Behavioral Science For Brands: Leveraging behavioral science in brand marketing. Interview: Tim den Heijer, author of The Housefly Effect, on how friction, incentives, and context shape behavior
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Jan 14, 2026 Tim den Heijer, a creative strategist and author of The Housefly Effect, dives into how small details shape behavior in marketing. He shares quirky insights like the power of product naming, the pitfalls of misapplied incentives, and how emotional ads can misfire. Tim emphasizes the importance of understanding loss aversion and discusses innovative strategies like temptation bundling to shift behavior. He also highlights how social signals influence decisions, urging marketers to consider people's loyalty to their past behaviors over brands.
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Science Gives Creativity A Clearer Language
- Tim den Heijer found behavioral science gave him a new language to explain why creative work succeeds.
- It also taught him to question intuition and test ideas rather than assume they're right.
Money Shot That Backfired
- Tim described a charity commercial with a crying interviewee that tested badly on EEG and eye tracking.
- Viewers recoiled because a stranger crying in a short ad feels intrusive, so the money shot failed.
Ask About Others To Reveal True Drivers
- Use social framing to learn what people admire by asking who others would vote for, not who they will vote for.
- Leverage responses about peers to reveal persuasive attributes you can use in campaigns.
