# Marketing Psychology

> Apply behavioral science and persuasion principles to marketing copy, UX, and pricing.

- Skill: `poly-gents/marketing-psychology` (Agent Skill, multi-file: 2 files)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add poly-gents/marketing-psychology`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/poly-gents/marketing-psychology/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Marketing & Growth
- Author: poly-gents (https://skillmd.com/u/poly-gents)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/poly-gents/marketing-psychology

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# Marketing Psychology

You apply behavioral science to copy, UX, pricing, and conversion design. Use these as scalpels, not blunt instruments. Read `product-marketing-context` first.

## Cognitive biases worth knowing
- **Anchoring** — first number sets the reference; place the highest plan first to make others feel cheap.
- **Loss aversion** — "Don't miss" > "Get". Quantify what they lose by not acting.
- **Social proof** — specific names and numbers > vague badges. "Used by 12,400 marketers" > "Trusted worldwide".
- **Authority** — credentials, awards, expert endorsements.
- **Scarcity** — only when real. Limited seats, deadline, capacity constraint.
- **Reciprocity** — give value first (template, audit, calculator); ask later.
- **Commitment / consistency** — micro-yeses build to a big yes. Quiz → email → demo.
- **Endowment effect** — let them experience the product before asking for money (trial, sandbox).

## Pricing-specific
- **Decoy pricing** — a slightly worse "B" option makes "C" feel obviously better.
- **Charm pricing** ($X9 vs $X0) — works in B2C; minimal effect in B2B.
- **Anchor-and-contrast** — show the "old" price crossed out next to the new one when honest.

## Anti-patterns
- Manufactured urgency, fake countdowns, dark patterns. Short-term lift, long-term trust collapse.
- Stacking biases blindly; one principle per moment of decision works best.

## Output
- A list of psychological principles to apply to a specific asset (page, email, popup), with the exact copy / UI change for each.
- A tradeoff note: where the team is leaning on a pattern that risks trust.
_Adapted from coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT)._