How behavioural science can shape marketing strategies and drive engagement

Martin Sandhu

April 2025

Marketing isn’t just about catching someone’s attention. It’s about influencing decisions, building trust, and moving people to act. That requires more than clever copy or eye-catching visuals. It requires an understanding of how people actually think and behave.

Behavioural science gives marketing teams a powerful advantage. By grounding strategy in psychology and behavioural insights, teams can create campaigns that resonate on a deeper level – and deliver measurable results.

The psychology behind engagement

Effective marketing meets people where they are – emotionally, cognitively, and behaviourally. It requires understanding what motivates action, what causes friction, and how people process messages in an increasingly noisy world.

Rather than relying on assumptions or gut instinct, behavioural science offers evidence-based tools to frame messages more effectively, create triggers for action, and reduce the cognitive burden of decision-making. For example, people are more likely to respond when a message taps into a social norm (“others like you are doing this”), or when it creates a sense of urgency (“only available this week”). These approaches work because they align with the brain’s natural decision-making shortcuts.

From campaigns to conversions

Good creative alone doesn’t guarantee results. Behavioural science helps close the gap between awareness and action by focusing on the human experience behind every conversion.

Reducing friction is a key principle. Whether it’s too many steps, unclear copy, or overwhelming choices, even small barriers can derail engagement. Behavioural design allows teams to identify these friction points and remove them before they become roadblocks.

Smart defaults also play a major role. People tend to choose the path of least resistance, so setting a helpful default option – such as pre-selecting a plan or opt-in checkbox – can improve participation rates without any added pressure.

Framing is another powerful technique. The way a message is structured affects how it’s received. The same offer can drive different behaviours depending on whether it’s positioned as a potential gain or a potential loss.

Finally, personalisation enhances engagement by reducing cognitive effort. When a message or experience feels tailored, it requires less work to process and makes the user feel seen. It becomes easier, faster, and more intuitive to act.

Behavioural thinking in action

Across industries, behavioural science is shaping how brands engage their audiences. Health apps use daily nudges to keep users on track. Retail brands increase conversions through scarcity, urgency, and social proof. B2B platforms simplify onboarding by designing journeys around human behaviour.

From increasing conversions to reducing churn and improving message retention, behavioural insights offer a practical, science-backed foundation for smarter marketing.

Marketing isn’t about persuading people to want something they don’t need. It’s about helping them make confident decisions that align with their goals and values – in a way that feels effortless.

At nuom, we apply behavioural science to craft marketing strategies that work with human behaviour, not against it. When campaigns are grounded in insight, they don’t just perform better – they feel better.

Interested in building campaigns that connect more deeply and convert more consistently? Let’s talk.

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