Share positive results, even when not in your control

Let’s start with a straightforward tip.

This one is closely related to the Outcome Bias, which we covered a few months ago. And it says that you will always be judged based by the outcome.

That’s textbook moral luck.

The point here is that you shouldn’t be too selective about sharing great results from your product or service.

Let’s say you’re selling fitness apparel and someone wins a local marathon wearing your gear.

You’ll share their feat, probably as user-generated-content. Even though it was the person’s prep and dedication who brought results, and not your brand.

GoPro built an entire awards system on this. Users would send videos of their interesting, often lucky encounters while using their camera.

And yet, they used the footage taken by someone else with their camera as promotional content.

Be careful, though. Moral luck can mislead consumers about typical outcomes or downplay factors within their control.

Be cautious to not make false or misleading claims. Nobody wants that.

Empathize with your customers’ struggles due to uncontrollable factors

There’s a good chance people in your audience feel immense frustration over things that are completely out of their hands.

They might even feel a “lack of moral luck.”

Instead of providing solutions at all costs, you can acknowledge that these factors exist—and position your brand as a reminder that the struggle won’t be forever.

Coca Cola did this during the Covid pandemic with its “Open Like Never Before” campaign.

The brand acknowledged the challenges of isolation and uncertainty, but also provided a supportive and optimistic outlook. Check it out, if you haven’t before.

Ads where you point out the good in bad circumstances can help get that lucky feeling tingling.

… But remind your audience that sometimes it’s not only about luck

In their research, Kneer and Machery found that we humans are less inclined to let moral luck influence our judgment if we’re provided with the full context.

In other words, if we can think things through, we’re more likely to take responsibility for our actions.

This is interesting because it throws moral luck out of the window,and might even bring a cathartic effect to the person looking at it.

Nike has mastered this type of advertising:

You could say their entire strategy is based on dismissing external factors and “just doing it.”

But other brands aren’t shy to do this as well.

Specsavers, an optical brand specializing in eye testing, glasses, and lenses, has the famous line “Should’ve gone to Specsavers.”

The brand uses humor to highlight unfortunate situations that could have been avoided with better eyesight. And it’s going strong for 20 years. We wonder why…