 Have you ever wondered how Starbucks, a $110 billion coffee chain, gains millions of social media engagement every single year and get people to buy from them again and again and again? Well, in this video, I'm gonna be exposing the top five psychological hacks that Starbucks's marketing team utilizes. So then that way you too can steal it and use it in your food business. So make sure you guys keep watching. Hey guys, my name is Wilson, your friend in helping you build a thriving, small business and a profitable food business. If you guys want me to cover more of the psychological hacks that these successful businesses use, make sure you guys go in the comment section and type in yes, so I know this is the type of video that you enjoy. Top world-class restaurants in the world, they have millions of dollars to spend on consultants, on experts, on human psychologists, so then that way they can get people to buy from them again and again and again. These are the unfair advantages that they have. Well, you know what? Today I'm gonna break it down so you too can take that unfair advantage and apply it in your food business. Let's dive right in. First psychological hack is the decoy effect, also known as asymmetrical dominance theory. Starbucks mainly offers three sizes for the drinks, tall, grande, venti, and this is not by accident. They strategically have three different sizes because having two is very easy to compare side to side, just like the pricing and the size to get the best bang for your buck. Whereas when we include a third option as a decoy, now it becomes very difficult for us to compare the three in relative. This psychological feeling pushes us to actually make the decision on what we think is the most advantageous rather than what we need because you just by spending an extra dollar, you get double the amount of coffee, which seems like a really great deal. That's the reason why every time you go into Starbucks, they always ask you, grande, that's the reason why. Starbucks isn't the only big brand that uses decoy pricing. McDonald's uses it brilliantly as well with their drinks and their nuggets. Same thing with Netflix, same thing with Apple. So what is the opportunity for you? Add a third option for your pricing. Usually this third pricing would be a little bit higher in price. So then that way it forces your customers to not choose the cheapest one, but the middle one because that's most bang for their buck. The second psychological hack is the cheerleader effect, also known as group attractiveness effect. What looks more appealing? A lonely cup of coffee or a coffee with a muffin? A side burger or a burger with fries and drinks. Now, if you picked the combos, you have just been cheerleader. This is a very powerful tactic that makes your offering much more appealing. Most of the items in Starbucks are presented in groups and that's because individual items look more attractive when they are presented in groups. Rather than focusing on the individual characteristics of the item, we focus on the feeling as a whole. So what is that opportunity for you? Well, if you're selling beverage instead of just showing one, show it in groups of three. Makes your item much more pleasing. If you're selling a meal, show it with wine, show it with side dish. This makes this whole experience much more pleasant as well. So what's gonna make you more attractive? It is when you smash the like button because now you're part of this amazing group of ours. Make sure you guys smash the like button so then that way I know this is the type of video that you enjoy. So in that way I can make more of this just for you. Third psychological hack that you must know, it is called the cashless effect. Why does Starbucks never put a dollar sign beside their prices? This is because of the cashless effect. This describes our tendency to be willing to pay more when there's no physical money involved. One research even showed that just by removing the dollar sign from the menus, it increases the sales by more than 8%. That's a whooping 8%. Just like how cashless payments, credit cards, gift cards and everything increases the spend. This is the reason why they always push you and give you perks to sign up for their app. To earn those golden stars my friend, so then that way it is cashless effect. And on top of that they take away the dollar sign. Once again all these tactics used to get more money from you as a consumer. So what is the opportunity for you friends? Well take away the dollar sign and see if the spending habits from your customers would change. And the fourth psychological hack is called the charm pricing. Not sure if you guys recall, but in this video we talk about McDonald's charm pricing. Now if you think it's the same thing, think again, let me show you guys why. So what is charm pricing? Well psychologically we as consumers, we prefer prices that ends in a nine or a 99. Our brain makes these micro snap judgment on prices and values all without us even thinking about it. So when we see a price of 2.99, we don't see $3. What we see, we see $2. But while McDonald's uses this tactic and ends their prices with nine and 99 cents, Starbucks uses it a little bit differently. They end their prices with 95 cents, 45 cents, 65 cents. Why is that? That's because pricing that usually ends with 99 is associated with low quality products, cheaper brands. Whereas higher quality brands, they end with five. That signals of a higher quality. And this is much more in line with Starbucks's brand image, the premium of coffee. So what is the opportunity for you? Well, go to your menu and change your menu pricing instead of the 99 that you put, change it to 95. You're gonna be able to see an uplift of results right away. The fifth and final psychological hack is the endowment effect. Well, let's do a quick experiment. For you, this phone is probably worth like 500 bucks and other people, same thing. But for me, this phone is worth $1,000 to me. Why is that the case? It is because we value stuff that is ours much more because of a sense of belonging and a sense of ownership. This is the endowment effect. Have you guys ever wondered why Starbucks always asks for your name and they always write it on their cup of coffee? Because this cup of coffee psychologically gives you, the consumer, a sense of belonging and people generally values things that belong to them much more. Not only that, writing names on the cups is now a tradition that is born from Starbucks. Starbucks baristas are trained and given the freedom and empowerment to write their names to the best abilities and also have fun putting their character in doing so. This is a byproduct effect which allows the consumers to feel that, hey, you know what, there's a sense of belongings and on top of that, sometimes it is very playful, sometimes it is misspelled, sometimes it is a lot of fun and that's reason why we would actually share these on our social media. Or this may be a conspiracy that Starbucks actually trains their barista to intentionally write the names wrong so then that way people would share it more. This is actually becoming such a big thing that people are doing free advertisement for Starbucks. Their hashtag, Starbucks name fails has more than thousands of shares out there. Not only that, they also allow you as a customer to customize your drink any way that you like. This act of creation makes this drink so much more personalized for you. This is another act of endowment effect which is very, very powerful that allows you as a consumer to go back again and again because now you feel like a regular. There's a sense of belonging, there's sense of ownership. So what is the opportunity for you? Go out there and spell all your customers name wrong. Just kidding, no, you shouldn't do that. Well, writing their names down, having your character put in that sense of ownership allows you to have a relationship with your customer so then that way they become a regular. And on top of that, try letting them customize their meal. This allows them to feel like that, you know what? This is my spot, this is my meal, this is my secret menu. This also allows them to bring their friends in to come back again and again as a regular, a sense of belonging. So there you go, friends. These are the five psychological hacks that Starbucks and all the big food brands are using just to get more people to buy from them, to order more from them, so get more loyal customers. Now, if you're ever interested in more of these psychological hacks, then make sure you guys check out the link below where we've compiled more than 147 psychological hacks that these big brands are using so then that way you can use these hacks in your business right away to make more money, to bring more people in through your doors. Make sure you guys check them out in the link below. And if you guys enjoyed this type of video, make sure you guys smash the like button. It's gonna show the YouTube algorithm that this is the type of video that you enjoy so then that way I can make more of these for you. Otherwise, I'll see you guys in the next video.