🚀 Psychological Codex
How to go from 0 knowledge to mastery in 1 reading...
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Many times, it's NOT WHAT you do, but HOW you do it! 🤔
When I was 20 years old, I was given a book that had a huge impact on me. (Although I didn't know it at the time)
I hesitated to even read it. It was written by a psychologist and I had no interest in Psychology. ❌
I had it in my head that psychology was simply a way of understanding people who had something wrong with them. I thought of it as a humbug, a quack thing. 😒
I couldn't have been further from the truth...
The book was none other than "The Influence" by Robert Cialdini. 📕
If you're interested in what we're working so hard on and how it can accelerate your progress, check out this Link:
But before I tell you how a simple psychological trick has saved billions of dollars. Before that, let's look at... 👀
🚀 How's the challenge?
🎧 The Playlists are ready
Many of you have asked for a similar feature so that you don't have to choose a new book every 15 minutes while travelling. You're absolutely right! 🚗
Because we've also experienced the Roadtrip... 😅
So, Kokesz and Edu have taken on this task and the design is ready! Everyone will be able to create their own Albums = Playlists and even share their own. 😏
🤝 Offline Event for BookBase Members
I would like to organize an offline meeting in August in Budapest, where everyone can get to know each other. We could chat, build REAL relationships and much more.🫂
I've already started brainstorming about who to invite as guests, where to have it, etc. But it's still in its infancy! 👶🏼
If you have any ideas or suggestions, I'd love to hear them! ✏️
I don't know ticket prices yet, but it's possible it will be Free. Or free for BookBase members, and discounted for OM followers. We will figure that out, but 1-2.000 Ft max. Just to cover the space. 🎟
🎁 The presents have arrived
If you send the Blog to your friends and they subscribe, you can REALLY win valuable prizes! 🤪
🧭 Targeting Workbook - 1 Invitation
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Go for it! 🏆
🔥 We really want to release the new Streak System
It's just that there's always a quick fix or a new feature that we're halfway done with and we can't fully release it until then. But I promise you that there will be a lot of new things in the next Update! ✅
Good things are worth waiting for anyway! ⏳
💡 Side note: Since we're going to be talking about psychology, I'll shoot this joke in advance. When something takes longer to get done, people appreciate it more. It becomes more valuable in their eyes. But I have to say, that's not why we're doing this!
🇨🇭 The duality of Switzerland
We are now in the Lausanne region. Which is naturally beautiful, but the people are very mixed. Being close to France we met quite a lot of African people. Lots of filth on the streets, homeless people, etc. 😕
Whereas the area around Lucerne was the complete opposite. Calm, beautiful, clean! It was interesting to experience this in just a few days. 🌸
Let's just say that the wealth shows here too, our Airbnb owner has a covered Lamborghini Aventador in his garage. 🏎
Now, if I was a fake mentor, I'd take a few pictures to put on my Instagram for a few months. 😏
Okay, now we can start! 🏁
💭 Why is it important to understand Psychology?
Because we can easily understand people if we understand psychology. 🧠
Why is it good for Us?
🚀 It can help you start a business,
❣️ It can help you get to know people,
🤝 To build relationships,
💰 Negotiating,
👥 And about anywhere in life where you come into contact with people.
Most people - especially women - don't make decisions based on logic, they are driven by emotion. And how someone feels can be easily influenced. 👀
Let me give you an example (this is one of my favorites):
There's an express train between Paris and London that takes 3.5 hours. The managers of the train company figured out that they had to make this journey more inviting somehow, because few people travelled by train. The engineers, after 15 years of planning, came up with 1 plan that would have cost £6 BILLION and cut journey times by 40 minutes. They would have replaced tracks, wires, etc. 🚄
If you ask me, I'm not sure that's the best way to make this trip more inviting. The above proposal is based on simple logic. 🧠
But how about looking at it another way... 👁
What if we hired male and female top models, dressed in skimpy attire, to hand out free beer on the 3.5-hour journey? 👱🏼♀️
I think quite a few people would think that suddenly the journey would be short! 😏
But if we keep it real.
How about free Wi-Fi, more comfortable chairs and bigger windows to make the journey more enjoyable. 🆓
Well, that's exactly what happened and we managed to save £5 BILLION. The journey was the same length, only the surroundings were different! 😳
The journey was NOT long by default, it was BORING. 🥱
I was simply shocked when I read this example! After that I wanted to learn more and more about psychology, because... 😨
It is exactly this kind of Marketing that has always attracted me!
