People tend to favor information that confirms their existing beliefs. Or in plain english: You’d rather believe and trust messages that align with what you already believe and trust. The same goes for messengERS, by the way.

Rule: Any message or messenger that confirms your existing belief will be regarded as more favorable and trustworthy.

Now, this bias isn’t just about seeking information that confirms existing beliefs; it also involves interpreting ambiguous information in a way that supports those beliefs.

For example, a loyal Apple customer might interpret a negative review of the latest iPhone as evidence that the reviewer simply doesn’t understand the product’s features, rather than an objective assessment of its flaws.

Marketers can use this by framing their messaging to align with the target audience’s values and beliefs, making it more likely to be accepted and remembered.

In short: People like seeing/hearing/feeling/… what they want to see/hear/feel/…, right?

How Useful is the Confirmation Bias to Marketers?

Ease of Use: ★★☆☆☆ 2/5 stars.

To correctly address a prospect’s confirmation bias, you truly have to know and understand that prospect. This alone is hard to do and the process of addressing the bias makes it even less “easy to use”.

Impact on Sales: ★★★★★ 5/5 stars.

If everything your offer stands for and every messenger that references it aligns with the beliefs of the prospect, then almost nothing should stand in the way of a sale, right?

Smells-Like-Manipulation Score: ★★★★★ 5/5 stars.

You have to seriously overdo using the confirmation bias for people’s “manipulation radar” to detect anything. Why? Because it’s virtually impossible for people not to like the kind of information they like receiving – especially from a source they enjoy listening to.

Average Usefulness to Marketers: ★★★★☆ 4/5 stars.

If it weren’t one of the harder biases to address in marketing material, the Confirmation Bias could be ranked much higher. But considering that you have to be quite adept at copywriting and consumer research to pull it off effectively, it’s safe to say that the Confirmation Bias is not one novice marketers should consider focusing on.

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