Nobel laureate Professor Daniel Kahneman said we don't choose between experiences; we choose between the memory of an experience. If that's true — and the science says it is — then most organizations are investing in the wrong thing. In this episode, Colin and Ryan explore how memories are actually formed, the difference between short-term (working) and long-term memory, and why your brand is really just a memory structure in the minds of your customers. They dig into how heuristics and biases shape what we remember, why humans are relentless pattern-recognition machines, and what all of this means for the experiences you design. It's the first in a three-part series on the topic Colin calls his favorite of all.
In this episode, you'll learn:
Why memory — not the live experience — drives customer decisions, loyalty, and price tolerance
The difference between short-term/working memory and long-term memory (and why most of your experience gets "binned" within seconds)
How memories are stored as a connected network of "nodes," not isolated facts
Why a brand, from the customer's point of view, is simply a memory structure, making brand management a form of memory management
How customer expectations are built from memory, and what that means for "meeting and exceeding" them
Where heuristics and biases come from — what's innate, what's learned, and what's situational
The practical "so what" for designing experiences that customers actually remember
Key quote:
"We don't choose between experiences. We choose between the memory of an experience." — Professor Daniel Kahneman
The hosts:
Colin Shaw is a LinkedIn 'Top Voice' with a massive 286,000 followers and 87,000 subscribers to his 'Why Customers Buy' newsletter. Shaw is named one of the world's 'Top 150 Business Influencers' by LinkedIn. His company, Beyond Philosophy LLC, has been selected four times by the Financial Times as a top management consultancy. Shaw is co-host of the top 1.5% podcast 'The Intuitive Customer'—with over 600,000 downloads—and author of eight best-sellers on customer experience. Shaw is a sought-after keynote speaker. Follow Colin on LinkedIn.
Ryan Hamilton is a Professor of Marketing at Emory University's Goizueta Business School and co-author of 'The Intuitive Customer' book. An award-winning teacher and researcher in consumer psychology, he has been named one of Poets & Quants' "World's Best 40 B-School Profs Under 40." His research focuses on how brands, prices, and choice architecture influence shopper decision-making, and his findings have been published in top academic journals and covered by major media outlets like The New York Times and CNN. His work highlights how psychology can help firms better understand and serve their customers. Ryan has a new book launch in June 2025 called "The Growth Dilemma: Managing Your Brand When Different Customers Want Different Things" Harvard Business Press. Follow Ryan on LinkedIn.
Resources & links:
Kahneman, The Riddle of Experience vs. Memory (TED): https://www.ted.com/talks/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experience_vs_memory
HBR, An Emotional Connection Matters More Than Customer Satisfaction: https://hbr.org/2016/08/an-emotional-connection-matters-more-than-customer-satisfaction
Beyond Philosophy training & resources: https://beyondphilosophy.com
