Issue 212: The Ambiguity Effect

+ LAST CALL FOR MERCHANT MEETUP!

September 04, 2025

| THE INTRO

Yoooo! Remember those 35 seats we had for the FIRST OFFICIAL Merchant Meetup afterparty at Commerce Roundtable? Yeah, they’re almost gone.

Can’t even guarantee that this click 👇️ is going to be worth the physical effort your little finger puts in… but it’s worth a shot.

| EVENT CITY ROCK & ROLL

Wanna get together IRL?

Commerce Roundtable hooked us up with a discount.

Sept 22–23 in San Diego.

We’ll be there. If you’re local or want an excuse to be, come jam.

Bring your team if they’ll get something out of it.

Register here: commerceroundtable.com → (40% off code: W6VIP)

If you’re bringing teammates, make sure they register by Sept 1.

| TWEET OF THE WEEK

| YOUTUBE UNIVERSITY

7 Binge-Worthy Brand Strategies You’ll Want to Copy

Choosing Fred Armisen GIF by IFC

The Ambiguity Effect

You know that nagging urge to pick plain over intriguing? Turns out, your brain is basically allergic to unclear options. Welcome to the Ambiguity Effect—where uncertainty sneaks in and makes you play it safe, even when the exotic choice might actually be the smart one.

  • Why "trust the known brand" isn’t just laziness—it’s built into your wiring

  • How vague probabilities become kryptonite for decision-making

  • The Ellsberg urn trick that makes people give up 72 % of potential gain to avoid ambiguity

  • Why marketers need to be scary clear if you’re ever going to convert

Think of this as the “insiders-only” lens on why people run from options that feel uncharted. Want to see how to weaponize clarity? Click through and get schooled.

| TOGETHER WITH GRID & PIXEL

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We’re not an agency, we’re a Shopify app that plugs directly into Klaviyo and acts like the ultimate cheat code for operators. 2,500+ ecommerce brands already trust us, including many Workspace6 members. More results, less effort.

Exclusive offer for Workspace6 members: 50% off your first two months.

| QUICK SHOTS

Chris Chambers 🌲 Just watched GPT-5 agent take on Google Ads. It was painful to watch.

Cory Dobbin Something most brands miss about running TV ads:

Anya Geimanson Here’s how HIDING products increased conversion rate by 17%

Dara Denney My best inspiration for ads doesn’t come from Foreplay, Motion, or Ads Library.

Taylor Holiday Do you sell a gifting product? Then watch this:

| HERE FOR THE MEMES

| AND IN OTHER NEWS…

SCO: China and India attempt to repair strained ties

India's prime minister hopes to draw nearer to some of the world’s largest economies.

'A different shock to the system': De minimis tariff dodge ending means less purchasing power for Americans

Closing the loophole could raise $10 billion a year, but experts say the number is "not all that meaningful" compared to the country’s trade deficit.

Is eBay actually sexy again as the ecommerce old-timer's stock surges to an all-time high?

The 30-year-old auction site is riding hot, historically strong product categories to its best performance in years.

Meta is reportedly looking at using competing AI models to improve its apps

The Information reported that Meta could use Google Gemini or OpenAI's ChatGPT models to improve its own AI capabilities.

| GET LINKED

The fallout from Yotpo sunsetting their email/SMS products is wild.

I haven't had time to really share my opinion on this, but I feel obliged to since I backed them heavily.

In this video, I want to delve into some of the criticism they're now facing:

> This happened too close to BFCM
> They mislead merchants
> They knowingly migrated merchants across to their platform knowing they were going to close things down
> Yotpo "sold data" (?) to Attentive


As well as my thoughts on what this may mean for Yotpo in the future:

> $436m in funding to roll back to just reviews/loyalty? What's the upside for investors?
> Where they NEED to go next to make this work
> Who the big winners are from this news and what it means for the Shopify ecosystem



Agree/disagree with my opinions?

Let me know your thoughts.

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  • Ads are costly. Organic reach is down. Growth feels stuck. 😓 Yet Rhode (Hailey Bieber’s brand) built 4.5M followers, a 400k waitlist, and a $1B brand—with just 3 products. We broke down their exact playbook so you can replicate it. 👉 Download it here

| STAT ATTACK

| THE OUTRO

Don’t forget! You def. wanna be at the SoCal Merchant Meetup. Reserve your seat, thusly:

💪 Workspace6

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