Nudge Wiki

Person

Richard Shotton

Author, The Choice Factory; behavioral science consultant

Author of The Choice Factory, the best-selling book applying behavioral science to advertising; 19 years working on brand accounts before moving into research and writing for titles including Marketing Week, Campaign, and Quartz. Guest across five episodes: habit destabilization, distinctiveness in advertising, scarcity, and (referenced rather than interviewed) charm pricing and the fundamental attribution error. His Von Restorff, Skittles, and Black Friday material resurfaces in the year-end recap. Referenced again (not interviewed) in Episode 68 for the Magic Castle Hotel's "popsicle hotline" as an example of the Peak-End Rule, and in Episode 70 for the Hans Brinker Budget Hotel's self-deprecating ad campaign as an example of the Pratfall Effect. Referenced again in Episode 76 for the Bob Bob Ricard champagne button and a 12-brand recall study on distinctiveness, and in Episode 79 for a modern replication of Solomon Asch's 1946 trait-order study, using a fictional vodka brand.

Returning guest across Episodes 136 and 138, promoting his second book The Illusion of Choice, which Phill Agnew calls the best behavioural science book he read that year. Episode 136 covers the Generation Effect (Audience Participation) — including Shotton's own 415-person replication of the 1978 Graf and Slamecka study with brand names (see Shotton Trahan Brand Recall Generation-Effect Study), the Economist "management trainee, aged 42" ad, question-framed advertising, and the cork-versus-screw-cap wine study extending the IKEA Effect. His framing of the apparent contradiction with "make it easy" nudging: to change behavior remove friction, to change perception add a little. He also argues a study should be treated as a springboard for creative thinking rather than a straitjacket to copy literally.

Episode 138 covers the Precision Effect and pricing — Santos's pique effect, Schindler's believability study, Dyson's 5,127 prototypes, Heinz's 57 varieties, Uber's surge multipliers, present-preference pricing, extremeness aversion, and menu price ordering. It also contains his most useful methodological advice: hold findings on a continuum from well-replicated to one-off and match your spend to where a finding sits (see Replicability Crisis). He runs the consultancy Astroten ([astroten.co.uk](https://www.astroten.co.uk/)), which has applied behavioural science for Brewdog, Meta and KFC, and runs paid workshops for marketers.

Referenced again in Episode 174 for his favorite real-world Pratfall Effect example — Iain Banks insisting on mixed positive-and-negative reviews on his debut novel's cover (see Iain Banks Wasp Factory Mixed-Reviews Case). And again in Episode 180's pricing recap, re-cited for per-day price framing, charm pricing (with Boyd's 2023 chocolate taste-test), and the precise-number effect (see Shotton Payment Timeframe Framing Study, Charm Pricing Meta-Analysis and Chocolate Taste Study).

Re-cited twice more in Episode 217's Steve Jobs recap: his South London pub "best-selling beer" sign, here described as increasing sales "2.5 times" versus the original page's "doubled" (see Shotton Pub Beer Social Proof Study), and his 12-logo fast-food-recall study, misattributed there to Von Restorff's 1933 original rather than his own 2016 replication (see Shotton Fast-Food Brand Recall Study).

Re-cited again in Episode 220 for the alliteration study's exact 7%/22% figures, applied there to explain why marketers more easily spotted AI-generated copy for an alliterative headline than for plainer ones (see Bromley Stanley Shotton Alliteration Study, Nudge Podcast Inbound AI-Copy Quiz Experiment).

Returning guest promoting his third book, Hacking the Human Mind (Episode 263, first of several consecutive episodes). Covers Five Guys' origin story and the Dilution Effect (Multiple-Claim Credibility Discount) (see Five Guys Menu-Specialization Growth Case), Kraft's stealth mac-and-cheese reformulation (see Kraft 2016 Mac and Cheese Stealth Reformulation Case), a beer-tasting order-of-disclosure study (see Lee Frederick Ariely 2006 MIT Brew Beer Study), and Starbucks' Pumpkin Spice Latte as a deliberate scarcity/habituation strategy alongside Cadbury's Creme Egg reversal and a gift-voucher expiry study (see Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Scarcity Case, Cadbury Creme Egg Seasonal Scarcity Reversal Case, Xu Genisi 2010 Gift Voucher Expiry Study).

Continues promoting Hacking the Human Mind with the Guinness "good things come to those who wait" chapter (Episode 264). Covers the Pratfall Effect via the Guinness Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Campaign, the Bohner Fresco Francesco Related-Weakness Restaurant Study, the Williams Bourgeois Croyle 1993 Stolen-Thunder Study ("stolen thunder" in legal defense), and the effort heuristic via James Dyson's origin story, re-citing the same "5,127 prototypes" fact already covered under the Precision Effect in Episode 138 but reframed around Input Bias (Effort Heuristic) — plus new supporting studies (see Kruger 2004 Poem Effort-Heuristic Study, Shotton O'Neill Black Sheep Vodka Effort Study).

Continues promoting Hacking the Human Mind with the Aperol Spritz chapter (Episode 268). Covers Social Proof via Aperol's implied-popularity strategy, re-cites the HMRC tax-compliance letter study with its full academic source for the first time (see BIT HMRC Tax Social-Norm and Insulation-Chunking Cases), the Keizer Lindenberg Steg 2008 Spreading-of-Disorder Study, correctly re-attributes his and Laura Weston's own 500-participant logo-recall replication (see Shotton Fast-Food Brand Recall Study, Von Restorff Distinctiveness Studies), and covers Commitment & Consistency/implementation intentions via the founding Milne Orbell Sheeran 2002 Implementation-Intentions Exercise Study and the Snickers 'You're Not You When You're Hungry' Trigger-Moment Campaign.

