Marketing Marketing Psychology

---
name: marketing-marketing-psychology
description: Apply persuasion principles — social proof, scarcity, anchoring, loss aversion, defaults — to a product's marketing, with dark-pattern guardrails. Use when the user asks why people would buy, how to make an offer more persuasive or which cognitive biases to use. Not for rewriting the copy or reworking a page; see /marketing-copy-editing or /marketing-page-cro.
metadata:
  argument-hint: "[project] [--skip-checks]"
  workflow: marketing
  phase: 2
  artifact: 02-act.md
---

# Marketing Psychology

Apply behavioral psychology and persuasion principles to "$ARGUMENTS". Identify which psychological triggers to use and how to implement them ethically.

**Arguments.** `$ARGUMENTS` may contain the project name and optional flags. Take the first token as `<project>` and treat `--skip-checks` as a flag; never include flags in file paths. All paths below use `<project>`. If `--skip-checks` is present, skip the prerequisite check and, **before writing any artifact**, append one line to `.singularskills/log.jsonl`: `{"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"marketing-marketing-psychology","workflow":"marketing","phase":2,"project":"<project>","event":"skipped","artifact":"02-act.md","note":"<reason or \"none given\">"}`.

## Prerequisites

**Part of a workflow.** This skill is phase 2 (Act) of the RACE Framework workflow (`marketing`); cross-domain workflows run it too. First check `.singularskills/log.jsonl` for an open run for this project: a `run-started` line with `"project":"<project>"` and no later `run-finished` line for the same `workflow` and `project`. If one exists, the conductor is running you: continue here. Otherwise, if the user asked to start, run, continue or resume a process or workflow rather than this one step, do not continue here: invoke the `workflow` skill with the workflow the user asked for, or `marketing` when they named none, followed by `<project>`; it runs this phase in order, asks before it writes and records the run. Otherwise continue here: a later phase runs on its own, behind its gate.

Run this skill's gate before writing: `sh <this skill's folder>/scripts/gate.sh <project> <project root>`, where `<project root>` is the folder that contains `.singularskills/` (use `.` when you are already there). If it exits non-zero, stop and tell the user what it printed, unless `--skip-checks` was given (see Arguments). On a refusal, before you stop, append this line to `.singularskills/log.jsonl` (create the folder and file if missing): `{"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"marketing-marketing-psychology","workflow":"marketing","phase":2,"project":"<project>","event":"refused","artifact":"02-act.md","note":"<what the gate printed>"}`. Once the gate has passed, or under `--skip-checks` once you have appended the `skipped` line, append this line before you start work: `{"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"marketing-marketing-psychology","workflow":"marketing","phase":2,"project":"<project>","event":"started","artifact":"02-act.md","note":""}`.

Read `.singularskills/marketing/<project>/00-strategy.md`. If this file does not exist, tell the user:

> Phase 0 (Strategy) has not been completed for "<project>". Run `/marketing-customer-research <project>` first, or use `--skip-checks` to bypass.

## Process

1. **Read context:**
   - Read `.singularskills/marketing/<project>/00-strategy.md` for audience and positioning
   - Read `.singularskills/marketing/<project>/02-act.md` if it exists

2. **Audit current psychology usage:**
   - If a URL or existing content is provided, identify what principles are already in use
   - Identify missed opportunities

3. **Recommend applicable principles:**
   - **Social proof:** testimonials, user counts, logos, case studies
   - **Scarcity & urgency:** limited time, limited quantity, exclusive access
   - **Reciprocity:** free value before asking (lead magnets, tools, content)
   - **Authority:** credentials, press mentions, certifications, expert endorsements
   - **Loss aversion:** frame benefits as losses avoided
   - **Anchoring:** price anchoring, feature anchoring, comparison anchoring
   - **Commitment & consistency:** micro-commitments, progressive disclosure
   - **Default effect:** pre-selected options, recommended tiers
   - For each: specific implementation recommendation for "<project>"

4. **Ethical guardrails:**
   - Flag any dark patterns or manipulative implementations
   - Ensure all claims are truthful and verifiable
   - Recommend transparent use of urgency/scarcity

5. **Write the artifact** — append to `.singularskills/marketing/<project>/02-act.md` under a `## Marketing Psychology` section. Create the file with a `# Act — <project>` heading if it does not exist; if a `## Marketing Psychology` section already exists, replace only that section. The section contains:
   - **Applicable Principles** — ranked by expected impact
   - **Implementation Recommendations** — specific, actionable per principle
   - **Ethical Considerations** — guardrails and transparency notes
   - **Priority Actions** — top 3 psychology-driven changes to make

## Output

Psychology recommendations appended to `.singularskills/marketing/<project>/02-act.md`. Present a summary highlighting:
- Top 3 applicable principles
- Highest-impact implementation recommendation
- Any ethical concerns to address

**Record the run.** After you have written your section, append this line to `.singularskills/log.jsonl` (the `started` line of Prerequisites, with `"event":"finished"`): `{"ts":"<ISO timestamp>","skill":"marketing-marketing-psychology","workflow":"marketing","phase":2,"project":"<project>","event":"finished","artifact":"02-act.md","note":""}`.

This artifact is shared by every skill of phase 2 (Act). The frontmatter is written once, by whoever creates the file: if you create it, open it with the block below (`skill` is the phase title, `started` the time of that first write; `gate` is `passed` when the gate ran clean and `skipped` under `--skip-checks`); if it already exists, leave the block alone except to update `finished` and to set `gate` to the worst value among the sections (`skipped` over `passed`).

```yaml
---
skill: Act
workflow: marketing
phase: 2
project: <project>
started: <ISO timestamp>
finished: <ISO timestamp>
agent: <the agent you run in, or "unknown">
gate: <passed|skipped>
---
```

Open your `## Marketing Psychology` section with one italic line, `*<skill name> · <ISO timestamp> · gate: <passed|skipped>*` (your skill name is `marketing-marketing-psychology`).

End your section with `### Decisions` and `### Open questions` (one level under your `## Marketing Psychology` heading, so the section stays one block), in this shape:

```markdown
### Decisions
- <what was chosen> — <why> — <what was rejected>

### Open questions
- <what the next phase or a reviewer must settle>
```