Positive Ambiguity: Marketing Psychology Lessons from The Berghain Bouncer
Key points for understanding the power of ambiguity in marketing psychology:
When people are given access to a special, exclusive experience, but the selection criteria is mysterious, this produces positive ambiguity. It holds significant opportunities within marketing psychology.
Understanding the psychology of ambiguity comes down to the self-enhancement bias, and the tendency for the mind, in the absence of a satisfiable explanation, to create a positive story.
From a marketing perspective, embracing ambiguity shares much in common with the idea of cultivating serendipity in the consumer experience.
The Berghain in Berlin is considered one of the best electronic clubs in the world. Getting in is tricky. There are no reservations, and you can't buy your way in by splurging on bottle service. No one is given special treatment, no matter how wealthy they are or how large their celebrity.
Instead, everyone faces the same entry process: you stand in line, and you wait. When you reach the door, the bouncer decides your fate. And not just any bouncer - The Berghain Bouncer, Sven Marquardt.
Sven is an icon of The Berlin club scene, a figure nearly as famous as the club he bounces for. With his muscular build, distinctive face tattoos, and heavy piercings, he resembles the techno version of the final villain in a video game. Needless to say, he's not to be argued with.
His word is final, and most people who reach the front of the line are turned away. A nod in the affirmative, and you're thrust into the belly of the 4th dimension. A shake of his head the other way, and you're back to square one, ruminating over what could have been.
With so much on the line, how do you put yourself in Sven's good graces? Who gets in and who doesn't is ambiguous. It's a complete mystery. It's not about your looks, how friendly you come off, or how wealthy you appear. A wide range of A-list celebrities, from Britney Spears to Elon Musk, have all been refused entry at the door.
There's no discernable pattern. And that's precisely why it's so powerful. This kind of selection process is called positive ambiguity: It delivers good news but maintains an air of mystery. Beyond tantalizing clubgoers, it carries deep implications for brands and marketers, who have unrecognized opportunities to be a kind of Berghain Bouncer for their customers.
So what can the Berghain Bouncer teach us about marketing psychology? Let's dive in
The Psychology of The Self-Enhancement Bias
Once inside, The Berghain is an exceptional club, fully deserving of its global reputation. The process of getting in doesn't make the club great, but it does provide some critical icing on the cake. A well-crafted selection process turns a good experience into a great one.
Consider the following scenarios:
You get up to the front of the line, and Sven says, "Congratulations, you just so happen to be the 200th person to get to the front of the line tonight. All even numbers can come in."
You get up to the front of the line, and Sven says simply, "You can come in."
In both scenarios, you get in, but the second version feels much more special. Not only is it more enjoyable in the moment, but it provides a connection to the entire evening's experience. Why is that? It comes down to the psychology of ambiguity.
Left without any concrete explanation, we're left to create it on our own. Considering the positive outcome, we naturally craft an explanation that puts ourselves in the best possible light. We may not think it explicitly, but our brains effectively say, "Why did I get in, and all these other people didn't? It's because I'm amazing, clearly."
You can create any explanation for this nice turn of events, all chipper and deeply personalized. You connect with it and make it your own.
Left to its own devices, with no other explanation, the brain's stories will lean positive and personal. This is what psychologists call the self-enhancement bias: we're naturally prone to see ourselves most positively, especially when we have no evidence to the contrary.
The Psychology of Positive Ambiguity
This self-enhancing bias produces some fascinating psychological findings. Consider The Lake Wobegon Effect: on a range of dimensions, people regularly consider themselves to be above average. 80% of people consider themselves "better than average" drivers. The vast majority of people also think they have "above average intelligence" and are "nicer than the average person." Of course, it doesn't take an advanced statistician to recognize the mathematical impossibility that 80% of the distribution is "above average."
The tendency to find positive, self-enhancing explanations comes naturally. You don't have to be arrogant or over-confident; it's just the way our minds naturally tilt. And these self-enhancing biases thrive amidst ambiguity. Let's give a name to this idea: positive ambiguity.
