors can seem irrational. Shaped by mental shortcuts and psychological biases, their actions often appear random and unpredictable.

So what’s a marketer or entrepreneur to do?

In the Choice Hacking podcast, we uncover the psychology behind the world’s best marketing, using examples (and cautionary tales) to help us figure out what makes buyers tick.

Choice Hacking Jennifer L. Clinehens

    • Business
    • 5.0 • 8 Ratings

Customer and user behaviors can seem irrational. Shaped by mental shortcuts and psychological biases, their actions often appear random and unpredictable.

So what’s a marketer or entrepreneur to do?

In the Choice Hacking podcast, we uncover the psychology behind the world’s best marketing, using examples (and cautionary tales) to help us figure out what makes buyers tick.

    Greatest Hits: How Starbucks Used Psychology to Become the World's Biggest Coffee Chain

    Greatest Hits: How Starbucks Used Psychology to Become the World's Biggest Coffee Chain

    Starbucks has created the biggest coffee brand in history, by repositioning the humble cup of joe into a premium product that introduced coffee culture to millions around the world.

    As former CEO Howard Schultz put it: “Starbucks has a role and a meaningful relationship with people that is not only about the coffee.”

    But how did they grow so big, so fast? Turns out it's not just the caffeine that get people addicted to Starbucks.

    In this replay of one of my top-downloaded episodes, I'm pulling the lid off the behavioral science and psychology principles that make Starbucks' customer experience so special.

    • 11 min
    The UNTOLD story of why Kmart failed

    The UNTOLD story of why Kmart failed

    It’s one of the biggest FAILS in business history - Kmart.

    You may think you know the story -


    But contrary to popular belief, Kmart’s problems were way bigger than Walmart or even Amazon.

    And actually, lots of them weren’t even Kmart’s fault.

    I’m Jennifer Clinehens and you’re listening to Choice Hacking - a podcast about applying behavioral science and psychology to business, marketing, experience design, and more.

    Join me on this episode of the Choice Hacking podcast, as we unpack the psychology behind one of the biggest business failures ever - Kmart.

    The thinking traps they fell for, the psychological mistakes they made - and how WE can learn from their errors to improve our own businesses and brands.

    • 12 min
    How a tiny perfume company used psychology to take over the world

    How a tiny perfume company used psychology to take over the world

    Jo Malone, a popular British perfume brand (also the name of its founder), wanted to crack the lucrative U.S. market.

    These days, Jo Malone is a part of the $52B beauty conglomerate Estée Lauder.

    But when it first tried to expand into the U.S. it was… a cult brand to put it politely. And they had the marketing budget to match:

    Zero.

    But Jo Malone managed to turn that true $0 marketing budget into an asset that catapulted the brand into the world’s most exclusive department stores - like Bergdorf’s in New York and Harrod’s in London.

    And that growth didn’t happen by accident.

    It was down to deeply understanding customers and  using behavioral science and psychology - consciously or not - to get people buying.

    Join me (Jen Clinehens) today as I unpack the psychology behind Jo Malone's massive success.

    • 12 min
    Greatest Hits: The Cobra Effect or, When Your Best Intentions Backfire

    Greatest Hits: The Cobra Effect or, When Your Best Intentions Backfire

    Many years ago in India, the story goes, there was a cobra infestation in the city of Delhi.

    So the British - who were running the place at the time - created a bounty for cobra skins.

    They thought by offering a reward for dead cobras, the public would solve the snake problem.

    But instead of capturing feral cobras and killing them, people started farming cobras for their skins.

    The British eventually got wise to the cobra-farming industry, and canceled the bounty.

    But with no bounties to collect, the cobra farmers set their snakes free in the city —  making the infestation even worse than before.

    It’s from this likely ahistorical story that the so-called Cobra Effect gets its name.

    Join me today as we examine the Cobra Effect. The systems that have fallen victim to it and how you - and your brand - can outsmart it.

    • 7 min
    How Duolingo Used Psychology to Make Learning Addictive

    How Duolingo Used Psychology to Make Learning Addictive

    Duolingo is one of the world’s most successful learning-based businesses. In 2023, it made nearly half a billion dollars in revenue (a 46% increase from the year prior) and had 16.3M daily active users.

    Maybe its success isn’t surprising — there are lots of reasons to want to learn a new language:

    Maybe you’re planning a trip abroad, you’d like to improve your job prospects, or you were inspired by a popular movie or show.

    But here’s Duolingo’s big challenge:

    It’s easy to be excited about starting a learning journey. But it’s much harder to stick with learning than most people think.

    But Duolingo has been remarkably successful keeping people engaged with digital learning. They boast a daily active user retention rate of about 55%.

    Why?

    Because they use psychology and behavioral science to keep us learning.

    Join me (Jen Clinehens) today as I unpack the psychology behind Duolingo's massive success.

    • 14 min
    Greatest Hits: How Costco used psychology to become the world's 3rd largest retailer

    Greatest Hits: How Costco used psychology to become the world's 3rd largest retailer

    In 1983, two entrepreneurs - Jim Sinegal and Jeffrey Brotman open the first Costco warehouse in Seattle, Washington.

    From those humble beginnings, Costco grew to become one of the most powerful forces in global retail, with revenues that make Walmart and Amazon its closest competitors.

    With 118M+ members spread across 14 countries, they're the undisputed kings of bulk buy and their customers are cultishly devoted to its deals.

    Join me today while I unpack some of the many ways Costco used psychology and behavioral science to become the world's 3rd largest retailer.

    (Next week we'll be back with an all new episode of the podcast, but until then please enjoy this recast of my of my most popular episodes from the Choice Hacking archives)

    • 10 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
8 Ratings

8 Ratings

adavedreaming ,

Instantly fell in love with this podcast

As a former psychology student and now marketer, I’m thrilled to hear Jen talking about how companies successfully use behavioral sciences to improve their product and services. Every week, this podcast will give you useful tips and insights, ready to use in your own work. Same thing happens with the newsletter. Jen, keep up the great work!

AwwwShucks1979 ,

Fantastic mini learning stories

Quickly becoming one of my favorites podcasts. I work in education & awareness of cyber risks for employees and have studied these concepts over the years. Great overviews!

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