Spot The Trigger Results | Marketing Psychology Games

Here are the answers to every quiz found in the Impulse Buying Triggers articles. Each result shows the exact psychological trigger used in the scenario and explains why it fits. You see how attention, emotion, timing, and framing shape quick decisions.

You can compare your choices with the correct triggers and check the reasoning behind them. Each explanation uses findings from consumer behaviour research, so you can verify the logic. This helps you understand how small cues guide judgment in real marketing situations.

Use this page as your central place to review all quiz answers, track your progress, and build a clearer view of the triggers that influence buying decisions.

Exercise 1: False. The ad focuses on environmental claims and emotional appeal. It does not show group pressure, reference group influence, social proof, authority cues, or norms. No Social and Group Influences triggers appear.
Exercise 2: True. The ad uses the bandwagon effect and social proof. The crowd, long lines, and public excitement suggest popularity and encourage viewers to follow the group.
Exercise 3: True. The ad uses authority cues. Certified instructors and known athletes act as trusted sources. The message frames expert guidance as the main reason to join.
Exercise 4: True. The ad uses social proof. Large numbers of reviews, high ratings, and visible customers act as evidence that many people trust the restaurant.
Exercise 5: False. The ad focuses on product details and price. It does not use social approval, group signals, authority, or norms. No Social and Group Influences triggers appear.

Exercise 1: True. The brand shows real user numbers, testimonials, and purchase counts. These elements signal that others approve and use the product, which is the essence of the Social Proof trigger.
Exercise 2: False. While the commercial is warm and emotional, it provides no evidence of others’ behavior, preferences, or endorsement. Without cues about social validation, Social Proof isn’t being used.
Exercise 3: True. The platform emphasizes rankings, viewer numbers, and comments, clearly highlighting that many people are engaging with the documentary. This is a textbook example of Social Proof influencing decisions.

Liking

Exercise 1: True. The campaign emphasizes friendliness, warmth, and emotional enjoyment, which directly triggers Liking.
Exercise 2: True. The campaign uses relatable storytelling, smiling faces, and positive associations to foster Liking.
Exercise 3: False. The campaign focuses solely on technical features without eliciting positive feelings or emotional connection.

Belonging and Identity

Exercise 1: False. The focus is purely on product features and lacks any messaging about social groups, community, or personal identity alignment.
Exercise 2: True. The campaign explicitly creates a community and emphasizes group participation, triggering a sense of belonging and identity.
Exercise 3: True. The ad highlights social connection, group participation, and identity association with the brand, which are core to the Belonging and Identity trigger.

FOMO

Exercise 1: True. The campaign uses scarcity (limited pairs), social proof (influencer posts, early queues), and urgency (real-time counter), all classic FOMO cues.
Exercise 2: False. While the email promotes benefits, it lacks scarcity, social proof, or urgency; the FOMO trigger is not applied.
Exercise 3: True. The campaign emphasizes limited availability and recent activity, creating urgency and social proof, which are key elements of FOMO.

Authority

Exercise 1: True. The chemist’s professional expertise and explanation of the product’s features are classic authority cues. The endorsement provides credibility and reduces perceived risk.
Exercise 2: True. The licensed nutritionist’s credentials and evidence-based explanation constitute an authority endorsement, influencing consumer trust and purchase decisions.
Exercise 3: False. The ad relies on social proof and aspirational appeal, not professional expertise. Popular influencers create desire, but there is no authority validation present.

Emotional Contagion

Exercise 1: False. The content is purely informational and lacks emotional cues to trigger shared feelings.
Exercise 2: False. The commercial focuses on technical information without evoking emotions in viewers.
Exercise 3: True. The campaign presents authentic emotions that viewers empathize with, illustrating emotional contagion.

