What Brands Need to Know About the Power of Memory

By Collette Eccleston, PhD, SVP Center for Human Understanding at Material

As humans, we tend to remember the outliers: experiences that are exceptionally good or exceptionally bad. For brands seeking to build and maintain customer loyalty and advocacy, that means creating remarkably positive experiences is critical.

Negative experiences have an advantage. People have a negativity bias, which means they’re especially likely to pay attention to and learn from negative information more than positive ones. Not surprisingly then, these negative experiences shape future behavior. Recent research suggests that 56% of customers who had bad experiences with online retailers, department stores and parcel delivery companies subsequently cut back their spending with those businesses or stopped patronizing them altogether. All told, bad experiences – and the negative memories they create – may cost businesses 6.7% of their revenue each year.

And then there are the unmemorable experiences. These won’t necessarily discourage customers from returning — but they won’t create much brand loyalty either. After all, how could they, if these experiences quickly evaporate from customers’ memories?

So, it’s not enough to provide customers with positive, frictionless experiences, important though that is. Brands need to create memorably positive experiences to keep consumers coming back for more. To do that, they need to understand the science of human memory.

Make it Personal

People are me-centric. They are much more likely to have memories of events that are personally relevant. External stimuli such as scent, sound and appearance may help get some initial attention. But when an event connects with internal factors such as goals, emotions and previous experiences, it is more likely to produce a strong memory.

Pet supplies retailer Chewy excels at creating positive brand memories, even in less-than-happy circumstances. When subscribers to its auto-ship programs contact the company to cancel following the death of a pet, Chewy typically sends them a personalized sympathy card and flowers. In response to returns of unused products as a result of a pet’s death, Chewy will issue the refund while asking the customers to donate the goods to a local shelter instead. These thoughtful, highly personal experiences entwine with the customers’ love of their pets to forge vivid, positive memories of the brand.

Chewy customers’ positive recollections of the brand on social media are evidence that these gestures make a consistent and lasting impression – transcending the moment and evolving into brand advocacy and loyalty.

Focus on the Key Moments

That said, memories aren’t exact replicas of experiences. An individual’s emotions and past experiences, along with the context surrounding an experience, can distort how the person remembers an event. It’s why siblings often have very different recollections of family interactions and occasions. However, brands can increase the likelihood of consumers forming and retaining positive memories of their experiences and interactions.

The “peak-end” rule offers a window into the memory formation process that can help brands craft meaningful, memorable experiences. This is the idea that people tend to remember, and form their judgements of, an experience based on how they felt during its most intense moments – the peaks – and when it concluded. To make a lasting, positive impression, brands must pay particular attention to those key points in any customer interaction.

Many parents will attest that air travel with infants or toddlers can be a remarkably stressful experience, particularly if their children are agitated or afraid. During those high-intensity moments, were the flight attendants accommodating and helpful? Did the airline provide appropriate entertainment options to help manage the situation? And then, once the wheels were down, how did the experience end? Even after a difficult flight, a personalized customer interaction – perhaps a set of “wings” for a young flier, delivered by the pilot with a smile and a word of encouragement – can make all the difference when it comes to memory formation and brand perception.

Unlock the Nuances of Consumer Behavior

How deeply do you understand your customers? From memory to habit, motivation and identity, key behavioral science principles can help illuminate the “why” behind consumer behavior and clarify the most complex business challenges. Download our free e-book, Six Behavioral Science Principles for Deeper Human Insights, to learn more about how these concepts can inform human-centric strategies and experiences to strengthen your customer relationships.