I genuinely think The Traitors should be compulsory viewing for anyone working in marketing.
Not just because it's brilliant television (although, obviously, that helps), but because it's one of the best examples of human behaviour playing out right in front of us.
Every week on the show we watch contestants become absolutely convinced that someone is a Traitor based on a look, a comment or a random gut feeling they can't explain. And once they've made up their minds almost everything that person does becomes further evidence to be used against them.
If they are too loud, they are suspicious, if they then start being too quiet they are suspicious. And if they dare to try defend themselves then it's even further evidence against them (even when they are totally innocent!)
But behind all the drama, there's something genuinely interesting happening. We're watching people form opinions, make decisions and interpret information in real time.
And if you work in marketing, there's a lot we can learn from that.
Understanding consumer behaviour isn't just about knowing what people buy. It's about understanding why they buy it, what influences their decisions and how they form opinions in the first place.
And The Traitors offers some surprisingly good examples.
1. First impressions matter more than we think
One of the most interesting things about The Traitors is how quickly contestants form opinions about one another.
A slightly awkward interaction, a strange comment, an accidental hesitation or a suspicious glance can be enough to make someone question another person's intentions. And once that first impression has been made, it's not always easy to change somebodys mind.
The same thing happens when people encounter a brand for the first time.
Think about the last time you landed on a website for a business you'd never heard of before. Within seconds, you were probably already forming an opinion.
You might make a decision within seconds of landing on a website. Did it look professional? Was the messaging clear and easy to understand? Did the brand feel trustworthy? Could you quickly tell what it offered and whether it was right for you?
You might not have consciously thought through any of those questions, but they can all influence how you perceive a business.
And here's the important bit: those early impressions can affect what happens next.
If a brand feels credible and relevant, you might be more inclined to explore its products, read its reviews or enquire about its services. If something doesn't feel right, you might leave before the business has had a chance to show you what makes it different.
Your marketing doesn't start when someone is ready to buy. It starts when they begin forming an opinion about you. Those first impressions do really matter.
Your online presence plays an important role in shaping how people perceive your brand. If you're interested in how businesses can strengthen their online presence, read my guide to winning brand visibility in the age of AI.
That's why your website, messaging, visual identity, social media presence and customer experience are really important to oversee to make sure you are putting your best foot forward straight away for consumer behaviour. This helps people decide what they think about your brand, often before you have had a direct conversation with them.
2. Confirmation bias: once we have made up our minds, its hard to change them
Remember those contestants who become convinced they've identified a Traitor? Once they have come up with a theory about somebody, they seem to find evidence everywhere (even if they are absolutely wrong).
All conversations with that person feels strange to them. A defensive reaction becomes suspicious. Even an attempt to help the group can somehow be twisted into the narrative as part of an elaborate plan. This is a great example of confirmation bias.
Confirmation bias is our tendency to look for, interpret and remember information that supports what we already believe, while overlooking information that challenges it.
And it doesn't just happen on reality TV. It can influence how consumers perceive brands, products and services, too.
For example, what happens if a person has already decided that a particular brand is too expensive. When they visit the brands website, they might focus on the prices rather than the quality, service or additional value they're getting. They might compare it with a cheaper competitor without considering whether the two offerings are actually equivalent.
Their existing belief influences what they notice.
Another example would be someone who already loves a brand might be more willing to give it the benefit of the doubt when something goes wrong.
This is why changing brand perception can be difficult. Simply repeating your message louder doesn't necessarily address the belief sitting underneath it.
If they don't trust you, give them genuine reasons to feel more confident, whether that's transparent information, credible reviews or a better customer experience. And if they don't understand what makes you different, then you need to make that difference clearer.
The trick isn't just to get your audiences attention. It's to understand what's already influencing the way they see you.
3. We are influenced by what everyone else thinks
Have you ever noticed how quickly a theory can spread around the castle in The Traitors? One contestant voices a suspicion, another agrees, and suddenly the entire group seems to be looking at the same person differently.
The more people who share the opinion, the more convincing it can become through that sheep mentality. This is closely related to social proof, a psychological principle that helps explain why people often look to others when deciding what to think or do.
And marketers see this everywhere: Online reviews. Customer testimonials. Recommendations from friends. Products going viral on social media.
When we are unsure about a decision, seeing that other people have had a positive experience can make us feel more confident.
Think about booking a hotel, choosing a new skincare product or deciding which company to trust with a big project. You might compare prices and read the product information, but you're also likely to look at reviews or ask someone you trust for a recommendation. You're not just evaluating the product itself. You're looking for reassurance that you're making a good decision.
For marketers, this is a reminder that building trust involves more than telling people how great your brand is. It also means giving customers opportunities to see real evidence of what you are actually delivering.
