Processing Fluency is a cognitive bias in which our liking of something is directly linked to how easily our brains find it to think about, mentally process and understand it. We tend to prefer things that are simple to understand.
From a brand perspective, processing fluency offers an interesting opportunity. The easier we find something to think about it, the more we prefer it. In summary, our brains misattribute ease of thinking with liking something more.
Seemingly insignificant aspects of presentation can have surprising effects on shoppers’ perceptions and behaviour. If information is made to appear simple, shoppers are more naturally receptive to it. If it appears complex, they’re likely to be put off.
In general, anything that affects the ease or difficulty of mental processing can and does alter people’s perceptions of a brand.
Understanding cognitive biases, such as processing fluency, is crucial to understanding your customers better. To learn more about the brain, please click here for more articles on why we behave as we do or get in touch with us here.
8 thoughts on “What is processing fluency?”