I just didn't know it was called that!
I clearly remember 1 year ago I was spinning TikTok and I was confronted with a video where I was told the exact same example by a cranky, old, weird guy. 🎅🏼
I knew the end of the story in my head, but I listened to it again anyway.
The example was the same, but the ending shocked me, it turned out that this old gentleman was the creator of this project. He had invented the solution. 😳
He was none other than Rory Sutherland!
I immediately googled him, watched 5-6 videos featuring him and fell even more in love with Psychology. Within 1 hour I had bought his book "Alchemy" which also made a big impression on me. 📔
I've never heard of anyone using Psychology in Marketing so well! ❌
📕 Book Recommendation: His book "Alchemy" is simply brilliant! It's also summarized in BookBase above, but I wouldn't be surprised if you order the full one after listening!
But the rough part is that Psychology is "universal" so to speak, so what works in Marketing works in a negotiation and can work in a conversation. 😉
Let's see... 👀
🧐 How can you do it well?
Now I'm going to take on the IMPOSSIBLE and try to give you all the principles of Psychology you need to know. 🙃
By the end of this chapter, you will understand:
😈 How big companies influence you,
🍷 Why more expensive wines taste better,
😎 And how you can position yourself perfectly!
Let's start with the basics from Cialdini.
📕 Book recommendations: In his book "Influence", he lays out 6 basic principles that are used in marketing. I explain them in more detail here. Of course, you can also find this summary in the BookBase under the title " Influence ".
1. Reciprocity: give something to get something in return. 🎁
If you give something to a person, they will want to give something back - as soon as possible - because they will have a guilty conscience. 🤔
This is exactly why they give you a chocolate "for free" and then ask you to support XY charity.
Or, like the street vendors in Rome, they give you a bracelet "for free" and then ask you to at least pay for their coffee (which is more expensive than the bracelet itself). 😅
💡 Side note: Street vendors are particularly dangerous, as they have developed these skills to a master level over the years. And be especially careful with street perfume vendors, they are the FINAL BOSS! 🤯
Commitment: people want their beliefs to be in line with their values. 🫡
The principle of commitment says that people care about being consistent. 🫵🏼
Once we have made a public commitment to something or someone, we are much more likely to stick to it and deliver (so we are consistent). 🙏🏻
Suppose you are a mediocre student, not very interested in school and don't pay attention to your grades. But overnight, your parents, teachers and friends start telling you that you are a good student and that you are getting more and more diligent.
Because you hear it from everyone, you slowly come to believe it yourself, so you have a conviction that you are a good student. So, your values must match, ergo you will start learning more yourself to support this belief. 🤔
But, to give another example:
In America, they campaigned against speeding in a suburb and asked the residents if they could put up a 1-meter sign in their garden saying so: DON'T DRIVE FAST!❌
All it took was a few people agreeing to have a big sign cluttering up their garden. But here's the twist. Those who didn't go along were asked if they would at least put a 10-centimeter sticker in their window.
Many said yes (ergo they committed to it). Then after 1 month they asked again if they could put the sign up and a large proportion of people said YES! 😳
I used to do this (subconsciously) when my parents didn't want to let me go on a 1-week holiday with the boys on my own. But before I did, I asked if I could go somewhere else for 3 days with the boys. They let me go there and then I asked again at 1 week and they said yes. 🏝
Because they had already let me go on a similar one once, so they wanted to be consistent.
3. Social proof: Nothing is better than when others confirm a decision. ⭐️
We tend to choose the option that more people have already chosen. That's why if there are 2 online stores that sell specifically the same thing, but one has 1,000 reviews and the other only 1, you'll buy from the 1,000. 🛒
Because others have validated it for you and confirmed your decision.
A typical example is when pop-ups pop up in the bottom left of web shops that XY has just bought the same product.
There is 400+ reviews on this product. ⭐️
Or that 38,000 young people are reading this blog. This is also a Social Proof, because if you are so sure that 38.000 people can't be wrong at the same time, then there is really something useful in this. 😏
Consideration 4: Listen to me, because I have more experience. 🤵🏽♂️
We tend to listen to people who have more authority on a subject.
This is exactly why dentists are in toothpaste commercials, because on that subject, they are the "most authoritative". I write this because in such commercials they are either dressed up as doctors or they are "paid off". 👩🏼⚕️
💡 Side note: In Hungary, the second one is typical, because I know that my mother is a prominent dentist and she has been approached a few times to be in these commercials, but she didn't want to put her face on something she didn't believe in.
