The Psychology of Anticipation in Rewards

In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer revisits the impactful announcement of the Apple Card and its behavioral economics implications. Originally aired in April 2019, this episode explores the strategic genius behind Apple's reveal of its new financial product.

Melina discusses the anticipation and expectations built by Apple, the delayed pricing strategy, and the clever use of framing and herding behaviors to captivate potential customers. She also explores how familiarity and celebrity endorsements are crucial to Apple's marketing success. Melina's analysis provides valuable lessons for businesses in any industry, emphasizing the importance of stepping out of the status quo and seeing opportunities from a fresh perspective. 

In this episode:

• Understand the behavioral economics behind Apple's announcement of the Apple Card.
• Learn how anticipation and expectations can be strategically built to enhance customer engagement.
• Discover the importance of framing and herding behaviors in marketing.
• Explore the role of familiarity and celebrity endorsements in successful branding.
• Gain insights into how businesses can break free from the status quo and innovate.

00:00:00 - Introduction Melina Palmer introduces the episode and explains the relevance of revisiting the Apple Card announcement.

00:04:30 - Building Anticipation Discussion on how Apple built anticipation and expectations through their strategic announcements.

00:09:15 - Delayed Pricing Strategy Exploration of Apple's decision to delay pricing announcements and its impact on customer perception.

00:14:45 - Framing and Herding Analysis of how Apple used framing and herding behaviors to influence customer decisions.

00:20:10 - Familiarity and Celebrity Endorsements Examination of the role of familiarity and celebrity endorsements in Apple's marketing strategy.

00:25:30 - Subscription Models Insights into Apple's use of subscription models and their appeal to consumers.

00:30:45 - Apple Card Features Detailed breakdown of Apple Card's features and how they are framed to appeal to customers.

00:35:50 - No Fees Message Discussion on the framing of Apple Card's no fees message and its implications.

00:40:20 - Cashback Rewards Analysis of Apple Card's cashback rewards and their behavioral economics impact.

00:42:10 - Personal Financial Management Exploration of Apple Card's personal financial management tools and their user-friendly design.

00:44:00-  Conclusion, What stuck with you while listening to the episode? What are you going to try? Come share it with Melina on social media -- you'll find her as @thebrainybiz everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn.

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Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:

• What Your Customer Wants and Can't Tell You, by Melina Palmer
• Alchemy, by Rory Sutherland
• Blindsight, by Matt Johnson and Prince Ghuman
• Using Behavioral Science in Marketing, by Nancy Harhut
• Immersion, by Paul Zak

Top Recommended Next Episode: Paul Zak Interview (ep 437)

Already Heard That One? Try These: 

• A Behavioral Economics Analysis of Costco (ep 47)
• Disney (ep 292)
• Peloton (ep 338)
• Starbucks: A Behavioral Economics Analysis (ep 73)
• Amazon (ep 159)

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