When I started questioning my own thinking, my choices and business began to change.

Hello, this is Iguchi.

As a sole proprietor, I explore WEB customer attraction and sales promotion methods that can be practiced even with a small budget while repeating hypotheses and verifications every day.

In this note, I focus on marketing terms that you might have heard of but are often used vaguely. I have summarized them in the simplest language possible based on my own research and real-life experiences.

I would be happy if even those who are not good with technical terms could think, 'I see, that's what it means.'

The confusion I felt when I first encountered 'cognitive science'

'Cognitive science sounds kind of smart...'

I picked up a business book with that light feeling, but it was filled with words like 'cognitive bias' and 'decision-making gaps,' so I reflexively closed the book (lol).

But then, I suddenly thought.

'Is my judgment really correct? Maybe I'm making wrong choices unconsciously...?'

From there, I decided to properly look into what 'cognitive science' actually is.

Roughly defining cognitive science

When I looked it up, cognitive science is 'the study of unraveling the workings of the human mind' apparently.
How the brain receives, interprets, and acts on information.

It can also be called an 'exploration of mind and knowledge' created by combining various fields such as psychology, brain science, artificial intelligence, and linguistics.

It sounds difficult, but it is packed with hints that unravel the daily 'Why did I think that way?'

What is the difference from behavioral economics?

Actually, 'cognitive science' is often confused with 'behavioral economics'.
I didn't really understand the difference at first either.

Roughly speaking...

• Cognitive science: The study of unraveling human 'thinking' and 'judgment' itself

• Behavioral economics: The study of how those 'human thinking habits' affect economic behavior

In other words, behavioral economics uses the 'results of cognitive science' to deal with 'gaps' in economic behavior, such as 'Why do people make wrong judgments when spending money?'

So, the image is that if you want to know the mechanism of the human brain from the root, it's cognitive science, and if you want to know how it affects purchasing and decision-making, it's behavioral economics.

For example, there are these 'brain habits'

I am the type who ends up picking up 'products with discount stickers' at the supermarket.
(Especially, if there is a discount sticker on Yamazaki's 'Coppe-pan Red Bean & Margarine,' I put it in my shopping basket 120% of the time lol)

But when I think about it, I sometimes buy things I don't need...
(Yamazaki's 'Coppe-pan Red Bean & Margarine' is an exception)

This is a state where the 'assumption' that I am 'weak for good deals' is at work, and in cognitive science, it is called 'heuristics' or the 'framing effect'.

In other words, our brains often take shortcuts in judgment due to 'emotions' or 'past experiences'.

Just knowing this habit makes it possible to notice, 'Oh, it's this pattern again.'

The gratitude I felt for cognitive science

For example, don't you think somewhere that 'high price = good service'?
I was struggling a lot when setting prices.

But after learning about cognitive science, I became conscious that 'people judge value through comparison'.

So I prepared 'two or three plans to choose from' and tried to devise ways to make the middle price range or the highest value range feel like a good deal.

Then, I started getting applications for the 'plan I wanted them to purchase' as intended.

This is also thanks to knowing the 'mechanism of cognition'.
If I hadn't known, I might have been selling cheaply forever.

When you doubt your own thinking, your choices change

I also thought 'cognitive science' was for researchers at first.
But after looking into it, I thought this is like an 'instruction manual for my own brain'.

When you are lost in a choice, you can stop for a moment and think, 'Wait, is this my own will? Or is it a brain habit?'

If you, who read this article, feel 'something isn't going well,' there might be a hint in your thinking patterns.

Thank you for reading until the end.

I would be happy if this article led to a small realization like 'I see, that's what it was!' or a hint for your ideas.

It would be very encouraging if you could follow me.
I will also follow you back ^^