One thing that explains the bias of humans to ease is the “retweet” and the “like” buttons on Twitter.

Sometimes people want to test popularity of a choice through comparison and they set the 2 items up for the world to pick a preference. Usually it goes like this, “If you prefer “A”, press retweet, but if you prefer “B”, press like”. In almost all cases B wins the comparison. Not necessarily because B is better, but because it takes 1 click to like and 2 clicks to retweet.

With our preference for ease, the lesser the clicks, the greater the possibility that you will get chosen.

Many people use this bias when setting up the comparisons, putting their preference under the like category and the other choice under the retweet category. Usually, their preference wins.

For the retweet option to win, then the resistance to the other choice must be prevalent.

Cognitive ease (or cognitive fluency) is also seen in Google searches. People rarely go past the first page of searches, so Google charges a premium for that page.

Marketing teams understand the need for cognitive ease and are always tweaking communication to ensure that what is essential is seeded into the minds of the consumers.

Excellent presenters understand this and reduce jargon in oral and visual language.

You can use it too.

– Osasu Oviawe