You can instantly recall your childhood best friend's phone number from 20 years ago. But if you were asked to remember the electrician's phone number you Googled five minutes ago… Your mind would likely go blank. Keep reading to find out why. 🧠
Read time: 2.5 minutes ⚡
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You're at a friend's house for trivia night when a question comes up that stumps all four of you: "What's the deepest lake in the world?" After 30 seconds of pure silence—the equivalent of waving the trivia white flag—Jake whips out his phone and starts Googling the question. "Lake Baikal in Russia," he announces two seconds later. "It's over a mile deep." Everyone oohs and aahs before the game continues. But two hours later, as you're all heading out, Lucy asks, "Hey, what was that lake again? The deep one from earlier?" Everyone freezes.
"I know it wasn't Lake Michigan," John unhelpfully offers. "Or Lake Erie. It wasn't even in the States, right?" After racking your brains, nobody can remember what the name was. So Jake ends up doing another Google search to get the answer. "Lake Baikal. It's in Russia," he says for the second time that night. "That's such an interesting fact. I can't believe we didn't remember that," you say as you unlock your car door. Why did nobody remember the name of the world's deepest lake? In today's edition of Why We Buy 🧠 we'll explore the Google Effect—why we forget information we know we can easily access again. Let's get into it.
🧠 The Psychology of the Google Effect
The Google Effect is also known as "digital amnesia." Researchers asked participants to type trivia statements into a computer. But here's the kicker… Half were told the computer would save their entries, while the other half were told that everything they entered would be deleted. Those who believed their statements would be erased best remembered what they were. Participants were later asked whether their statements had been saved (and if so, where) or erased. When they thought their statements were saved, they remembered the information could be accessed, but had reduced memory for the information itself.
This suggests that when we believe we can retrieve the information later—like through Google—our brains conserve energy by outsourcing storage. Today, it's not just Google. We're outsourcing memory to AI chatbots, too. So when we forget, we'll either Google it or ask a bot—aka external memory holders. For marketers, that means buyers won't commit most details of your online product or service to memory. Your job? Make sure every online road leads back to you.
🤑 How To Apply This
Alright, so how can you apply this right now to sell more?
Ecommerce Make your mission a mental shortcut
Shoppers won't remember every Patagonia jacket spec. But they do know they can Google "Patagonia jacket" and instantly get detailed proof of their sustainability practices (like Fair Trade factories, recycled materials, and carbon data). So instead of storing product facts, buyers store the shortcut: Patagonia = the place to look for sustainable clothing and gear.
When the need pops up, that mental shortcut makes Patagonia the first stop when eco-conscious shoppers need a new backpack or pair of boots.
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Content Marketing Ensure your brand shows up when buyers need a solution
When you're building (or optimizing) an email list, you likely don't remember that blog post you skimmed a month ago about lead magnets. So you Google it. And voilà—Mailchimp appears in the top results.
By consistently creating high-quality content that ranks for key searches (like "what is a lead magnet?"), Mailchimp doesn't rely on memory. They engineer rediscovery. That repeated exposure makes Mailchimp feel like a trusted choice for all things email-related. (Including using them as your ESP.)
Email marketing Remind browsers of buying intent before they go back to Google
Up to ~70% of shoppers abandon their carts. Sometimes they get distracted. Sometimes they figure, "I'll come back later." The problem? Later often means forgetting where they were shopping. So when they're ready to buy, they'll just Google the product and click whichever brand shows up first. So Sephora sends cart-abandonment emails like "Run, don't walk," reminding you what you left behind. (Plus, they remind you of the perks you get when you shop with them—and use a hearty dash of FOMO.)
These emails bring Sephora back to mind before you stumble on one of their competitors in your next Google search.
💥 The Short of It
We've outsourced a big chunk of our memory to Google. So buyers likely won't remember everything about your product or service. They'll just Google the best option when they're ready. Your move? Either stop that second search from happening… or make sure you're the one they find. Until next time, happy selling!
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