Cognitive and Perception Influences

Exercise 1: True. The scenario uses framing by changing the message from a gain to a loss frame. It also uses perception triggers through clear spacing and simple presentation. The shift in wording changes how the offer feels.
Exercise 2: False. The ad focuses on emotion and purpose, but the scenario does not describe clear cognitive or perception triggers such as anchoring, framing, layout signals, contrast, or fluency. It shows positive association, but this section focuses on cognitive and perception influences. No clear trigger appears here.
Exercise 3: True. The scenario uses anchoring through the initial higher price. It uses perception triggers through contrast and clear layout that guide attention toward the offer. The lower price looks better because the anchor increases its perceived value.
Exercise 4: True. The scenario uses perception triggers through size, spacing, and clarity. It also uses cognitive fluency because the simple structure makes the option feel easier. The center placement guides attention. These factors influence the choice.
Exercise 5: False. The scenario shows no cognitive or perception triggers. The layout stays neutral. There is no contrast, no anchor, no frame, and no cue that guides attention. This removes the influence of these triggers.

Anchoring

Exercise 1: False. The ad focuses on prestige and craftsmanship, not on a comparative number or reference point to influence perceived value.
Exercise 2: False. The coffee ad emphasizes quality and ingredients rather than presenting any numeric anchor for comparison.
Exercise 3: False. The fitness app’s marketing stresses course benefits and features, with no anchor introduced to guide pricing perception.

Contrast Effect

Exercise 1: True. Presenting the expensive model first establishes an anchor, making the $750 phone appear more attractive by contrast.
Exercise 2: True. The sequence highlights relative value, making the mid-tier coat feel like a better deal compared to the premium option.
Exercise 3: False. Simply listing options alphabetically without meaningful contrast does not create a perceptual shift, so the trigger isn’t engaged.

Curiosity Gap

Exercise 1: True. The brand hides the reveal and creates a mystery about the upcoming product. Withholding the key detail builds a Curiosity Gap that encourages viewers to wait for the announcement.
Exercise 2: True. The ad shows a mystery box without revealing the product. The missing information creates tension and pushes viewers to follow the brand for the reveal, which is a clear Curiosity Gap.
Exercise 3: True. The blurred locations and incomplete information about the “underrated destination” create a deliberate knowledge gap. The viewer must tap to discover the answer, making this a Curiosity Gap.

Novelty

Exercise 1: False. The ad emphasizes common features already present in the market, so there is nothing new or unexpected to capture attention.
Exercise 2: False. The commercial focuses on familiar experiences and offerings, with no element of surprise or newness that would trigger curiosity.
Exercise 3: False. The promotion highlights timeless basics rather than introducing novel designs or experiences, so it does not utilize the Novelty trigger.

Cognitive Ease

Exercise 1: False. The ad is cluttered and complex, increasing mental effort. Cognitive ease requires simplicity and clarity, which this campaign lacks.
Exercise 2: True. The message is clear, concise, and easy to process. Users experience mental fluency, trust the brand more, and feel confident acting—exactly what cognitive ease leverages.
Exercise 3: False. The ad overwhelms the viewer with multiple stimuli, creating cognitive strain. This approach reduces trust and engagement, the opposite of cognitive ease.

Priming

Exercise 1: True. The brand uses visual cues, colors, textures, and lifestyle imagery to prime associations of warmth, comfort, and indulgence, subtly guiding your perception and desire.
Exercise 2: True. The motivational images and positive words prime feelings of energy, achievement, and engagement, increasing the likelihood that you act on the content.
Exercise 3: False. This campaign relies on direct messaging and urgency, which are typical of scarcity or discount triggers, not priming. There are no subtle cues influencing behavior subconsciously.

Decoy Effect

Exercise 1: True. The campaign positions the environmentally aligned offer as the appealing option next to less appealing choices in the broader category of brands. Even though the scenario focuses on emotion and purpose, the choice is still influenced by a comparison structure where one option appears more attractive because of the way alternatives are framed.
Exercise 2: True. The Standard Plan works as a decoy because it is priced close to the Premium Plan while offering much less value. This makes the Premium Plan look like the superior deal and steers customers toward it.
Exercise 3: True. The medium size acts as the decoy. It is intentionally structured to make the large look like the most rational and valuable choice, pushing customer decisions toward the high margin option.

