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Imagine this…
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It’s 6:30 a.m. on Monday and you’re going through your morning skincare routine.
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After washing your face and patting it dry, you reach for your vitamin C serum housed in a heavy, opaque bottle.
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You squeeze the dropper to fill it with the serum that promises to give you a glowing complexion.
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Except… nothing happens.
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You squeeze the dropper again.
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Still nothing.
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Confused, you take the dropper out and peek inside the bottle.
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There’s not even any serum in there.

“But I just bought this last month,” you think, staring at the dried-up dropper.
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You could’ve sworn you ordered it from Sephora during that 11 p.m. shopping spree where you also grabbed some face masks and a new cleanser.
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So you pull up your order history on your phone.
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Turns out, you actually bought this vitamin C serum three months ago.
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​Why does it feel like you just purchased this serum last month when your order history says otherwise?​
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In today’s edition of Why We Buy 🧠 we’ll explore the Telescoping Effect—why we misjudge when events happened.
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Let’s get into it.

🧠 The Psychology of the Telescoping Effect

We tend to perceive past events as being more recent than they are (forward telescoping) and recent events as further back in time than they really are (backward telescoping).
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Researchers compared how many events respondents recalled when asked about different reference periods (“in the past 1 month” vs. “in the past 6 months”).
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When focusing only on the past 1 month, respondents listed more events than when that same month was nested inside the 6-month frame.
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That is, respondents “telescoped” older events into the recent month, making it seem busier than it actually was.

This is a big deal for marketers; particularly, forward telescoping.
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Because when customers misremember timing, it changes how they perceive recency, frequency, and urgency.
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For example, a buyer who thinks they recently purchased something may unintentionally delay a reorder.
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That’s why memory distortion doesn’t just warp the past—it shapes present and future buying decisions as well.

🤑 How To Apply This

Alright, so how can you apply this right now to sell more?

eCommerce​
Set up a “Subscribe and Save” option to boost recurring revenue

Branch Basics knows customers consistently think they “just bought” cleaning supplies when it’s actually been 5+ months.
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So instead of relying on customers to remember when they’re running low, they offer “Subscribe & Save” options from the get-go with automatic deliveries every one to four months.

The result? Customers never run out because they misjudged timing, and Branch Basics locks in recurring revenue.
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It’s a win-win that turns the Telescoping Effect from a sales killer into a smart retention strategy.​

Apps​
Use reminders to negate memory issues from the start

Learning a new language is a slippery slope. Miss one lesson and before you know it, two weeks have gone by—even though it feels like you just completed a lesson yesterday.
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That’s why Duolingo sends daily push reminders.

Instead of waiting for users to realize how much time has actually passed since they opened the app (and how they definitely can’t speak fluent French on their Parisian vacation), they intervene early with consistent nudges that keep users on track.

Email marketing​
Send deadline emails to snap buyers back to reality

When it comes to free trials, most of us think we just started them when it’s actually been weeks.
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So Slack sends trial-expiration emails to cut through that distorted sense of time by making the timeline impossible to ignore.

“Your trial is ending” and “3 more days to access Slack’s premium features” forces users to realize how much time has actually passed since they signed up—and prompts them to upgrade to the paid version so they don’t lose what they’ve already gained.

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💥 The Short of It

Your customers think they bought from you more recently than they actually did.
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This can kill repeat purchases because they feel like they just made a transaction when it’s actually been weeks—or even months.
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That’s why smart marketers combat this by using automation (subscriptions), prevention (daily reminders), or reality checks (deadline notifications) to either bypass the timing confusion or eliminate it entirely.
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​​Until next time, happy selling!