In exploring the psychology of positive ambiguity, we see that mystery is vital. If you take a driver's test and the instructor informs you that, objectively speaking, you're only in the 30th percentile of all drivers, you have solid feedback about your actual driving ability, and you stack up compared to others. In this scenario, you'd be deluding yourself into claiming you're above average.
But if you're like most drivers, you'll go your whole life without getting objective feedback. You're left to fill this blank in our natural, self-enhancing way. So when we're given entrance to a selective world-class nightclub without any explanation, we'll naturally assume that this reflects of our inherent greatness. There's no better compliment than the one we give ourselves.
Thankfully for marketers, applying positive ambiguity isn't limited to dimly lit nightclubs with intimidating bouncers. Marketing practitioners can adopt this approach to their own consumers in a range of different scenarios.
Applying Positive Ambiguity to Marketing
In marketing, there's ample opportunity to single out consumers for something special. An upgrade to first class. A promotion to a VIP tier within a loyalty program. Privileged access to special features within an app. A little something special for the right customer can go a long way.
These kinds of programs are ubiquitous, so how the news is delivered can make a significant difference. Positive ambiguity is the thing to differentiate your approach.
As we've seen, there's power in creating a bit of mystery behind the selection criteria. Sure, you can provide customers with a detailed flattering explanation, but remember: the best compliments are the ones we give ourselves. These are inherently positive and deeply personalized. And for these, you need to allow room for these self-enhancing biases to breathe.
Imagine crafting the notification email for a list of subscribers accepted into a VIP program. Which provides more positive ambiguity?
"Welcome to the club you're in."
"Welcome to the club, you're in. You've been selected because you've verified your email, you've made at least 3 purchases on our online store within the last 6 months, and you've been on our email list longer than 70% of all subscribers."
The first is a clear winner. Just as with The Berghain Bouncer, less is more. You've done your part; now, the consumer's happy mind take it from here.
Connecting Ambiguity with Serendipity and Marketing Psychology
Injecting a bit of positive ambiguity into the selection process can lead consumers to generate their own self-enhancing conclusions about why this might be. As we've seen, this can be an effective tactic when it comes to designing these specific kinds of consumer experiences.
At the same time, it's worthwhile to zoom out and examine the bigger picture: When it comes to marketing psychology more broadly, there's a power in the mysterious.
This comes in several forms. As we've seen elsewhere, delivering consumer perks can be galvanized by injecting a bit of pleasurable surprise. Loyalty programs, for example, are best when they feel relational and warm, not transactional and predictable. A good perk, by surprise, becomes a great perk.
We've also seen how these pleasurable surprises can go even further - from delivering sheer pleasure to building a more profound connection through serendipity. Applying serendipity to marketing means adding that all-important element into the consumer experience: mystery. Embrace the ambiguity and let them wonder. It's about providing fertile ground for serendipity, and letting the brain's natural filling-in process unfold, infusing the experience with greater significance.
The power of ambiguous positivity is an extension of this general principle. By allowing space for the consumer to fill this in themselves, they create the story that puts the outcome in the best possible light. Sometimes then, the best thing marketers can do is nothing at all. The right amount of ambiguity, carefully crafted, can go a long way.
In their own way, marketers can take on the role of The Berghain Bouncer. Less is more. The sounds inside the club are enchanting and intense, but at the door, silence is golden.
Photo by Lesekreis via Creative Commons Liscense
About the author
Matt Johnson, PhD is a researcher, writer, and consumer neuroscientist focusing on the application of psychology to branding. He is the author of the best-selling consumer psychology book Blindsight, and Branding That Means Business (Economist Books, Fall 2022). Contact Matt for speaking engagements, opportunities to collaborate, or just to say hello
References: The Power of Positive Ambiguity in Marketing Psychology
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