Paradox of Choice

Exercise 1: False. While choice is abundant, the brand is not actively managing or guiding the decision-making process. The trigger is effective only when options are curated or structured to simplify choices, not merely overwhelming.
Exercise 2: True. The company limits choices to three options, highlights a recommended model, and organizes information clearly. These actions are a direct application of the Paradox of Choice, guiding the consumer toward confident decision-making.
Exercise 3: True. The curated selection, recommended badges, and category filters reduce decision fatigue and guide users toward a manageable set of options. This is a textbook application of the Paradox of Choice, making the process easier for consumers.

Peak End Rule

Exercise 1: True. The hotel creates both emotional peaks (cocktail event) and a positive ending (spa treatment), ensuring guests remember the experience favorably.
Exercise 2: False. The retailer’s campaign lacks both peaks and memorable endings, making it an ordinary experience rather than one shaped by the Peak End Rule.
Exercise 3: True. The streaming platform highlights dramatic peaks and delivers a strong, satisfying ending, influencing memory and encouraging discussions about the series.

Familiarity (Mere Exposure)

Exercise 1: True. The repeated exposure through videos with consistent visuals and messaging creates recognition and comfort, classic signs of the Familiarity trigger.
Exercise 2: True. Weekly emails with consistent branding create repeated exposure, reinforcing trust and recognition, which is exactly how the Familiarity trigger operates.
Exercise 3: False. A single, limited encounter does not build familiarity. The campaign relies on exclusivity and urgency, not repeated exposure.

Motivation and Decision-Making

Exercise 1: True. The ad uses emotional appeal and identity alignment. It encourages action by linking the purchase with a positive outcome. The eco message increases motivation by giving a meaningful reason to choose the brand.
Exercise 2: True. The ad uses ease and emotional motivation. It shows how the service reduces effort. It also uses relevance by connecting with daily routines and the desire for stress reduction.
Exercise 3: False. The listing does not use any Motivation and Decision-Making triggers. It shows basic data only. There is no value framing, emotional element, relevance, clarity improvement, or risk reduction.
Exercise 4: False. The announcement offers availability only. It does not activate motivation. It gives no value signal, no emotional incentive, and no clarity cues.
Exercise 5: True. The ad uses momentum, future benefit motivation, and relevance. It encourages consumers to start with small steps. It shows how the action connects to a meaningful future outcome.

Scarcity

Exercise 1: True. The ad emphasizes limited availability and uses urgency, classic elements of the Scarcity trigger.
Exercise 2: False. The ad focuses on quality and credibility but does not create a sense of limited availability.
Exercise 3: False. While the course has a special price, there is no actual scarcity or urgency applied.

Urgency

Exercise 1: True. The promotion includes both a countdown timer and a limited-stock warning, classic indicators of urgency that motivate fast action.
Exercise 2: False. While the email promotes quality and encourages browsing, there are no time-sensitive cues, deadlines, or limited availability, so urgency is not being used.
Exercise 3: True. The promotion combines explicit stock limits and a weekly deadline, creating a clear sense of urgency that pressures consumers to act quickly.

Loss Aversion

Exercise 1: False. The message centers on positive impact and shared values. It does not warn about losing something.
Exercise 2: True. The ad highlights what you risk losing if you do not upgrade. This reflects Loss Aversion.
Exercise 3: False. The message focuses on product features. It does not frame the choice around potential loss.

Hyperbolic Discounting

Exercise 1: False. The ad emphasizes long-term benefits and health outcomes, not immediate rewards. Hyperbolic discounting is about making short-term gains feel disproportionately valuable, which is not happening here.
Exercise 2: True. The countdown timer and limited-time discount create urgency, highlighting an immediate reward. Consumers are nudged to act now rather than waiting, which is a clear example of hyperbolic discounting.
Exercise 3: True. The offer to unlock the level instantly gives immediate gratification, making the short-term reward more appealing than waiting. This is a textbook case of hyperbolic discounting in action.