That's why a lot of Fake Mentors rent full size cars because that's the Prestige they want to get. To make young people think he's worth listening to because I can be one. 🤡
😅 Fun Fact: People act differently towards you when you're dressed up. Try it for real. They are much nicer because they think you are higher up in the social hierarchy and can help THEM.
5. Like: the more you like someone, the more you listen to them. 👍🏼
There's also a rule that you have to see someone 7 times online to decide if you like them or not. After that, you will either unfollow them or watch them more.
That's why a lot of people produce a lot of content, to be in front of people's eyes all the time. They just don't realize that all the worthless stuff will make people NOT like you. 😵💫
Indirectly, but that's what happens at this blog. I'm simply organizing my thoughts and writing them down in case they are useful to YOU. And then some people come along at the right time and like me because of it. 🙏🏻
So, now if another guy would publish a BookBase like ours, even if it would be a bit better. But you would most likely subscribe to ours because you already know me and trust me more than some random guy. 🫵🏼
At least I hope so! 😉
6. Scarcity: if you think you're short of something... you want it even more! 😩
That's man, always wanting what he can't have. Therefore, if you have little of something, you want it even more!
There are several things at play here, because if you have little of it, then a lot of people have already bought it.
Ergo - Social Evidence 😉
This is perfectly exploited by Booking.com and low-cost airlines. They get fined tens of millions of forints a year for false claims, but it's still worth it. 😈
A typical example:
✈️ Only 2 seats left
🏡 3 people looking at the same accommodation
And etc.
If you see something like this, don't be in a hurry because the above statement is most likely not true on these sites. They are just trying to rush you.
That's what we used to do at OM Merck, only we were NOT faking. ✅
There were really only 20 of the sweaters.Since there were only 20, but 130 people wanted them, they were upsold and sold out quickly. If it had been 130, it might have sold out, but much slower and not at all, with so much hype around it. 🔥
+1 Urgency: now or NEVER! ⏰
We tend to make rash decisions when we are pressed for time.
That's why we tend to see ultra-big countdowns in web shops and surreal discounts. Because we only see the discount and the countdown and we buy. 💸
We don't look elsewhere because we "don't have time". In the meantime, it can be much cheaper elsewhere.
Anytime you get a flash sale email, it's worth checking if it's really worth it, does it really only last until the countdown and is there really no better alternative? 🤔
💡 Side note: If you're on a site with a giant countdown timer and it shows less than 24 hours it's worth refreshing the page or opening it from a private browser, because often these are evergreen countdown timers. Ergo, if you reload it, it will start again...
Before we move on to Rory Sutherland's tricks, it's important to note that these Psychological Tricks are NOT evil if you are NOT fooling people. ❌
The only time they are spineless is if you are deliberately trying to fool people into making rash decisions and buying your terrible product. 🤮
I learned this from Rory Sutherland:
If you want to do psychology, you need to understand 2 things:
context 🫥
and the underlying motivations 🫣
Going back to the train example, context depends on who is on the train. If they were just 80-year-old old ladies, Top Model ladies with beer might not be a good campaign.🥴
And the underlying motivation was enjoyment not speed. Passengers were not interested in the ride being fast, they were interested in NOT being boring! 🥱
Often the problem is not what we think it is.
This is the thinking I need to master even more in developing the BookBase. 🧠
It may well be that users want NOT longer summaries, but better tasks to incorporate into their lives. But this is just a hypothesis, not yet proven. 😉
I'll bring some more examples from Rory, which help me a lot:
1. London taxi drivers 🚖
London is full of old Black cabs. And Londoners prefer to use them, even if they are marginally more expensive. 🚓
Because in order to drive a black cab you have to pass a test called "The Knowledge". In which you have to memorize 25,000 streets and take the fastest route to get there, by heart! 🧠
The failure rate is 70% and 4 years to prepare for it. ❌
Once you pass and get your certificate you are an official Taxi Driver. But there is a proviso, if you are caught taking a passenger on a longer route on purpose, you will lose your license. 😳
Honestly who would risk 4 years for a few thousand forints.
