Nudge Podcast Summary
Episode: When you can’t stop seeing the thing you’ve just discovered
Host: Phill Agnew
Guests: Tom Bowden Green (Senior Lecturer & Co-Author), Luann Wise (Marketing Consultant & Co-Author)
Date: February 16, 2026
Overview
This episode of Nudge explores how our brains often trick us into seeing things we've just discovered everywhere–a phenomenon known as the frequency illusion or Baader-Meinhof phenomenon. Host Phill Agnew, with guests Tom Bowden Green and Luann Wise, breaks down the hidden psychology of this bias and discusses related behavioral tendencies like empathy and projection gaps, herd behavior, the power of social norms, and the licensing effect. The chat is grounded in research, real-world examples, and insights from Tom and Luann’s new book Marketing and Psychology.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Frequency Illusion (Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon)
- Phill’s “Home Alone” Experience: After rewatching Home Alone (00:00-01:55), Phill started hearing the movie's theme tune everywhere — in supermarkets, adverts, and even mistook airplane chimes for it.
- Definition: Once you notice something new, you begin to see it everywhere, even though its actual frequency hasn’t increased. This is due to selective attention and confirmation bias (04:01).
- Research Origins: The term comes from a 1990s online discussion about the Baader-Meinhof group (04:36). The phenomenon was detailed by Arnold Zwicky in a Stanford blog (05:01), and later validated in empirical studies (05:39).
- Example from Luann: Spotting a new car model repeatedly after noticing it once (03:35).
"It's almost once something enters your awareness, it suddenly seems to appear far more often than it did before."
— Luann Wise (03:39)
Real-Life Experiment (06:25)
- Researcher Martin van Meulen found Dutch literature guides falsely promoted obscure words as common, illustrating how guides (or any authoritative source) can prime our awareness.
2. Empathy Gap and the Endowment Effect
- Endowment Effect: We overvalue things we own compared to those we don't (08:43).
- Empathy Gap Extension: In studies where students valued university mugs, both buyers and sellers misjudged each other’s pricing, highlighting the gap in understanding another's emotions or perspectives (08:43-09:58).
- Real-World Example: Divided reactions to a CEO posting a tearful LinkedIn selfie after layoffs illustrated misaligned emotional states and the empathy gap (10:11).
"We judge as if they have the exact same emotional state that we have."
— Phill Agnew (10:58)
3. Projection Bias
- We mistakenly believe our current feelings and preferences will persist into the future (12:00).
- Snack Study: Participants who chose healthy snacks for a week later often reversed their choice when actually hungry, revealing poor prediction of future selves (12:08-13:05).
- Personal Anecdote: Phill presumed he’d be motivated to run after a trip, only to find himself jet-lagged and unmotivated on arrival (13:05).
"I projected my relaxed holiday demeanor onto my future self, assuming that my motivation would stay the same."
— Phill Agnew (13:23)
Coping Strategy
- Public pre-commitment increases follow-through (13:41).
4. Herd Behaviour & Social Norms
- Herd Behaviour: People suppress their individual dissent and follow group actions—deindividuation can occur, losing sense of self (14:07).
- Social Norms: Our actions are shaped by perceived normal behaviors in our reference group, as demonstrated by health messaging strategies (15:09-15:37).
- Uptrend Effect: Highlighting a growing behavior (rather than a common one) can motivate others (15:37).
"Declaring that a behaviour is growing makes people infer that it's becoming normal, which increases their own engagement."
— Phill Agnew (16:20)
5. Language & Personalization: The Power of “We” and “You”
- Using “we” brings customers closer to brands (18:20).
- Using “you” and personalization increases customer involvement and positive brand attitudes (18:20-19:17).
- Starbucks Effect: Being addressed by name increases likelihood of recommending a service compared to receiving an order number (19:46).
"Customers are 37.5% more likely to recommend the bakery if they used their first name rather than an order number."
— Phill Agnew (20:07)
6. Licensing Effect: Rewards After Effort
- After virtuous or effortful acts, people feel justified in indulging themselves (21:22).
- Khan and Dhar Study: Students who imagined doing community service were over twice as likely to choose a luxury purchase afterward versus those who didn’t (22:33).
"If we've done something good or done something hard, we feel we deserve a treat."
— Phill Agnew (22:46)
7. Practical Marketing Takeaways
- Mapping Theory to Practice: Tom and Luann's book links 400+ psychological theories to the marketing funnel and customer journey to help marketers select the right strategies (25:36).
"We’ve looked at things like a marketing funnel or a customer journey and tried to map out which theories might relate to that."
— Tom Bowden Green (25:36)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
-
On the Frequency Illusion
"The frequency illusion is when you notice something once and then start seeing it everywhere."
— Phill Agnew (04:01) -
On the Endowment Effect & Empathy Gap
"...what was actually more interesting about that experiment was they also asked each party... what they thought the others would pay or sell for, and they got those estimates wrong."
— Tom Bowden Green (09:19) -
On Personalization in Marketing
"...using someone's name in an email subject line makes them 20% more likely to open [it], 31% more likely to become a sales lead, and reduces unsubscriber rate by 17%."
— Phill Agnew (19:17) -
On Licensing Effect
"...if you ask customers to engage in virtuous behavior, they're then more likely to give themselves license to then indulge afterwards."
— Tom Bowden Green (22:14)
Timestamps for Key Segments
- Frequency Illusion/“Home Alone” Example: 00:00–05:39
- Empathy Gap & Endowment Effect: 08:43–10:58
- Projection Bias & Snack Choice Study: 12:00–13:55
- Herd Behaviour & Social Norms: 14:07–16:46
- Power of “We”/“You” & Starbucks Effect: 18:20–20:26
- Licensing Effect & Khan Study: 21:22–22:46
- Book’s Unique Angle: 25:36–25:52
Tone & Style
The episode maintains a conversational, relatable tone, combining personal anecdotes, pop culture, and accessible summaries of research. Phill injects humor and humility in his stories, while Tom and Luann bring concise academic clarity, making complex psychological principles easy to grasp for marketers and general listeners alike.
Conclusion & Call to Action
Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own biases and their prevalence in personal and marketing contexts. Phill plugs the Marketing and Psychology book for deeper learning and offers a discount for the Uplift Live event, promising exclusive insights on podcast growth strategy.
Recommended for:
Anyone interested in marketing, behavioral science, or why we see (and buy) what we do. This episode is both practical and enlightening, filled with takeaways for both personal awareness and professional marketers.