Anticipation

Exercise 1: True. The brand builds excitement and curiosity before the product is released, creating anticipation among consumers.
Exercise 2: False. The product is made immediately available with full details, so there is no period of expectation or suspense.
Exercise 3: False. The content is informative but doesn’t tease any upcoming product or event, so anticipation is not triggered.

Commitment

Exercise 1: True. The free trial and initial selection are small commitments that set the stage for further engagement, guiding the user toward a subscription.
Exercise 2: True. Signing up for a free recipe kit is a micro-commitment, which encourages future purchases and escalates involvement.
Exercise 3: False. The ad provides no step to initiate a small commitment, so the psychological mechanism of commitment isn’t being used.

Consistency

Exercise 1: False. The campaign emphasizes social sharing and community engagement, not alignment with prior consumer choices. The focus is on social proof rather than consistency.
Exercise 2: True. The software company leverages past actions—signing up and completing tasks—to guide future behavior, nudging users to remain consistent with prior choices.
Exercise 3: False. This ad relies on scarcity and urgency, not the consumer’s desire to remain consistent with previous decisions.

Self-Consistency Bias

Exercise 1: False. The message appeals to environmental values rather than identity matching, so it does not rely on the self-consistency pattern.
Exercise 2: False. The scenario promotes improved habits and environmental responsibility without referencing the user’s self-image, so it does not activate self-consistency bias.
Exercise 3: False. The message focuses on convenience and savings without anchoring the decision to the consumer’s identity, so it does not use self-consistency bias.

Endowment Effect

Exercise 1: True. Giving consumers a free trial in their own environment creates a temporary sense of ownership, increasing perceived value and likelihood of purchase.
Exercise 2: True. The ability to interact with content and features during the free trial builds psychological ownership, making users more invested in retaining access.
Exercise 3: True. Personalizing and customizing the product gives consumers a sense of ownership even before buying, which elevates perceived value and encourages purchase.

Emotional and Experiential Engagement

Exercise 1: True. The campaign taps into Storytelling by showing runners’ experiences and connections, and Surprise and Delight via the “plant two trees” incentive, creating emotional engagement and positive association.
Exercise 2: False. The campaign focuses purely on technical specs with no narrative, immersive, or surprising elements. No Emotional and Experiential Engagement triggers are applied.
Exercise 3: False. The bookstore’s campaign is minimalistic, lacking storytelling, sensory immersion, surprise, or pacing elements. No triggers are engaged.
Exercise 4: True. The interactive unwrapping experience incorporates Sensory Immersion (visual and auditory elements), Storytelling (cacao farmers’ story), Pacing and Leading (step-by-step virtual interaction), and Surprise and Delight (coupon reward), engaging multiple emotional and experiential triggers.
Exercise 5: True. The boutique hotel uses Storytelling (guest journey narrative), Sensory Immersion (scents, music, textures), and Surprise and Delight (personalized gifts), fully engaging consumers emotionally and experientially.

Storytelling

Exercise 1: True. The ad uses characters, emotional cues, and a clear narrative frame tied to shared action.
Exercise 2: False. The ad avoids narrative structure and presents only technical information.
Exercise 3: False. The ad shows static details with no storyline or emotional arc.

Surprise and Delight

Exercise 1: False. While the campaign is positive, it is standard and predictable, focusing on product features and discounts rather than creating an unexpected, emotionally engaging experience.
Exercise 2: True. The coffee shop surprises customers with handwritten notes, complimentary items, and personalized touches, creating unexpected emotional engagement that strengthens loyalty.
Exercise 3: False. Seasonal sales are predictable and expected, offering no element of surprise or emotional delight. Customers anticipate them, so the trigger is not activated.

