The Reason Why 'Hippo-Style' Customer Attraction Is the Strongest: A Mechanism That Isn't Flashy but Is the Most Effective

We may only be looking at the parts we understand,
and simply
pretending to understand.
that might be all it is.

I've heard of it once.
I've seen it somewhere before.

Just with that,
we sometimes
feel like we've 'roughly understood it'
or 'somehow grasped it'.

So then,
why do we feel like we have
'understood' something?

Actually, here,
how people make decisions is involved.

People,
correct answersseem to be moving in search of,
but in reality,peace of mindbecause they are acting in search of it.

Psychologist Robert Zajonc
demonstrated this fact.

People,
rather than things they have understood
or things that are correct,
before that,

things they have encountered many times
'safe'
'preferable'
they feel.

This is called
the 'mere exposure effect (Zajonc effect)'.

The brain chooses 'familiarity' over 'correctness'

For the brain,
a state of not knowing is anxiety.

Conversely,
seen many times
heard many times
touched many times

Things like these,
even if you don't deeply understand the content,
'not dangerous'
it judges.

That is why the brain,

'roughly understood'
'heard of it before'

At this point,
it seems okay already
it judges.

The brain,
rather than whether it is correct,
whether it is easy to understand
whether it is familiar
it prioritizes.

This is not a bad thing.
It is a very rational mechanism
equipped for humans to survive.

It is not just about 'you'.

Your customers are also
in the exact same state
when they see your flyers or posts.

They have seen it once.
They have heard of it somewhere.

Just because of that,
"I basically understand"
"I sort of know it"
they have that kind of feeling.

Customers do not
judge it as safe because they have deeply understood the content,

but because the number of contacts has increased,
they judge it as
somehow reassuring.

A state of not knowing is anxiety.
Feeling like you understand brings peace of mind.

That is why the brain,
even without further explanation,
"It seems okay now"
judges it as such.

Emotion comes first, logic comes later.

Human judgment
does not always
start with logic.

What comes first is emotion.

"It seems somewhat good"
"It doesn't seem bad"

After feeling that way,
the brain begins to look for reasons.

Copy and design also
essentially play the same
role.

Rather than to make them understand,
it is a technique to reduce anxiety.

The strongest factor is the number of contacts

The techniques and methods that create a sense of security
are not just one.

How you choose words (catchphrases),
how you convey them (copywriting),
and how you present them (design),

are essentially very important.

However, they require at least some
knowledge and experience.

On the other hand,
even without special skills,
there is something anyone can do.

That is, the number of touchpoints.

Seen many times.
Heard many times.
Touched many times.

That alone creates a state of
"I don't need to think about it anymore."

It doesn't look strong.

I think you can somewhat sense that the number of touchpoints has a
significant impact on people's judgment and sense of security.

Even so, many people
harbor this sense of discomfort.

"Isn't this
too simple?"
"Isn't it plain and inconspicuous?"

Therefore, they think,
"There must be a stronger way, and I'm just not succeeding because I don't know it."

Here,
there is one assumption.

Strong things should look strong.

We unconsciously
think that way.

A catchphrase that grabs your eyes in an instant.
Sharp, piercing copywriting.
Sophisticated design.

These are certainly important.

It might be easier to understand if we compare them to animals here.

A catchphrase is a cheetah.
It has a sharp edge and an image of grabbing attention in an instant.

Copywriting is a lion.
It has the classic strength to convince the other party head-on.

Design has the
elephant's "solid sense of security" and the
giraffe's "clear view that can see everything."

All of them are necessary.
This is not a story about denying any of them.

However—
they look obviously "strong."

They are actually scary.

Now,
please imagine a hippopotamus.

They look gentle.
They walk slowly,
and they don't look very strong.

But in reality,
they are highly territorial and very ferocious.
And they are fast, too.

In Africa,
they are known as animals that cause a great deal of harm to humans.

Exactly, they are strong, but they don't look strong.

Why people avoid the "Hippo-style"

Even though they are this strong,
why do people avoid simple contact?

Simple contact
doesn't show results immediately.
It isn't flashy, either.

Even while doing it,
a sense of uncertainty like "Am I really doing this right?"
inevitably arises.

The human brain
tends to perceive this "time where it feels like nothing is happening"
as anxiety.

Then, to dispel that anxiety,
certain behaviors emerge.

1. Using hype
"Right now," "Limited time," "You'll lose out if you don't act now."
Unable to endure the silence or lack of response,
you try to manufacture movement.

2. Increasing explanations
"Maybe they haven't understood yet."
Thinking that,
you end up adding more words.

3. Selling at a discount
You feel that if you lower the price,
you will get a response.

4. Widening the scope to include everything
The desire to get a response from at least someone
ends up blurring the message.

This is
not because you are bad at attracting customers,
nor because you have a weak will.

The voidis hard to endure,
and this is a very natural reaction of the brain's nature.

Simple contact is strong. But it is too quiet.

That is precisely why people
tend to turn their eyes
toward easy-to-understand movements
like those of cheetahs or lions.

Why the Hippo-style is the strongest

Simple exposure is
not difficult to do in itself.

You just need to do it the right way
for a certain period of time.

It is not flashy.

However,
just like dieting, strength training, or learning a language,

there is no special magic involved,
and in the end, it is a "reward" that only those who continue for a certain period of time
will eventually receive.

Attracting customers is the same.

It's not about being a lion, a cheetah,
or an elephant or a giraffe—

the strength of a hippois what
works the best.

And one more thing.

What simple exposure creates is
not just reactions or numbers.

It is a relationship of trust.

Copywriting
and design
are merely triggers.

Only when you have made contact many times,
seen it many times,
and it has accumulated little by little,
does trust take shape.

Next time, we will look one step further into the structure of why many people "know what to do but cannot take action."
We will examine that structure a little further.

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