Why System 1 Thinking Makes or Breaks Your Marketing Strategy

To be a serious marketer is to be, in many ways, a keen observer of human psychology.

What I mean is that marketing is always a reaction to what we’ve learned and observed about people.

The rise of social proof marketing—leveraging testimonials and reviews to influence buying behavior—stems from studies showing that people are more likely to trust peer recommendations over traditional advertising.

Similarly, the scarcity principle, often used in limited-time offers and exclusive product releases, taps into the fear of missing out (FOMO), compelling consumers to act quickly before an opportunity disappears.

In its unconsidered form, marketing is anecdotal and based primarily on our assumptions.

At its best, marketing is specific and highly strategic, ensuring that the right message reaches the right people at the right time.

This precision relies on a deep understanding of human behavior and our decision-making processes.

There’s always a reason for our decision, even if that reason isn’t readily apparent—or even if we struggle to articulate it.

Take the fact that many consumers will instinctively choose a well-known brand over a lesser-known competitor, even when the products are nearly identical.

When asked why, they may cite quality or trust, but often, it’s a subconscious response to repeated exposure and familiarity.

We call it “intuition” when we can’t explain it, or even a “sixth sense.”

And in many case, when asked why we did something, we simply shrug our shoulders and move on.

Yet, when we look at the history of successful marketing campaigns—Volkswagen’s “Think Small” campaign or Avis’s “We’re Only No. 2 in Rent-a-Cars” campaign—we see that the most impactful ones were deeply considered, and they actually operate within the spectrum of how the mind processes information.

This is where it gets interesting.

System 1 vs. System 2 Thinking

This spectrum, which spans from “System 1” thinking to “System 2” thinking, was popularized in Nobel Prize winner Daniel Kahneman’s bestselling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

He defines it this way:

“System 1 operates automatically and quickly, with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control. System 2 allocates attention to the effortful mental activities that demand it, including complex calculations. The operations of System 2 are often associated with the subjective experience of agency, choice, and concentration.”

When I think about sustained marketing campaigns, it becomes clear that they move from heart to head, from emotion to logic, from System 1 to System 2 thinking.

The most studied marketers understand that System 1 thinking is where the magic happens—it is the “main source of the explicit beliefs and deliberate choices of System 2 thinking.”

We like to believe that we are rational, logical beings governed by System 2, but in reality, System 1 continuously generates suggestions for System 2.

Which is where the opportunity resides.

Influencing Decision-Making

As marketers, our job is to influence those System 1 suggestions.

If we can do that, we can create an automatic response that turns into a logical decision.

Assuming that what we’re marketing is worthy of the effort, by which I mean good and ethical and useful, this becomes the marketer’s ultimate task: activate System 1 in a way that favorably affects System 2.

If you’re having a negative reaction to this idea of intentional influence, I get it.

It may seem like a form of manipulation or subterfuge, and in some ways, it is. But it’s also the reality of how marketing and influence work in humans.

What we’re really doing as marketers is being more direct and intentional (and obvious) in shaping the way people think and feel.

And as long as the companies and products we market are good, ethical, and solving real needs, then there should be no issue with using these principles.

Creating the Conditions for Success

Ultimately, while we can’t manufacture virality or success, we can create the conditions for virality and success.

That, in sum, is the job of the marketer—to create the conditions in which a product, service, or idea can prosper.

The key to creating those conditions lies in understanding the architecture of cognition.

When you align emotional appeal with rational justification, when you activate System 1 to guide System 2, you craft campaigns that resonate, endure, and drive action.

Mastering this balance is what separates good marketers from great ones, and great ones from the truly influential.

Let’s get to work.