Creators often fear becoming a “broken record,” worrying that repetition will annoy their audience. However, the Illusory Truth Effect suggests the exact opposite. This psychological concept, researched for over 50 years, shows that we believe things more simply because we have heard them before.
Repeated statements are rated as more truthful than new ones. For business leaders and experts, this means you have permission—and a strategic mandate—to repeat your core concepts. Consistency makes your brand’s ideas feel more trustworthy and persuasive over time.
In this micro-episode:
- How the Illusory Truth Effect influences listener belief
- Why you should stop worrying about repeating your best ideas
- The ethical responsibility of using repetition in your marketing
Resources:
Original 1977 study:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0022537177800121
Overview and more studies:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_truth_effect
Making up History: False Memories of Fake News Stories
https://ejop.psychopen.eu/index.php/ejop/article/view/456
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Transcript
WEBVTT
::The illusory truth effect is a concept that's been around for a really long time, 50 years, and we can
probably all agree that it has only grown in its relevance in current society. And this effect is the idea
that we believe things more if and when we have heard them before. Now, these repeated statements, whether
or not they're actually true or false,
::were rated as more truthful than the new statements, which is what researchers found nearly 50 years ago
and has been replicated since, and I'll link to this in the show notes. Now this idea, this effect, has very
good and very bad implications, but let's operate as though we are saying facts and true things for this
particular conversation. So how does this illusory truth effect help
::those of us creating podcasts or videos. It's incredibly common to be pretty concerned about repeating
ourselves, like repeating the same topics over and over. The algorithms love it, but we often don't
because we're pretty sure our listener will be annoyed. But will they be? That's the question. Depending
on how we do it, this kind of repetition can be fairly persuasive and in a sense helpful, like in a learning
sense.
::that very specific skill you've developed and you're talking about becomes more trustworthy each time
your listener encounters it. And as such, the ideas you want associated with your brand can come up fairly
consistently, and that's okay. This sort of thing was really important to me in my improv show, as it was
important that I stressed that different brain wirings could all be supported in doing improv with
everyone,
::getting an equal seat at the table. So I said that thing a lot and I kind of felt like a broken record in a lot of
ways but there's enough support for this concept that I then felt okay about being repetitive to some
extent and I'll put some links in the show notes about all of this. Now I also feel it's important to say that
the effect works even when the repeated information is false or there are warnings about the bias and even
when the source has been identified as unreliable.
::So it's a fairly strong human wiring of ours in general. We need to therefore be responsible knowing this.
So assuming that your core messages and ideas are true and valuable, the research gives you permission to
keep seeing them. I'm Jen DeHaan. This is the Credibility Minute. Find more episodes and get in touch with
me at stereoforest.com slash minute.