Most marketing advice focuses on what to say. Write clearer copy. Use better visuals. Post more often. But even the best message won’t land if it doesn’t align with how people actually think.
That’s where marketing psychology comes in.
We recently came across a guide from HubSpot on marketing psychology (featuring insights from Phill Agnew, host of the Nudge podcast), and it’s a good reminder that effective marketing isn’t just about creativity, it’s about understanding behaviour.
In this blog, we’ll share a few key takeaways and, more importantly, how they apply in a government context.
So, what is marketing psychology?
At its core, marketing psychology is about understanding how people think, decide, and act. People don’t always behave rationally. We rely on shortcuts, habits, and emotions to make decisions, often without realising it. The most effective marketing works with those behaviours.
A quick refresher: the marketing funnel
Most teams will already be familiar with the marketing funnel. It’s a simple way to think about how people move from first interaction through to long-term engagement.
That journey looks like this:
- Awareness – getting noticed
- Consideration – weighing up options
- Acquisition – taking action
- Retention – building an ongoing relationship
What’s useful here isn’t the framework itself, it’s the idea that people think differently at each stage.
Someone who’s just become aware of a service behaves very differently to someone ready to act, or someone who already trusts you. And each stage is influenced by different psychological triggers.
Why this matters for government communications teams
You’re not trying to sell products in the traditional sense.
You’re trying to inform, guide, and influence behaviour, whether that’s encouraging service uptake, improving community engagement, or building trust.
And while the context is different, the human behaviour behind it isn’t. People still scroll past most messages. They still gravitate toward what feels familiar and trustworthy. They still avoid effort, and they still look to others for cues on what to do.
When communications don’t land, it’s often not because the information is wrong, it’s because it doesn’t align with how people process and respond to it.
Why familiarity works (and why consistency matters)
Think about Coca-Cola.
You don’t need to read anything to recognise it. The colours, the typography, the tone. It’s all instantly familiar.
That consistency builds trust over time. It’s driven by a psychological principle often referred to as the mere-exposure effect. The more we see something, the more comfortable we feel with it.
That might feel like a big-brand example, but the same principle applies in government.
Take a council running a waste education campaign. If the messaging, colours, and tone change frequently, it becomes harder for residents to recognise and recall. It feels inconsistent, and it’s easier to ignore.
But when it’s consistent over time, people start to recognise it quickly. It feels more trustworthy, and it becomes easier to act on, especially in everyday moments, like deciding which bin to use.
Why too much choice can backfire
Another useful concept is the idea that more choice isn’t always better.
Most people have experienced this with Netflix, scrolling through endless options, unsure what to pick, and sometimes giving up altogether.
This is known as the paradox of choice, when too many options make decisions harder, not easier. We covered this principle in a past blog: The psychology behind effective web design.
You see the same thing on many government websites. Pages are often trying to do too much at once, with too many links, competing priorities, and unclear next steps. Instead of helping users, it creates friction. A simpler approach tends to work better. Reducing options, grouping information clearly, and guiding people toward the most common actions can make a big difference.
The opportunity most teams are missing
A lot of effort goes into campaigns, channels, and content, which are all important. But fewer teams step back and ask a more fundamental question:
How are people actually making decisions here?
When you understand that, everything else becomes easier. Messaging becomes clearer. Design decisions make more sense. Campaigns become more effective.
What’s next?
Rather than trying to cover everything in one go, we’re turning this into a short blog series, with each blog focusing on a different stage of the marketing funnel, and the psychology behind it.
In the next blog, we’ll start with the awareness stage, looking at why some messages cut through and others don’t, and what you can do to improve visibility and engagement.
If you’d like to explore the original guide in the meantime, you can check out HubSpot’s full resource on marketing psychology. It’s well worth the read.
