Priming: This is how you are subconsciously manipulated | BRIGITTE.de

by Stephanie ErnstThe psychological effect called priming describes how our perception is influenced by experiences. Here we explain what's behind it.

You probably know this game: someone says a term and you answer with the first word that comes to mind. For example table - many of us would probably counter "chair" to that. And this is where a very interesting field of psychology begins, which is called priming, or "priming effect". You could translate it with the German word "preparation". And that's exactly what our thinking apparatus does: It uses associations, i.e. empirical values, so that we can classify a situation more quickly - in order to "prepare" ourselves for it. This usually happens subconsciously and without effort.

Priming: What is it exactly?

In scientific terms, priming is the influencing of the processing of a stimulus. Stimuli can be, for example, words, images, gestures or smells. Put simply, previous experiences change our perception. That sounds a bit complex, but we actually encounter priming everywhere in everyday life: in relationships, at work, but also when shopping.

We all know the saying "first impressions count". This phenomenon is also based on priming and certain associations that we associate with certain behaviors and characteristics. This way, the misshapen tomato is more likely to be left lying around. And if someone wears dirty shoes, we subconsciously attribute uncleanliness and disorder to them.

The difficulty: priming makes us impressionable and priming is not always right: even misshapen tomatoes can taste great and dirty shoes do not necessarily mean that the apartment looks just as unclean.

In marketing, our associations with colors, shapes and feelings are played with particularly violently in order to positively influence purchasing behavior. A number of studies have already shown the effects of priming on our behavior and our decisions.

Two studies demonstrating the priming effect

Scientists have already been able to prove the priming effect in a number of studies. Take this one from 2012, for example: A man should find out the easiest way to get a stranger's phone number. He presented himself in front of three different shops in an American shopping mall: a shoe shop, a bakery and a flower shop. And where do you think he was most successful? Then, of course, when he spoke to women in front of the flower shop. We associate roses with romance and love - that had underlined its credibility and trustworthiness.

Another study was able to show particularly impressively how our purchasing behavior is controlled by the priming effect. To do this, an online furniture store built two different landing pages (the first page you see on a website). In the first variant, couches were shown with a pretty cloudy background. Website visitors were then asked what they look for when buying furniture. They prioritized comfort and spent a lot of time on the site looking for comfort ratings. In the end, they actually bought furniture that promised a high level of comfort.

For the second test, the same couches were shown on the landing page, but with a background showing coins. According to the survey, new website visitors have a completely different focus when buying: the costs. They indicated that price was the main reason for their purchase (rather than convenience, as in the peer group), and they primarily searched the online store for information on price and then bought the cheapest item.

What these studies show

Focusing on clouds, comfort was the primary focus. On the other hand, if you focused on coins, the price came to the fore. Although the couches shown were exactly the same, the website visitors' assessment was completely different. The elements of the background had influenced her perception.

The reason for this is our experience on which associations are based: we have learned that coins symbolize money and we remember the fluffy shape of clouds. We then associate these impressions with the new situation – completely automatically, completely subconsciously. This not only changes the perception of the objects themselves, but also influences the relevance these objects have for us. Whether we like it or not, our surroundings have a significant impact on how we assess situations, people or – in this case – objects.

priming in relationships

Priming also has tremendous impact on an interpersonal level. Whether friendship, partnership or professional relationship: Here, too, our past influences how we perceive situations. And here, too, we can be guided.

Anyone who suffers from strong jealousy, for example, knows the problem: a missing call, the partner is late and bang - that gut feeling is there. From a factual point of view, this does not immediately mean infidelity, but through experience the association is immediately there.

Or what if a good friend wears the same perfume as a mean colleague? Then you're primed - the perfume will never smell good for you, because you associate negative things with it. We all may also know the situation where we associate certain names with positive or negative characteristics - because we knew a person who behaved accordingly. The priming effect is also hidden behind it.

Priming: These pitfalls come with the effect

Priming is a universal effect that occurs in everyone. Of course, differences in the extent result from the individual experiences that have shaped us differently. But we cannot completely avoid the priming effect - for that we would have to erase all our experiences that we have had up to now.

Priming means that we can assess new things more quickly, but it also makes us very manipulable. And that in turn means that we cannot really remain objective and factual in situations and perceive the situation in a distorted way. As a result, we sometimes make decisions that are not optimal.

What we can do, however, is to become aware of this effect. Priming runs automatically – in order to take countermeasures, we have to “manually” help and try to analyze situations very soberly. Becoming aware here and now that your past influences your perception is the first step!

If you are interested in psychological topics, you might also be interested in the scanner personality or the Quarter Life Crisis theme.

You can also find other topics related to personality in the BRIGITTE Community. Have a look!

Sources used

forbes.com, Cialdini, Robert B. "Pre-suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade." , 2016. Print., Guéguen N. "Say it...near the flower shop": further evidence of the effect of flowers on mating. J Soc Psychol 2012 Sep-Oct;152(5):529-32. doi: 10.1080/00224545.2012.683463. PMID: 22930994.

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