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Aldous Huxley always knew it.
In “A Brave New World”, he wrote:
“62,400 repetitions make one truth”.
He was right - and today we know that even one repetition is enough to make you believe information more.
How?
Let me tell you about an experiment we conducted a few years ago with my former student Tanja, who completed her B.Sc. thesis under my supervision.
The experiment
We created 204 statements with an unclear truth status, i.e., most people didn’t know if they were true or false.
Here are some examples:
The vacuum cleaner was invented in the US. [true]
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. [true]
The writer Grazia Deledda was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in literature. [false]
Magma can reach temperatures of up to 2200°C. [false]
Participants came in for a first testing session, and we presented them with 102 of the 204 statements, 50% false and 50% true. They read each statement and then evaluated how true they thought it was on a 6-point scale ranging from “definitely false” to “definitely true”.
After a week, they returned to the lab, and we presented them with all 204 statements, which they evaluated again on a 6-point scale. So: 102 statements were repeated (because we had presented them the week before), and 102 were new.
The result: Participants judged repeated items to be truer than new ones, regardless of their actual truth status.
In other words: The mere repetition of the statements made people believe them more, no matter if they were true or false.
This isn’t an isolated finding; it has been replicated numerous times by researchers worldwide. It’s called the truth effect or illusory truth effect in the literature.
The power of repetition
First of all, repetition refers to encountering the same information repeatedly, and it isn’t limited to statements; it also includes people, images, etc.
You already know that the mere repetition of a statement makes you believe it more, irrespective of whether it’s true or not.
Let’s look at an example from a different context:
A famous study from the 1950s analyzed friendships in a student dorm and found: The closer two students lived together, the more likely they were friends.
Why?
They saw each other more frequently. That’s the power of repetition!
Social psychologists refer to this phenomenon as the mere exposure effect. More exposure to someone or something makes you more likely to like them or it.
Why is repetition so powerful?
The most common explanation for these phenomena is that your brain prefers information it already knows. Novelty always comes with a potential danger, so it’s better to rely on what is familiar.
Regarding information repetition, researchers discuss cognitive fluency: it implies that repeated information is easier to process and requires less mental effort than new information. It just feels better, and this subjective ease is interpreted as “this must be true”.
It works even when people are unaware that they have encountered this information before.
How you can leverage the power of repetition
Repetition leads to more liking and a stronger belief. Politicians and marketers are aware of and use the principle of repetition.
In marketing, repeated advertising of the same product increases your likelihood of purchase. Many brands and products use slogans and repeat them frequently to amplify their impact.
But using the principle of repetition can also be dangerous, e.g., in politics, where fake news campaigns exemplify how it can damage society: Fake news is repeated over and over until people believe it.
So please, use these principles responsibly.
How to implement them:
Want people to believe you more? Repeat information often.
Want someone to like you more? Cross their path more often.
Want to sell more of your product? Advertise frequently and maintain a consistent branding and message.
Wrapping up
Repetition is a powerful technique to make people believe in and trust a message, or to like a person or product.
But this principle can also backfire, as with fake news. So be careful what you expose yourself to!
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That’s it for today!
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Until next time!
Best wishes,
Patricia (Dr. Patricia Schmidt) from creatorschmidt.com
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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for educational and informational purposes only. It’s not medical or mental health advice, and it doesn’t replace professional healthcare. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional with questions about a medical condition, medications, supplements, or before making any changes to your health routine.