Concludes the Hacking the Human Mind run with the Amazon and Klarna chapters (Episode 270). Covers the Sunk Cost Effect via Amazon Prime, the founding Arkes Blumer 1985 Sunk-Cost Founding Studies, the Roth Robbert Straus 2015 Sunk-Cost Meta-Analysis, and the Gourville Soman 1998 Gym Payment-Frequency Study; and Temporal Price Framing via the founding Gourville 1998 Pennies-a-Day Charity Founding Study, his own re-cited car-financing replication (now with precise 11%/51% figures), the Shotton Aaron 2022 Sierra Nevada Per-Unit Pricing Study, and the Klarna Pennies-a-Day BNPL Case.

Re-cited again in Episode 272 for the brand-recall generation-effect study's exact 81%/92%/14% figures, with the HSBC example specifically named this time.

Returns for a standalone KFC chapter, explicitly billed as his final appearance on the show (Episode 275). Covers the Information Gap (Curiosity Gap) via KFC's 80-year secret-recipe secrecy theater (see KFC Secret-Recipe Information-Gap Case) and the Zeigarnik Effect via James Heimbach and Jacob Jacoby's 1972 ad-interruption study and Nescafé's Gold Blend Couple cliffhanger campaign, which he names his favourite ad (see Heimbach Jacoby Zeigarnik Ad-Interruption Study, Nescafe Gold Blend Couple Cliffhanger Campaign).

Referenced again, not interviewed, in Episode 276's Cialdini liking/mere-exposure episode. Cited for the Stanley/Shotton friendly-owner tax-perception study (see Stanley Shotton Friendly-Owner Tax-Perception Study).

Referenced again, not interviewed, in Episode 286 via The Illusion of Choice. Cited for the Flat Iron steak-knife/ice-cream swap and a cluster of film post-credit-scene peak-end cases (see Flat Iron Steak-Knife Ice-Cream Peak-End Case, Post-Credit Scene Peak-End Cases) and Disney's ride-queue wait-time overestimation (see Disney Queue Wait-Time Overestimation Case).

Referenced again, not interviewed, in Episode 301 via an archival clip on Five Guys and the Dilution Effect (Multiple-Claim Credibility Discount), illustrating Leidy Klotz's Subtraction Neglect (Default to Addition).

Discussed in

  • Episode 162 — 162-the-best-of-nudge-in-2023 (year-end recap; Generation Effect, Shotton Trahan replication)
  • Episode 3 — 3- Why marketers want to know your habits
  • Episode 5 — 5- The science behind distinctive advertising
  • Episode 6 — 6- The psychology behind effective pricing (referenced)
  • Episode 8 — 8- The power of scarcity and why less is more
  • Episode 9 — 9- How to nudge people into voting- buying and recycling (referenced)
  • Episode 10 — 10- Time to stop targeting -millennials
  • Episode 18 — 18- 8 nudges you need in 2020 (referenced)
  • Episode 68 — 68- The Peak-End Rule - And the supermarket that destroyed communism (referenced)
  • Episode 70 — 70- The Pratfall Effect - DON-T listen to this show (referenced)
  • Episode 76 — 76- Harry Dry-s favorite marketing examples (referenced)
  • Episode 79 — 79- Primacy Effect - Why Going First Wins (referenced)
  • Episode 83 — Habit Moulding Marketing (referenced via an archival clip on habit formation and the life-event brand-switching survey, not a fresh interview)
  • Episode 109 — 5 things I learned from psychology experts in 2022 (referenced in passing via Harry Dry's praise, not a fresh interview or new content)
  • Episode 136 — 136-today-s-guest-is-ri-h-rd-sh-tto
  • Episode 138 — 138-listen-to-exactly-17-minutes-and-42-seconds-of-this-episode
  • Episode 174 — 174-the-500-million-marketing-mistake (referenced, Wasp Factory case)
  • Episode 180 — 180-10-pricing-tips-from-10-pricing-experts (referenced)
  • Episode 217 — 217-every-trick-steve-jobs-used-to-persuade-in-68-minutes (pub-beer sign and fast-food recall study re-cited)
  • Episode 220 — 220-can-i-fool-veteran-marketers-with-my-ai-fakery (alliteration study re-cited)
  • Episode 263 — 263-the-surprising-menu-psychology-behind-five-guys-success (Five Guys, Kraft, Starbucks, Cadbury examples)
  • Episode 264 — 264-how-did-guinness-become-britain-s-most-popular-pint (Guinness campaign; Dyson effort heuristic)
  • Episode 268 — 268-why-everyone-s-suddenly-drinking-aperol-spritz (Aperol implied social proof; HMRC study; logo-recall replication; Snickers trigger-moment campaign)
  • Episode 270 — 270-why-we-re-irrationally-loyal-to-amazon-prime (Amazon Prime sunk cost; Klarna pennies-a-day)
  • Episode 272 — 272-the-nudge-that-persuaded-aussies-to-stop-speeding (brand-recall generation-effect study re-cited)
  • Episode 275 — 275-the-secret-behind-kfc-s-success (KFC chapter; his stated final appearance)
  • Episode 276 — 276-robert-cialdini-this-study-on-6-700-websites-proved-my-principle (referenced; friendly-owner tax-perception study)
  • Episode 286 — 286-will-guidara-how-cognac-solved-a-major-problem-at-the-world-s-1-restaurant (referenced, via The Illusion of Choice; Flat Iron, post-credit scenes, Disney queues)
  • Episode 301 — 301-88-out-of-90-people-fall-for-this-bias-do-you (referenced via archival clip; Five Guys/dilution effect)

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