Primacy Recency Bias

Have you ever been shopping and forgotten your shopping list, but no matter how hard you try, you can only remember the first few items? How about revising for a test but can only remember the last thing you revised? Well, that would be the Serial Position Effect, also known as the Primacy Recency Effect.

The Serial Position Effect states that memory of items in a list or sequence are most likely to be remembered if they are first or last on the list. We are all just really bad at remembering the middle. It all gets a bit murky. There are many different scenarios in which the Primacy or Recency Effect may be more effective. For example, it has been shown that the Primacy Effect has a greater impact when the list is written down but the Recency Effect is stronger when the list is auditory. So how can you use this effect to improve your marketing?

Page Content

The first way to enhance your marketing, that we will cover, is ordering the content on your website. On any page, or in any marketing material, it is most important to place the most engaging, significant, or enticing information, to take advantage of the Primacy Effect. As on your website, the content is most likely written, the information presented first will leave the strongest impression on your customers. Always lead with your best foot forwards. However, this does not mean that you should end on a boring, or negative note. Recency still has an effect, so always end your content on a high.

Similar to this, when talking about a product on your site, you probably list its features, right? This is again, a perfect way to take advantage of the Primacy Effect. Always start your list with the most important features or the thing that makes your product most unique as this will make the greatest impression on the consumer, and make them more likely to purchase or remember your product.

Listing Products

Serial Positioning impacts customer decisions when presenting products on your site. There are two main ways to order things. First is relevant when you offer services and you want to list services and prices. By ordering your services from highest price to lowest, you use the effect to your advantage. I know this seems counterproductive as customers are going to be interested in lower prices. However, by placing your highest priced product or service first, this will stay in the forefront of the customer's mind when viewing your other products. By comparison, even the second most expensive will seem cheap, or value for money, therefore leading to better sales.

Second is ordering products by popularity. This may be on your homepage, or in recommended products, but in any case, you will be able to boost the sales of your most popular product by presenting it first, due to the Primacy Effect. This is beneficial to you, as you will be able to take advantage of something that is already popular among customers and boost its performance by placing it in front of a new or returning audience. You can therefore take advantage of its qualities that make it naturally popular. This is why news sites often show their most popular articles at the top of their website.

​Ad Placement

The next method is ad placement. You may be sensing a pattern here: place things first and they will be noticed and remembered. Whilst this is true, it is important not to dismiss the Recency Effect. One area in which the Recency Effect is powerful is in advertising. Adverts on search engines such as Google are a great method of boosting your brand’s awareness, but bidding on the top spot advert can be competitive and expensive. So, why not take advantage of the Recency Effect and bid on the lowest placed ad? This will likely be less competitive and cheaper, but equally effective in gaining awareness and clicks for your business. 

Recency has also been shown to influence TV adverts more strongly than primacy. Studies showed that people were more likely to remember an advert that was at the end of the commercial break than at the beginning. It is unclear why the Recency Effect is stronger in this instance, however, it is something that may give you a competitive edge. You may be able to get more for your advertising money by considering when and where in a sequence your advert is displayed, be this on TV, search engines, or other media.

Customer Relations

Finally, we have a less direct use of the Serial Position Effect: customer relations. It is fair to assume that you’ve heard the phrase “You only get one first impression”, well that applies to your business too. You only get one chance to have a first impression on potential customers and due to the Primacy Effect, that is the impression that will guide their opinion of your business for a long time. There are a few ways that companies attempt to form a positive first impression, the first is through offers, discounts, or lower prices for new customers. By treating new customers this way, new customers are more likely to view the business positively and remember them in the future, to become returning customers, or even recommend you to a friend, all because you made a good first impression.

A secondary way that businesses attempt to make a good first impression is by presenting their products nicely, using pleasing packaging, be that through colour, design, or eco-friendly means. But, as the packaging of a product is often the first interaction a customer has with a product, the Primacy Effect comes into play, and pleasing packaging will make a long lasting positive effect on customers, that will boost your brand image in their mind.

Overall, it seems that the Serial Positions Effect can be summed up as: put your best foot forwards, end on a high, and you only get one first impression. It may seem daunting, but with a little knowledge, and a bit of practice, these are all methods that you can implement in your marketing, and on your website. Small changes to the way you think about your content, that may just nudge a few more customers in your favour.

-- From Marketing to Mind --