16-marketing-psychology-global

name	16-marketing-psychology-global
description	Use when persuasion principles have to be applied to a specific asset — reciprocity, scarcity, authority, social proof, liking, commitment, and unity mapped onto copy, a landing page, an email, or an ad, each with a hypothesis and a test plan. Trigger on 'marketing psychology', 'Cialdini', 'persuasion principles', 'how do I add urgency', 'make this more convincing', 'behavioral triggers for this page'. Also use when the user asks why people read the whole page and still do not buy. Not for — price framing and margin math, see `17-pricing-strategy-global`; building the offer itself, see `31-offer-design-global`; running the experiment properly, see `19-ab-test-setup-global`.
metadata	{"version":"1.0.1","category":"strategy","language":"en"}
license	MIT
triggers	["marketing psychology","Cialdini","persuasion principles","consumer psychology","behavioral marketing"]
output	A .md file containing 1–2 selected psychology principles applied to specific marketing assets (copy, landing page, email, ad), with hypotheses and an A/B test plan
related	["product-marketing-context-global","05-ad-copy-global","09-customer-insight-global","17-pricing-strategy-global"]

Marketing Psychology (Global)

Apply behavioral science to marketing without manipulation. Real psychology beats fake urgency every time.

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For Newbies

Before diving in: marketing psychology is not about tricking people. It's about removing friction from a decision the prospect already wants to make.

If your product is bad, no Cialdini trick will save it. If your product is good, these principles help the right people say "yes" faster — and feel good about it afterwards.

The two failure modes:

1. Underuse — you write robotic copy with zero emotional triggers, prospects feel nothing, they bounce.
2. Overuse — you stack 7 fake-scarcity countdowns, fake reviews, and fake authority badges, and trust collapses.

Pick 1–2 principles per asset. Make them honest. Test them.

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Step 0 — Read Context

Read .agents/product-marketing-context.md if it exists. The product, audience, and brand voice should drive principle selection — not the other way around.

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Step 1 — Information Gathering

Ask up to 3 questions before writing:

1. Where will this be applied? (Ad copy / Landing page / Email / Video script / Social post / Pricing page)
2. Goal? (Increase conversion / Reduce hesitation / Build trust / Justify price / Drive urgency)
3. Audience temperature? (Cold / Warm / Hot — different temperatures need different triggers)

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The 7 Principles (Cialdini, applied globally)

1. Reciprocity

Principle: People feel obligated to give back when they receive something of value first.

When to use:

• Top-of-funnel (cold audience) — hand out value before asking for anything
• Building an email list — lead magnet (template, checklist, mini-course)
• Re-engagement — gift to dormant customers before re-pitching

International examples:

• HubSpot — gives away free CRM, blog, courses, and academy certifications. Converts a small % to paid Marketing Hub. Probably the cleanest reciprocity flywheel in B2B.
• Spotify Wrapped — annual gift of personalized data. Drives massive social sharing and retention.
• IKEA — free meatballs in the cafeteria, free in-store kid daycare. Reciprocity at retail.