Sensory Immersion

Exercise 1: False. While the ad evokes positive feelings and aligns with social responsibility, it primarily relies on emotional appeal and social proof rather than multi-sensory engagement.
Exercise 2: True. The bakery actively engages multiple senses—sight, smell, touch, and sound—creating an immersive environment that encourages customers to linger and interact.
Exercise 3: True. The car ad uses visual cues and descriptive audio that hint at the sensory experience of driving, but the immersive elements simulate a physical and emotional response, making it a form of sensory engagement.

Pacing and Leading

Exercise 1: False. While the campaign creates positive emotion and inspires curiosity, it doesn’t mirror the audience’s current behavior or gradually guide them toward action. It’s emotionally engaging but lacks true pacing and stepwise leading.
Exercise 2: False. The company jumps straight into benefits and urges immediate action without acknowledging the audience’s current concerns or emotions. There’s no pacing, and the leading is aggressive rather than incremental.
Exercise 3: True. The ad first reflects the audience’s reality and acknowledges their stress (pacing), then presents a manageable solution in steps that guide action (leading). This sequence is a textbook example of pacing and leading in marketing.

Behavioral and Completion Mechanics

Exercise 1: True. The campaign uses Reciprocity, giving the emotional reward of supporting a good cause, which encourages a positive response and potential action.
Exercise 2: False. There are no Behavioral or Completion Mechanics triggers present. The experience is complete and transactional without offering value first or creating incompletion tension.
Exercise 3: True. The app applies both Reciprocity (free mini-course) and the Zeigarnik Effect (progress bars and incomplete modules), motivating users to return and finish the lessons.

Reciprocity

Exercise 1: True. The brand is giving a perceived benefit to the environment, which creates a subtle obligation for viewers to support their product.
Exercise 2: False. No giving or gesture triggers the desire to reciprocate; the campaign focuses purely on product features.
Exercise 3: True. The free audit provides tangible value, creating a sense of obligation that encourages participants to engage further with the service.

Zeigarnik Effect

Exercise 1: False. The ad creates positive emotion and promotes a social cause, but it doesn’t leave an open loop or unfinished task that creates cognitive tension. You feel inspired, but there’s no mental “incomplete task” holding your attention.
Exercise 2: True. The platform explicitly shows incomplete progress, creating an open loop. The visual reminder and percentage remaining trigger the Zeigarnik Effect by motivating you to complete the course.
Exercise 3: True. The cliffhanger endings and auto-play create unresolved narrative tension. The cognitive discomfort from the unfinished story encourages continued engagement, a direct application of the Zeigarnik Effect.

Values and Ethical Marketing

Exercise 1: True. The brand is using the Moral Alignment trigger. By committing to plant trees with each purchase and showing environmentally conscious imagery, the campaign appeals to consumers who value sustainability and ethical responsibility.
Exercise 2: True. This campaign uses Moral Alignment as well. Highlighting fair wages and community impact aligns the brand with social ethics, encouraging the consumer to choose it over alternatives due to shared values.
Exercise 3: False. While the campaign emphasizes luxury and quality, it does not incorporate any Values and Ethical Marketing triggers. There is no moral or ethical component designed to influence consumer behavior in line with personal values.

Moral Alignment

Exercise 1: True. This scenario uses value based messaging. The company links the purchase directly to an action presented as socially responsible. The ad suggests that buying the product supports environmental improvement, which encourages alignment between the company’s purpose and the viewer’s personal beliefs.
Exercise 2: False. This example focuses on product qualities, not shared moral values. There is no attempt to create a sense of ethical alignment or position the act of purchase as a morally meaningful decision.
Exercise 3: True. The focus is on environmental responsibility. The communication links the customer’s action to a positive moral outcome. It presents the purchase or upgrade as a choice that aligns with a broader ethical purpose.

Table of Contents

Social and Group Influences

Social Proof