How Huel keep you buying more using Behavioural Science

Psychological ownership is a powerful thing.

On a visibly cold day on 6 January 2021, over 2,000 people stormed the Capitol Building in Washington D.C.

Two months after former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.

Members of a right-wing militia group, affectionally calling themselves the Proud Boy movement, are seen heading towards the Capitol.

One of the members of the (largely male) disaffected group speaks to a news correspondent and is heard saying:

“We’re taking our country back.”

Over the course of the day chaos ensued, many people were injured and there were a number of deaths on the day and over the coming months attributed to what Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called a "terror act".

This highlights the power of giving even a perceived notion of ownership.

Trump, knowingly or not (I would imagine not), hacked in to the strength of the Endowment Effect to make his supporters feel a sense of psychological ownership of the country in which they live.

So much so that storming a federal building and reeking havoc seemed like a good idea.

Brands can and do tap into this powerful effect too.

Huel are a brilliant example of this.

In particular giving their customers – self-proclaimed 'Hueligans' – free branded bottles to mix and take their protein shakes on the road.

It's something I've experienced myself as a sometime Huel buyer.

That feeling of mixing my own protein shakes at home, adding frozen fruit and a drop of honey, and taking the self-made concoction to my gym ready to drink after a workout.

Giving people a sense of psychological ownership increases the value they attribute, their enjoyment of it, and the likelihood they'll buy again.