The Availability Heuristic, Sharks, and Your Marketing

The availability heuristic is a rule set used by the brain to recall and label information, which can cause a lot of biases. Big brands can take advantage of this by repeatedly exposing images to create the mere exposure effect. Smaller brands, however, can be more effective by helping their audience with their problems.

The mere exposure effect is when the peak of liking something is reached after 10-20 exposures. Awareness advertising is simply showing up to make people aware, but it may not be enough. Sharks are an example of the availability heuristic as the media coverage of shark attacks has significantly skewed people's opinion of them.

To be successful, marketers should understand search intent and show up to help their customers consistently along their awareness journey. This will help them become more memorable and profitable ethically.