Latest / Marketing Psychology with Fexingo: Behavioral Triggers, Persuasion, and Consumer Behavior / How the Spotlight Effect Warps Consumer Behavior
Transcript
- Lucas: So I want to start with a question. Have you ever walked into a room and felt like every single pair of eyes was on you — like that stain on your shirt or that weird thing you said was the only thing anyone could possibly be thinking about? Luna: Oh, absolutely. And usually I'm wrong. People are too busy worrying about their own stuff to notice mine. Lucas: Exactly. That feeling has a name — the spotlight effect. It's the cognitive bias where we dramatically overestimate how much other people notice and remember about us. And it has real implications for how brands show up in the world. Luna: I remember the classic study on this. Wasn't it at Cornell, where they had participants put on a Barry Manilow T-shirt and then walk into a room full of people? Lucas: That's the one. 1999. Gilovich, Medvec, and Savitsky. They had students wear a T-shirt with a giant photo of Barry Manilow — someone who was, at the time, considered pretty uncool among college kids. Then they walked into a room where a group of other students were supposedly filling out a questionnaire. Afterward, the T-shirt wearers estimated that about 46 percent of the observers had noticed the shirt. The actual number? Around 23 percent. They cut it almost exactly in half. Luna: Right. And when they did a follow-up where the shirt was something cool — like a picture of Bob Marley — the overestimation went the other direction. People thought others noticed their cool shirt more than they actually did. Lucas: Exactly. The bias cuts both ways. But in marketing, we mostly see the anxious side. Brands pour resources into details that customers simply do not register. I'm talking about the fourth decimal place on a package claim, or a font choice so subtle no human being could tell the difference without a side-by-side comparison. Luna: And yet, marketing teams lose sleep over it. They're convinced the customer is scrutinising every pixel. Lucas: Which is the spotlight effect in action, but at an organisational level. The company becomes the self-conscious person in the Barry Manilow T-shirt. And it leads to real waste. There's a 2025 study from the Journal of Consumer Research that looked at logo prominence. They found that consumers paid an average of 18 percent more for products where the logo was subtle versus bold. Luna: Wait, so paying more for subtlety? That seems counterintuitive. Wouldn't you want your logo to be seen? Lucas: You'd think so. But the researchers found that consumers associated bold logos with trying too hard — with being desperate for attention. And that triggered a social cost. People didn't want to be seen wearing something that screamed 'look at my brand.' They'd rather pay a premium for something that signaled confidence by being understated. Luna: So the consumer is managing their own spotlight effect. They're afraid of being judged for being a walking billboard. Lucas: Exactly. And the brands that get this right — think of a luxury label that puts its logo in the lining of a jacket or on the inside of a watch clasp — they're selling you the feeling of being in on something exclusive, not the feeling of being stared at. Luna: There's a flip side, though. Sometimes the spotlight effect works in a brand's favor. If a customer thinks everyone is noticing their new purchase, that can reinforce the purchase decision. It makes them feel seen — in a good way. Lucas: That's a great point. And it's why some brands deliberately design for conspicuous consumption — think of a luxury handbag with a giant monogram print. The customer buying that bag wants the spotlight. They're not overestimating how much people notice; they're counting on it. Luna: So the bias isn't inherently good or bad for marketing. It depends on your audience and your positioning. Lucas: By the way, this feels like a good moment to mention something. If you're getting something out of these conversations — if they've sparked an idea you've actually used in your work — a couple of dollars a month is genuinely what keeps these going. Buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. It's that simple. No perks, no tiers. Just knowing this is worth a little support. Luna: Yeah, and honestly, it makes a real difference. It's what keeps the show ad-free and focused on the actual science, not the sponsors. Lucas: So back to the spotlight effect. One area where I think marketers consistently overestimate attention is packaging. I've been in meetings where someone spent twenty minutes debating the opacity of a toothpaste tube. And I'm thinking — the customer picks this up in aisle three, glances at it for two seconds, and puts it in their cart. They are not forming a deep opinion about the tube's translucency. Luna: But the brand manager is convinced that the translucency communicates 'freshness' or 'purity' or whatever. They're projecting their own intense focus onto the customer. Lucas: Exactly. And the research backs this up. The same 1999 study had a variation where participants wore a T-shirt and then had to estimate how many people in the room could identify what was on the shirt. Again, huge overestimation. The observers were just not as tuned in as the wearer thought. Luna: So what's the practical takeaway? How do you fight the spotlight effect in your own marketing? Lucas: I think the single most useful exercise is blind testing. Put your packaging or your ad in front of a group of people who don't work at your company, and ask them what they notice. Not 'what do you think' — just 'what do you see?' And then listen. Because the gap between what your team thinks is obvious and what a customer actually registers is often enormous. Luna: And that gap is expensive. You're paying for design, for copy, for revisions — for things that may as well be invisible. Lucas: Right. But there's also a more subtle version of this. The spotlight effect doesn't just make us think people notice our flaws — it also makes us think they notice our virtues. So a brand that launches a beautifully designed website might assume customers will appreciate all the little micro-interactions and the carefully chosen color palette. And maybe some will. But most people just want to find the checkout button. Luna: So you're saying the spotlight effect can lead to over-investing in things that don't move the needle, on both the positive and negative sides. Lucas: Exactly. And the antidote is humility. Assume the customer is paying less attention than you think they are. Then test that assumption. Because the ones who fight the spotlight effect best are the ones who design for the actual customer experience, not the imagined one. Luna: I think about this in the context of social media, too. Brands post something and then watch the engagement metrics like hawks. One bad comment and they think the whole world is judging them. But in reality, most people scroll past without a second thought. Lucas: That's a perfect example. The spotlight effect makes a single negative Yelp review feel like a crisis. Meanwhile, the vast majority of customers never even read reviews. They just buy what works. Luna: So if I'm a marketer listening to this, what's one thing I should do differently starting tomorrow? Lucas: Run a simple audit. Take your top three marketing assets — your homepage, your best-selling product page, your latest email campaign. Show them to five people who don't work in marketing. Ask them what they remember after ten seconds. Then compare that to what your team thinks is memorable. The gap is your spotlight effect tax. Luna: And if the gap is big, that's actually good news. It means there's low-hanging fruit. You can stop sweating the invisible details and redirect that energy to something that actually matters. Lucas: Exactly. The spotlight effect is a bias, but it's also a choice. The best brands choose to shine the spotlight on the customer, not on themselves. Luna: That's a nice way to put it. Alright, thanks Lucas. And thanks to everyone listening. Until next time.