Hey 👋 The Crew here.
What’s the longest you’ve ever slept?
Yours truly clocked in 10.5 hours after a brutal transatlantic flight with endless delays. If you’ve topped that, and you’re not a toddler—congrats, the sleeper crown is yours.
Now that our mind is rested, let’s dive into marketing psychology.
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Golem Effect
Ever had a manager who made you feel as though you were inadequate or in over your head? Suddenly, you found yourself fumbling simple tasks you would normally ace.
Was it bad luck? Or… was your manager right?
Maybe neither. It might have just been the Golem Effect—the self-fulfilling prophecy where low expectations lead to poor performance.
What the science says: A trio of scientists named Babad, Inbar, and Rosenthal found that supervisors who expected little from their employees actually caused their performance to drop.
Low expectations were communicated through tone, body language, or lack of trust. And they eroded confidence and motivation.
The scientists named this phenomenon after Golem, a mythological clay creature brought to life to serve its creator yet becomes dangerously uncontrollable and corrupt over time.
And like many mythologies, there’s an element of truth in the Golem Effect because it plays out all the time in the real world.
For example, a customer service rep assuming a caller is clueless might use a condescending tone, only to create the very frustration they expected.
That’s why it’s so important that we marketers avoid triggering this effect. Because avoiding it can be a powerful tool…
Three ways to leverage Golem Effect
1) Engineer a powerful “first win.”
The first interaction often sets the tone for the entire relationship.
If that early experience feels like a struggle, you risk users confirming doubts about their ability. That’s your classic Golem Effect trap.
But when you design for an immediate sense of progress, you signal competence and momentum from the start.
Who does this well? Canva. The very first time you open it, you’re nudged into creating something polished in minutes:
Once you do, you have that “wow, I made this!” moment.
It cements the belief that design mastery is within reach.
Pro tip: Map out your onboarding flow. Identify the quickest path to an “aha!” moment where the user feels competent. Then make that path the default experience. Simple as, huh?
2) Avoid labeling users with limiting language
You know what can inadvertently cap a user’s potential?
Using terms like “basic” or “novice” in your product tiers or onboarding. This can make users feel pigeonholed or turn them off from exploring advanced features.
Instead, use encouraging, aspirational language that implies growth.
Take MasterClass, whose entire platform avoids labeling users. You’re not a “beginner cook” taking a basic course. Instead, you are a student learning directly from Gordon Ramsay:
The framing positions you as an aspiring protégé. Scrambled eggs might be your limit today, but you’re capable of grasping expert knowledge.
This sets an expectation of excellence and empowers users to aim higher, completely sidestepping any potential Golem Effect.
Pro tip: Audit your user journey. Replace labels like “Basic” with aspirational tiers like “Builder” or “Pro.” Guide every user on a path to mastery.
3) Reframe limitations as challenges
The problem: A customer complains that a product is too complex.
The Golem-effect response: You agree and offer a downgrade. (Don’t do that.)
A better solution: Reframe this difficulty as a high-potential challenge.
For example, Adobe’s Creative Cloud is notoriously complex. But it doesn’t market Photoshop as “easy.”
Instead, its entire ecosystem of tutorials and expert masterclasses frames the steep learning curve as a journey to mastery:
This tells users that proficiency is achievable and worth the effort.
When a user hits a wall, don’t just solve their ticket. Build a knowledge base, tutorials, and a community that frame complexity as a rewarding challenge.
AI EDUCATION: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Midjourney… So many names, but what’s actually useful for you in your work? There’s a newsletter called The Deep View that exists to sift through all the noise and get you up to speed on what’s actionable with AI products, and it’s free. Join 452,000+ subscribers with one click and let AI empower you.*
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TIKTOK: No ban in the end? It appears US and Chinese officials have settled on a framework agreement to switch TikTok to US-controlled ownership. The deal for the app is set to be confirmed in a forthcoming call between both nations’ presidents, so expect changes soon.
AI MARKETING: Gemini has a powerful new image model called Nano Banana that lets you edit with serious control. You can keep subjects consistent across images, blend photos, and apply styles from one object to another. Seriously, the results can be quite insane.
AI MARKETING: On that note, a new Pew Research survey suggests your audience probably isn’t as hyped about AI as you are. Half of US adults are more concerned than excited about its use and believe it will ultimately harm human creativity and connection. Which side are you on?
*This is a sponsored post.
ICYMI, last time we looked at the Ben Franklin Effect.
The “Clay-made” Crew
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