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Direct marketers invented A/B testing 40 years before doctors used it

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“But, that made me, of necessity, very, very interested in what you might call counterintuitive aspects of human behavior and decision making.”

1:56 / 2:24

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It's an interesting fact, by the way, that direct marketers actually pioneered the randomized control trial of the AB test about forty years before it made its way into medicine. So there you go. But, that made me, of necessity, very, very interested in what you might call counterintuitive aspects of human behavior and decision making.

About this clip

Marketing legend Rory Sutherland reveals how direct marketers pioneered randomized control trials and A/B testing decades before the medical field adopted these methods. He explains how this historical connection sparked his fascination with counterintuitive human behavior and decision-making patterns.

Why this clip

This clip offers a surprising historical revelation that reframes how we think about the origins of modern testing methodologies.

1:56 - 2:2428smarket insight

ab-testing direct-marketing behavioral-psychology

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