Behind the Buy: What Your Website Might Be Missing
- Nicole Wetzell
- Apr 9
- 5 min read
Updated: Apr 12
🖼️ Picture It
You’re new in town and browsing your local ballet’s website between meetings.
You’ve never seen this company before, and you’re on the fence about the mixed rep program. You like mixed rep, but none of the pieces ring a bell.
You’re scanning fast — there's only 10 minutes until your next Zoom.
You watch a quick trailer.
Then you spot a note: 7,000 ballet lovers are already planning to go.
Then you spot a short audience reaction video. You flip through it.
"It must be pretty good if that many people are going," you think.
You click into the (gigantic) seat map. This theater's layout is overwhelming, but there’s a simple note highlighting which seats are the best bang for your buck.
Perfect. You add them to your cart and hit purchase.
When you're finished, a short video pops up on the confirmation page: one of the dancers thanking you, sharing why they’re excited for the show. They casually suggest you bring a friend.
You immediately text your ballet buddy and head to your meeting.
We all dream of a web experience like this — one that makes people feel confident, excited, and ready to say yes.
This is the result of a few small, strategic choices grounded in behavioral science.
Let’s break down how your site can spark more moments like this — with less confusion, fewer drop-offs, and more excited buyers.
Here's How You Can Pull This Off
👀 Create Skimmable Content Because Most People Speed Read
You know this one, but it's worth the reminder.
Between packed schedules, overflowing inboxes, work deadlines, caring for family, and general life-ing...people are overwhelmed and scanning, not reading. Fast.
They rely on patterns to save brainpower and skip anything that doesn’t feel immediately useful.
That's why no one sees your carefully crafted artistic sentence halfway down a page sometimes.
The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) has identified several common scanning behaviors. The most famous is the F-shaped pattern: readers glance across the top, then skim down the left side. That’s it.
But that’s not the only scan pattern that shows up. Depending on your content design, people may also use:
Spotted Pattern: Jumping around to bold or unique words.
Layer-Cake Pattern: Skimming only headers and subheads.
Commitment Pattern: Fully focused on your content (rare, but gold).
One Way to Apply This:
🔵 You know the drill: keep it short and skimmable.
🔵 Make your CTA easy to understand and find.
😵💫 Don't Offer Too Many Choices. (Hi, Hick’s Law)
I walked out of Target last week because the lotion aisle had too many options. I froze, gave up, and left with nothing.
This is choice paralysis or Hick's Law. And it’s also why it takes you forever to pick a show on Netflix.
Hick’s Law tells us that more options = slower decisions. Or none at all.
But there's nuance: People like exploring options until it's time to commit. Then, too many choices can cause hesitation or inaction.
The Famous Study: The Jam Experiment
Why This Matters for Arts Organizations Performing arts orgs are at a natural disadvantage when it comes to choice paralysis.
One production, five dates, multiple price zones, and fluctuating prices?
That’s thousands of combinations to sift through.
If someone’s new to your org or to the arts altogether, this creates friction. They don’t know what to choose, where to sit, or how much to spend.
And when overwhelmed? All of a sudden, Netflix feels a lot easier, and they bounce to the TV.
One Way to Apply This:
🔵 Mention "best availability" or starting prices on your calendar.
🙋🏽♀️ Social Proof Works — People Want to Get on the Bandwagon
Who would’ve guessed that a Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton — based on an 832-page biography and told through hip-hop — would become one of the biggest Broadway hits.
That’s the bandwagon effect in action. When people are unsure about what to try, attend, or support, they look to others for cues. Popularity signals safety. Scarcity signals urgency. And together, they drive action (Source: Cialdini, Influence).
Hamilton became a movement because of the buzz. The sold-out runs, the celebrity shoutouts, the endless waitlists told audiences: “Everyone’s talking about this. You don’t want to miss it.”
And while not every performance or campaign can go full Hamilton, the principle still holds: people feel more confident when they know others are saying yes too.
One Way to Apply This:
🔵 We usually think of social proof as reviews or testimonials, but there are other ways to build confidence and curiosity like:
“Join 5,000 subscribers enjoying world-class ballet.”
“2,300 people have already donated to keep our stage alive this season.”
😌 Design the Ending. It’s What People Remember Most
What happens after someone buys a ticket or makes a donation?
Do they get a plain confirmation page and a transactional email... and then radio silence until the curtain rises or your next event?
According to the Peak-End Rule, people don’t remember every detail of an experience—they remember the emotional high point and how it ended.
If your post-purchase experience feels like an afterthought, it’s costing you because you're missing a chance to leave a lasting impression, deepen emotional connection, and build loyalty.
The end of the purchase is the beginning of (or a chance to reinforce) the relationship. Make it count.
✨ One standout example: charity: water
After someone funds a project, they receive a detailed follow-up report complete with photos, GPS coordinates, and stories from the field. It proves they're making an impact with their gift and makes the donor feel like their gift is meaningful. It turns a one-time donation into a lasting memory.
One Way to Apply This:
🔵 Add delight: a short welcome video, a link to behind-the-scenes content, or a feel-good story.
The Short Of It:
Website redesigns are big, complex, and (let’s be honest) exhausting projects.
And in the rush to just get it done, it’s easy to forget about the small things that quietly push people toward yes.
Behavioral science helps fill in those gaps—so your site doesn’t just look better, it works better.
Want More?
These are just a few of the ideas we’re talking about at our next Executive Roundtable — a pitch-free, small group discussion for arts and nonprofit leaders making website decisions in 2025.
📅 Wed, May 7
🕛 Discussion: 1–2PM CT
🤝 Optional Networking: 2–2:30PM CT
🎁 Discussions are valued at $150, but your seat at the table is on us.
ℹ️ You’ll walk away with 9 easy ways to improve your website in 2025, new ideas, and a few new LinkedIn connections.
📚 Studies & Sources:
Cialdini, R. (2007). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion
Iyengar, Sheena S., and Mark R. Lepper. 2000. "When Choice Is Demotivating: Can One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 79 (6): 995–1006.