That might include genuine customer reviews, case studies, testimonials or useful examples of your work. What matters is providing credible, relevant proof that helps them make an informed decision.
4. People don't always make decisions as rationally as we think
We often like to think that people make purchasing decisions by carefully weighing up their options, comparing the facts and choosing the product that offers the best value. While this certainly happens, consumer behaviour is rarely that straightforward. Our decisions are also shaped by emotions, familiarity, personal experiences, habits and the way information is presented to us.
Looking at The Traitors, for example. Contestants don’t always decide who to trust based on the evidence alone. Friendships, first impressions, personality and gut feelings all play a part. Someone might suspect another contestant is a Traitor but still trust them because they’ve built a strong bond. It’s a great example of how our decisions are often influenced by more than logic alone.
The same thing can be said about purchasing decisions. Why might someone choose a particular brand of coffee when cheaper alternatives are available? Perhaps they prefer the taste, grew up with the brand or have made it part of their morning routine. What looks like a straightforward product choice often has more feeling behind it than we realise.
This is why effective marketing needs to go beyond listing features and benefits. People need to understand not only what you offer, but why it matters to them. What problem are you solving? What frustration are you removing? How can your product or service help them achieve something they care about?
The more clearly you connect what you offer to your audience’s needs and priorities, the easier it becomes for them to see its value. And that starts with understanding your customers, rather than making assumptions about what you think they want.
5. Here's the uncomfortable bit: marketers are influenced by the same biases
It’s easy to sit watching The Traitors and wonder how someone can become so convinced of a theory that they stop questioning whether it’s actually true. But what happens when we are the ones making the decisions?
Have you ever launched a marketing campaign you were convinced would perform brilliantly, only for the results to fall short of expectations? It’s natural to look for reasons why things didn’t go to plan. Maybe the timing was off, the algorithm wasn’t playing ball or the campaign simply needed a little longer to find its feet. Sometimes, those explanations are perfectly valid. But other times, we might be looking for ways to justify a decision we’ve already made, rather than stepping back and questioning whether our original thinking was right.
We might focus on the metrics that look good while overlooking those that don’t, dismiss customer feedback that challenges our assumptions or continue investing in an approach because it feels familiar, rather than because the evidence suggests its working.
This is where understanding consumer behaviour becomes just as important internally as it is when trying to understand our audiences. Marketers aren’t immune to human psychology. We are just as capable of forming assumptions and becoming attached to our own ideas.
So, how can we avoid falling into that trap?
- Question your assumptions. Don't just ask why your campaign worked. Ask what might suggest your original thinking was wrong.
- Listen to your customers. Especially when their feedback challenges what you thought you knew about them.
- Look beyond the vanity metrics. Engagement and impressions can be useful, but make sure you're also measuring the outcomes that matter to your objectives.
- Test rather than guess. Use customer research, experiments and campaign data to understand what actually resonates with your audience.
- Be willing to change your mind. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can learn from a campaign is that your original idea wasn't quite right.
Good marketing isn't about proving that we were right all along. It's about understanding what works, why it works and what we can do better next time.
6. So, what does all of this mean for your marketing strategy?
For me, the biggest lesson from The Traitors is that people don't make decisions in isolation.
Our existing beliefs, first impressions, emotions and the opinions of others all influence how we interpret the world around us. Those same factors can influence how we discover brands, evaluate our options and decide who to trust.
Understanding consumer behaviour can help us make better marketing decisions because it encourages us to look beyond what we think our audience should do and consider what might actually be influencing them.
That means asking better questions.
Are we addressing the concerns our customers genuinely have? Are we making it easy for them to trust us? Does our messaging reflect what they care about? Are we using evidence to guide our decisions, or are we simply reinforcing our own biases.
The more we understand the person behind the customer that we are targeting, the better equipped we are to create relevant messaging, build stronger relationships and deliver experiences that give people genuine reasons to choose us.
Are marketers any better at spotting a Traitor?
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that The Traitors is a brilliant representation of human consumer behaviour. We form impressions quickly. We look for patterns. We trust our instincts. And once we believe something, we can become surprisingly good at finding reasons to keep believing it.
Understanding those behaviours can help us become better marketers, whether we're thinking about brand perception, customer trust, social proof or the decisions we make when analysing campaign results.
The most important lesson is to recognise when we're doing it ourselves.
It is really easy to spot confirmation bias when you're watching someone else accuse an innocent person on television, but its a lot harder when you're the one who is convinced your campaign idea is brilliant, your strategy is spot on or your favourite contestant is definitely a Faithful.
Which brings me to the important question...
Would you actually be any good at spotting a Traitor?
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