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The rule of 7

The Rule of 7 illustration: two people walk together along the street, bombarded by imagery of apples; on posters, on the front page of newspapers, by a large promotional 3-D apple perched atop a news-stand. By the end of the scene, their conversation about whether they are hungry has turned to one specifically about buying an apple to eat.

Prints

The rule of 7 is an idea in marketing that it can take hearing a message 7 times before we might take action.

Apparently the rule is from early movie marketing and while I don't know if I'd rely on the number it certainly seems a sensible idea to keep in mind that you can't expect people to take action the first time they hear your message — if you're trying to get people to try something new be it buying food, downloading your app, watching a movie, or a choosing an electric car, it takes a while and repeated exposure before you can expect it to pay off.

I can't remember where I heard it, but some advice I keep in mind when communicating is that by the time you're tired of saying it, others are just starting to hear it. It's not a bad thing to repeat your main message.

I learned about the Rule of 7 from the recent book Human Powered by Trenton Moss.

When putting an apple in the adverts on this sketch I was reminded that so often it's the things in the supermarket that are most healthy for us that don't get anyone shouting about them at all.

Published 7 Nov 2021

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Keep exploring

Phubbing illustration: Someone sat in a cafe being phubbed by their friends on their phones while a parent and child walks by, gently heartbroken by being upstaged by a phone

The coastline paradox: a map of the UK dividing up the coastline with ever smaller rulers shows how the coastline length dramatically increases

The coastline paradox

The Two Generals Problem: Two Generals fighting for the same side, have set up their camps on the high ground either side of a castle to be attacked and use a messenger running between them to coordinate their attack. The problem is that the messenger has to run right past the hostile castle to relay the Generals' messages and confirmation of receipt of messages and there's no guarantee they'll make it past the castle unharmed.

The two generals problem

Sharpen the saw from Stephen Covey illustration: A woodcutter explains that they have no time to stop and sharpen the saw as they have so many trees to cut

Sharpen the saw

Pillars of hope, steel starter bars or starter rods stick out of a house so that in the future it's easier to add an extra storey

Pillars of hope

What is Fauxtomation explained with claims of automation actually done by people, often across the world

Phubbing: snubbing people for your phone. We've probably all experienced it — heck, we've probably all done it at one point or another — or at least it's likely to be familiar. Someone in a restaurant waiting for their friends to put their phones down. A family gathering where people are no longer talking to each other. A teacher without the attention of their students. A child failing to get the attention of an adult who's trying to process some messages on their phone. Research on phubbing, mostly since the word was coined, says it largely has the effects you'd think it would. The effects vary with who's being phubbed and who's doing the phubbing: bosses and employees, family members, parents and kids, or partners. Whoever's phubbing who, snubbing is a suitable root word for it — it's not so nice to feel snubbed. I learned about phubbing from the Mind over Tech community — they also have a newsletter on forming better digital habits. The word phubbing has the unusual distinction of being created for an advertising campaign to sell a dictionary. Phubbing, you may have spotted, is a portemanteau. For more phone annoyance see halfalogue. See, for example, Knausenberger, J. et al. (2022). Feeling Ostracized by Others’ Smartphone Use: The Effect of Phubbing on Fundamental Needs, Mood, and Trust. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.883901 Also see: phone zombie, continuous partial attention, when drinking tea…Phubbing: snubbing people for your phone. We've probably all experienced it — heck, we've probably all done it at one point or another — or at least it's likely to be familiar. Someone in a restaurant waiting for their friends to put their phones down. A family gathering where people are no longer talking to each other. A teacher without the attention of their students. A child failing to get the attention of an adult who's trying to process some messages on their phone. Research on phubbing, mostly since the word was coined, says it largely has the effects you'd think it would. The effects vary with who's being phubbed and who's doing the phubbing: bosses and employees, family members, parents and kids, or partners. Whoever's phubbing who, snubbing is a suitable root word for it — it's not so nice to feel snubbed. I learned about phubbing from the Mind over Tech community — they also have a newsletter on forming better digital habits. The word phubbing has the unusual distinction of being created for an advertising campaign to sell a dictionary. Phubbing, you may have spotted, is a portemanteau. For more phone annoyance see halfalogue. See, for example, Knausenberger, J. et al. (2022). Feeling Ostracized by Others’ Smartphone Use: The Effect of Phubbing on Fundamental Needs, Mood, and Trust. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.883901 Also see: phone zombie, continuous partial attention, when drinking tea

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