That's how you know you can trust these people! 😉
2. The famous Lee Ho Fook restaurant 🍣
This Chinese restaurant is located in London's China town and for a long time was famous for being a mindless jerk when it came to serving. So much so, that it has become a widespread and tourist attraction that people are so rude. 🤬
I think there's a restaurant of similar caliber in the highlands, maybe called the Peasant Restaurant or something like that, where people are also captivated by it. 👨🏼🌾
3. Is more expensive wine really better? 🍷
Studies show no, well NOT noticeably. Only really professional tasters can tell the difference. ❌
The average person will like the wine better that was more expensive. Because expensive is good, at least that's what they associate it with. 💰
Extra points if they pour it for you from a big massive bottle. 🍾
4. "Redbull tastes like..." ⚡️
Urine! 💦
This is what they said at the tasting before they released Redbull.
But, how dare they still release it after all that. Well, the answer is simple!
They said Redbull gives you lots of energy and can keep you awake. 😳
Only drugs could do that. 💊
And drugs - in general - do NOT taste good. ❌
So, the only way Redbull could be authentic was if his drink didn't taste good either! Otherwise, people wouldn't have imagined it. 🤢
💡Side note: Redbull does give you energy because of the caffeine and taurine, but almost as much as other energy drinks. It's a placebo that makes you feel like you have more energy.
If even those weren't enough, I've got some rules from your book:
Okay, before I overload your brain, it's time to see...🧠
✅ What exactly do you do?
[ ] First step, if you're interested in psychology, listen to "Preconditioning" + "Alchemy" at BookBase. Don't be fooled by the same thing as "Effect" just name it that way. 🎧
[ ] Step two, keep your eyes open and notice where they are trying to influence you in your daily life. Also look at whether they are trying to trick you or just lead you to action. 👁
[ ] Step three, look at what problems you have in your everyday life, write them down on a list. 📝
[ ] Step four, see if you can apply Psychology to them in some way. Remember "Many times the problem is not what we think it is". Train example. 🧠
[ ] Step five, find a solution and try it in real life to see if it works. ✅
[ ] Step six, if you want to dig deeper into the subject, read these 3 books in full:
Influence - Robert Cialdini
Alchemy - Rory Sutherland
Evolutionary Psychology - David M. Buss
📕Book Recommendation: David M. Buss is in the TOP 10 most cited psychologists in the world. His book "Evolutionary Psychology" is not even published in English, but we have translated it and summarized its essence. It is the textbook of renowned universities abroad on this subject. It is 518 pages long, but only 21 minutes in BookBase. 🎧
Improve your theoretical knowledge and practice what you learn in real life. Psychology is one of those fields that you can universally use almost anywhere. So, it's worth investing the time to learn it. 🧠
I have since bought my brother the book "Alchemy" and he has read it too. 📔
For me, Rory Sutherland is the first Marketing Guru I would learn from anywhere anytime, I've listened to almost all the podcasts he's been on to squeeze every bit of knowledge out of him. 🎙
I know this was a bit specific, but I hope I could tell you something new and you can apply it in your life too. 🙏🏻
🔥 Challenge
I continue to really enjoy the blog. I like that I can write my opinions on certain topics without filters. Probably the biggest CHALLENGE for me right now is to find topics that you are struggling with and respond to them. 📝
So, I will post an Instagram poll where everyone can post their questions and problems. Then I will summarize and write 1-1 long blog article about the bigger trends. ❓
I must add that it is not easy to find good topics! 🧐
📖 What have I read now?
I successfully read "Traction" and wrote up 35 ways to make BookBase even more popular. 🚀
There are 1 or 2 very despicable ideas, but I think they're worth it.
And there will be a few that you can do to make money too, but more on that later!
Granted, I haven't incorporated everything from "Traction" yet, but I did bring 1 more book to Roadtrip called "Measure What Matters" by John Doerr. 🎯
While Traction helped a lot in marketing, I think this will help in product development.
It's all about how to set goals, effectively!
🎧 What have I just listened to?
It was more of a conversation than listening, but lots of it! Kinga and the guys and I talked about all our plans, both personal and BookBase. 🙏🏻
We already know what kind of house we want, where we want to live, how Kokesz hates the cold and much more! 🥶
And one more important thing. I had a call with my friend Bence Babics, who helped me to find both Kokesz and Edu back in the day. I clearly remember 1.5 years ago we had the same conversation. I was talking about how great it would be to have a development team, and he was talking about how much he would like to do it, but he just didn't know what. 🥳
It's been 1.5 years, I have an amazing team, and he became an entrepreneur yesterday. Congratulations Bence and thank you for your support so far! 🔥
Keep up the good work, it's a long way up but the view is beautiful! 😉
✍🏼 Top quote
"A simple change of perspective can sometimes be worth 80 IQ points." ~ Rory Sutherland