In a TED Talk viewed over 3 million times, legendary behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, who we’ve written about before, explores how happiness is perceived very differently by two selves that we all hold: our “experiencing self” and our “remembering self.”
“There is an experiencing self, who lives in the present and knows the present, is capable of re-living the past, but basically it has only the present,” he explains. “And then there is a remembering self, and the remembering self is the one that keeps score, and maintains the story of our life. … Those are two very different entities, the experiencing self and the remembering self, and getting confused between them is part of the mess about the notion of happiness.”
Your experiencing self is always there, living moment by moment. It is most happy spending time with people you like. But the remembering self is a storyteller, weaving a narrative of significant events. It is most happy looking back at highlights.
Why does this matter for stores and brands? Because the remembering self controls decision-making. “We actually don’t choose between experiences; we choose between memories of experiences,” Kahneman notes. Consumers’ experiences are not as important as consumers’ reflections on their experiences.
This idea changes retail strategy.The same goes for cafes and restaurants. If the remembering self controls an experience, the whole experience doesn’t matter—just the story that the person will tell looking back at the experience later. If it’s is marked by bad experiences (confusing layout, products out of stock, bad service, unfriendly staff), those will stick in the memory unless the trip has a happy ending.
“What defines a story are changes, significant moments and endings. Endings are very, very important,” says Kahneman.
The last part of an experience is the most memorable part, so brands and retailers should focus on making the end of an experience in store extra pleasant. Short lines, friendly cashiers, help out to the car, smiles, and thank-yous will lessen any negative associations formed by frustrations earlier in the experience.
Brands also need to think about the remembering self. The end of someone’s experience with a product can have a big influence on whether the customer goes back and buys more or switches to a competitor. If the crackers went stale too quickly or the shampoo lid broke before the bottle was finished, that’s going to be the first thing the customer thinks about.
Kahneman’s insights point to a subtle but important shift in thinking about consumer relations. Instead of asking whether customers had a good experience, you should ask whether customers will have good memories of their experience.
Tags: Behavioral ScienceConsumer BehaviorDecision MakingEmotional ResponseEye TrackingMass MerchantsRetailShelf LayoutShopper Research