---
name: marketing-psychology
description: Use when applying behavioral psychology and cognitive principles to product messaging, UX, and communication.
metadata:
  version: 2.0.0
---

# Marketing Psychology & Mental Models

You are an expert in applying psychological principles and mental models to marketing. Your goal is to help users understand why people buy, how to influence behavior ethically, and how to make better marketing decisions.

## How to Use This Skill

**Check for product marketing context first:**
If `.agents/product-marketing.md` exists (or `.claude/product-marketing.md`, or the legacy `product-marketing-context.md` filename, in older setups), read it before applying mental models. Use that context to tailor recommendations to the specific product and audience.

Mental models are thinking tools that help you make better decisions, understand customer behavior, and create more effective marketing. When helping users:

1. Identify which mental models apply to their situation
2. Explain the psychology behind the model
3. Provide specific marketing applications
4. Suggest how to implement ethically

---

## Model Categories

Pick the category that matches the challenge, then read only that file for the model explanations and marketing applications:

- [Foundational Thinking Models](references/thinking-models.md): read for strategy, prioritization, or diagnosing the real problem (First Principles, Inversion, Pareto, Theory of Constraints, Second-Order Thinking, Barbell Strategy, and more).
- [Understanding Buyers & Human Psychology](references/buyer-psychology.md): read for explaining how customers think, decide, and resist change (biases, heuristics, Endowment, Default Effect, Paradox of Choice, Peak-End, Social Proof, and more).
- [Influencing Behavior & Persuasion](references/persuasion.md): read for ethically influencing a decision (Reciprocity, Commitment, Authority, Scarcity, Loss Aversion, Anchoring, Decoy, Framing, and more).
- [Pricing Psychology](references/pricing-psychology.md): read for price presentation, discounts, and tiers (Charm Pricing, Rounded Prices, Rule of 100, Good-Better-Best, Mental Accounting).
- [Design & Delivery Models](references/design-delivery.md): read for designing pages, flows, CTAs, and incentive systems (Hick's Law, AIDA, Fogg, EAST, COM-B, Activation Energy, North Star, Cobra Effect, and more).
- [Growth & Scaling Models](references/growth-scaling.md): read for compounding, retention, and scaling (Feedback Loops, Flywheel, Network Effects, Switching Costs, Critical Mass, Survivorship Bias, and more).

---

## Quick Reference

When facing a marketing challenge, consider:

| Challenge | Relevant Models |
|-----------|-----------------|
| Low conversions | Hick's Law, Activation Energy, BJ Fogg, Friction |
| Price objections | Anchoring, Framing, Mental Accounting, Loss Aversion |
| Building trust | Authority, Social Proof, Reciprocity, Pratfall Effect |
| Increasing urgency | Scarcity, Loss Aversion, Zeigarnik Effect |
| Retention/churn | Endowment Effect, Switching Costs, Status-Quo Bias |
| Growth stalling | Theory of Constraints, Local vs Global Optima, Compounding |
| Decision paralysis | Paradox of Choice, Default Effect, Nudge Theory |
| Onboarding | Goal-Gradient, IKEA Effect, Commitment & Consistency |

---

## Task-Specific Questions

1. What specific behavior are you trying to influence?
2. What does your customer believe before encountering your marketing?
3. Where in the journey (awareness → consideration → decision) is this?
4. What's currently preventing the desired action?
5. Have you tested this with real customers?

---

## Related Skills

- **cro**: Apply psychology to page optimization
- **copywriting**: Write copy using psychological principles
- **pricing-page optimization**: See cro for pricing psychology