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System 1 and System 2 Thinking

Let’s begin by talking about why persuasion triggers work. It all comes down to human neurology.

In his book, Thinking Fast and Slow, Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman wrote about the two systems that control the way we humans think.

Every moment of the day, we use either “System 1” or “System 2” thinking.

System 1 is our auto-pilot. It’s fast, automatic, and emotional.. These are the reactions we make without thinking about them. You see something moving toward you quickly—a bee or maybe a poorly thrown baseball—and you flinch or duck and blink without even thinking. That is system 1. And it runs our brain and thinking most of the time. 

System 2 kicks in when we do things that require deeper consideration… like filling out a tax form, following a new and unfamiliar recipe, setting up a home entertainment system, or even researching and writing that new copy assignment you have. Nothing about system 2 is automatic. It is deliberative and slow…. It’s a little bit more rational, but not much. And it works hard and tires easily… and because of that, we’re content to let system 1 do most of our thinking for us. 

Your system 1 can easily come up with the answer to 2+2, but it takes system 2 to work out a problem like 13×17.

Here’s a short exercise that demonstrates the difference between system 1 and system 2.

Look at the words on the screen.

As you read each one, say the name of the color instead of the word you see.

This test measures the Stroop Effect. 

System 1 is lazy. It just wants to read the word, which is simple.

It takes more concentration from System 2 to override your initial desire to read the word and say the color the word is printed in.

System 1 acts based on cognitive models we use to understand the world. Or, in plain English, it processes new information by comparing it to what we have experienced in the past.

It looks for shortcuts to make quick decisions.

This is why, when given the choice between several investment options, most people simply go with the default recommendation. And why you reach for familiar products in the grocery store—even when other products may be cheaper or better. These choices don’t require the hard work of figuring out which options are best. The default is easier.

This is why as copywriters we highlight the best option for our clients when we send over multiple packages in a proposal. Options are good, but most of the time your prospects just want the default recommendation from you, the expert. They don’t want to use System 2 and decipher the differences between 3 copywriting packages. Make it simple for them.

This is also why you might hurry to book a flight or hotel room when you see there are only a few spots left at a particular price. Maybe you’ll find a better price if you keep looking, but what if you don’t? And besides, that’s a lot of work. Better to just book now. It’s easier.

When we see other people purchasing a particular product, System 1 tells us it’s may be a good idea if we do the same. At the very least we shouldn’t buy the other options that no one else is considering. There must be a reason for that, right? It’s easier. We’ll get into why this works so well in the segment about social proof in the next module.

Persuasion is all about making things easier for your prospect and using the triggers that system 1 automatically kicks into gear for.

In the next segment, we’ll talk about the two kinds of triggers you must use whenever you need to be persuasive.