So far in my little series on psychological barriers to purchase, we’ve covered Anchoring Bias, Loss Aversion, the Paradox of Choice, and Hyperbolic Discounting.

Today, we’re checking out a blocker that makes certain products extra difficult to sell: Availability Bias.

First identified by psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman, Availability Bias is our tendency to overestimate the likelihood and importance of things that come readily to mind — and underestimate those that don’t.

I talk about “poking the bruise” to bring customers’ pain to mind, because bruises don’t hurt all the time.

But what about when there is no bruise — yet?

Chew on these scenarios:

• After hearing about a shark attack on the news, beachgoers everywhere avoid swimming for weeks, despite the infinitesimal, unchanged risk
• After a friend’s computer is hacked, we immediately update our passwords
• After witnessing a car accident, we drive more cautiously (but only for a day or two)

The bias works in BOTH directions.

We overreact to vivid risks and underreact to abstract ones, regardless of their actual probability or impact.

For product makers, this creates a real challenge: How do you sell solutions to problems customers haven’t personally experienced?

When there isn’t a clear and present danger, buyers move on. Our world has too many distractions to try and guard ourselves from every little thing.

Letting go is bliss.

This is why products addressing rare but catastrophic events (insurance, backup systems, security solutions) face such an uphill battle.

The dog brain is unable to generate an emotional response to a problem it hasn’t directly encountered, while the tank brain fails to override this lack of emotional urgency.

Status quo prevails, yet again.

In I Need That, I break down validation methods to ensure your product addresses genuine needs. Availability Bias explains why traditional market research often fails. Customers just cannot accurately assess their interest in solving problems they haven’t vividly experienced. Their brains don’t work that way.

Your job is to make your product’s version of that shark attack or hacking incident top of mind, and REAL.

To the buyer.

Right now.

Product Payoff: Ring doorbell cameras overcame availability bias by dramatically shifting their marketing from abstract home security benefits to sharing ACTUAL footage of package thefts and break-in attempts. By making the threat vivid and concrete rather than statistical, Ring transformed from a struggling startup to a $1+ billion acquisition by Amazon. The product didn’t change. They just made the problem more “real” in people’s minds.

Action for today: Think a minute about how you’re communicating the problem your product solves. Are you relying on statistics, abstract benefits, or logical arguments? If so, brainstorm ways to make the problem more vivid, concrete, and emotionally resonant right NOW. How can you do this through demonstration, storytelling, or social proof from similar customers, to get into future buyers’ heads?

In our next email, we’ll dig into the IKEA Effect — and how making your customers do a little work can increase their product attachment.

How have you found ways to make abstract problems feel more urgent to your customers? Tap that vividly memorable reply arrow and share your approach. Or tell me about a product that got you to buy, despite no urgent need at the time.

I love to hear from you, and ALWAYS write back.

Or reach out anytime to the team of friendly and brilliant product marketing specialists at Graphos Product.