How advertisers make us spend money ⏲️ 6 Minute English

Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Pippa. And I'm Phil. What's the last thing you bought and why did you buy it? I bought a new pair of headphones recently because my old ones broke, and I did lots of research to try and find a good pair. How about you? I bought a soft drink on the way to work this morning. It might be because I saw someone I like promoting it in an advert. We call this a celebrity endorsement. But why do they work? Let's start by hearing from Ben Jones, a behavioural research expert, speaking to BBC World Service programme Business Daily. When we're unsure, we don't know what to do, it's kind of easy to follow the lead of those who we think are credible or knowledgeable. It's a mental shortcut. It's something that helps us navigate uncertain times or make quick choices. We start doing that from an early age. Our parents... for some people, it's about our teachers – you know, these people who help us learn and make sense of the world. And some businesses can draw on this through things like endorsements – you know, dentists recommending toothpaste, athletes endorsing sportswear. Ben says that endorsements work as a mental shortcut. This is something that helps us make a decision quickly. If we trust the endorsement, then we don't need to think about it that much. In this episode, we're going to look at the way that people can be convinced to do things. And as usual, we'll learn some useful new words and phrases. And remember, you'll find all the vocabulary and a quiz on our website, bbclearningenglish.com. OK. But first I have a question for you, Pippa. Today we're talking about behavioural science. What's the name of the theory that says people respond to small prompts? Is it: a) push theory, b) pull theory, or c) nudge theory? Oh, I'm not sure. I'm going to say b) pull theory. OK.