Psycho-Sensory Principles of Brand-Building

The Attribution BiasFrank Schab | CEO Six-Degrees Brand-Building

01

Attribution refers to the way in which we attribute the cause of our own or others’ behavior.

An attribution bias is a natural tendancy we have when evaluating why people behave the way they do.

“What’s his deal?”

We attribute the cause of our own and others’ behavior to:

External Reasons based on the situation or circumstance

Internal Reasonsbased on the individual characteristics of the person

OR

attribution bias : We tend to attribute the behavior of

others to internal characteristics and our

own behavior to environmental or

external causes.

When we do this we tend to be more forgiving of our own behavior and less so of others.

External Reasons based on the situation or circumstance

Internal Reasonsbased on the individual characteristics of the person

MEYOU

Example 1

Someone is aggressively weaving in and out of traffic to get ahead.

Most people will attribute the cause to something like:

Internal Reasons a) They are self-centered

b) They are an idiot

c) They are an asshole

d) They are intoxicated

e) Any combination of the above

Few would stop to ask themselves whether they are:External Reasons

a) Trying to get to the hospital for an emergency

b) Pursuing a kidnapper who has their child

c) Trying to save a suicidal friend

?

Example 2

A job candidate stumbles slightly on the way into an interview room.

Internal Reasons a) They are clumsy

b) They are unobservant or don’t see well

c) They are nervous or fearful

d) They are intoxicated

e) Any combination of the above

Most people will attribute the cause to something like:

Few would stop to ask themselves whether:External Reasons

a) The threshold is raised

b) Someone just spilled coffee on floor

c) The transition from carpet to concrete may cause uncertainty in one’s step

?

So, what does this mean for brands?

Brands live in our thoughts, perceptions and emotions.

That means when a brand does something, or something happens

to it, that brand is subject to the same attribution bias that affects

how we interpret human behavior.

Bottom Line... If it’s bad, the brand will be blamed.

Attribution Bias for Brands: Internal Reasons

Internal Reasons a) They have poor quality control

b) They value sales over safety

c) Their engineering practices must be substandard

d) They possess faulty software

e) Any combination of the above

Consider: Toyota’s recent unintended acceleration problems...

Internal Reasons a) They have inferior technology & standards

b) They deliberately misinform the public

c) They have inadequate employee training

d) They possessed an inadequate strategy for flight routes

e) Any combination of the above

Consider: Malaysia Airlines’ loss of flights

Internal Reasons a) They must not care about public shootings

b) It’s all about selling guns & not preserving human life

c) They’re out of touch with what’s happening in our culture

d) They are insensitive jerks

e) Any combination of the above

Consider: When the NRA Tweeted “Happy Friday,Shooters” on the day after the Aurora, Coloradoshooting incident…

The Lesson

Because…the public will have the tendency to attribute bad news or behaviors to a brand’s character…

It should…Plan for the negative eventualities and leverage them for the positives!

Frank Schab is CEO of Six Degrees—a unique brand-building

agency that combines psychology-based tools and techniques

with sensory branding methods to achieve better results for

companies. Prior to co-founding Six Degrees in 1999 along with

its signature approach to brand-building called “psycho-sensory,”

Frank held positions at General Motors and Pfizer, served as a

Managing Partner at Interbrand New York, and a VP of Global

Brand Research at Opinion Research Corporation. His distinctive

brand-building work in various sectors including hospitality,

medical device, pharmaceutical, automotive and technology has

taken him to 17 countries on four continents. Frank holds a

doctorate in psychology from Yale University.

PSYCHO-SENSORY BRAND-BUILDING

Psychology-based tools & techniques + sensory branding methods

Learn more at: www.six-degrees.com