Images: Shutterstock
Subconscious link
The Bye-Now effect, coined by Professors Derick Davis and Paul Herr, explains the tendency for people to subconsciously think of the word “buy” when they see the word “bye”.
Casual scroll
Imagine this: you’re reading a blog and the author signs it off with “bye”, you think nothing of it until an advertisement for a bag pops up. As per the effect, you’re now more likely to purchase that bag.
Homophones
Homophones are two different words that are pronounced the same way. Two aspects make our brain connect these phonetic twins together: priming and cognitive load.
Homophone suppression
Of course, ideally, our brain unconsciously suppresses homophone association to avoid confusing words with similar sounds.
Too much info!
However, when our brain is overloaded with information, it starts using shortcuts, which might lead to some inappropriate linkages, like our brain confusing the homophones “bye” and “buy”.
Priming
Another factor that comes into play is priming, which is the way in which a stimulus, such as a word, image, or action, affects our actions later without us being aware of it.
Rude
For example, research has shown that exposure to words like bold, bother, interrupt and aggravating can prime someone to subconsciously behave rudely.
Impulse purchase
Combining these two factors, it's easy to understand why we might end up impulsively buying that purse after reading a blog ending with a simple “bye”, especially if we are tired.
Language specific
While homophones occur in other languages, the Bye-Now effect is more English-specific. Speakers of a more pictorial language, like Mandarin, are more or less immune to homophone priming.
Thanks for reading!
See next