Companies operating in international markets often still imagine their customers’ journey as an orderly sequence: first comes brand awareness, followed by consideration and, ideally, conversion and, if everything goes well, customer loyalty. This model is useful because it helps businesses plan activities and measure results, but it only partially reflects what actually happens.
A customer might discover a product on Instagram and then search for it on Google. They might compare it on a marketplace while reading reviews. They might pause their research and resume it a week later. They might ask a colleague for an opinion. Eventually, they might return to the website and make a purchase.
In the B2B sector, the journey can be even more complex: a Google search might lead to reading an article, visiting a company’s LinkedIn page, comparing three competitors, downloading a white paper, and checking certifications. Only after these steps – and sometimes only at specific times of the year – might the buyer submit an inquiry.
There is therefore no single customer journey. Instead, there are multiple, non-linear paths that vary according to the buyer’s professional and personal characteristics. The Messy Middle model helps businesses interpret this complexity.
What Is the Messy Middle?
Google developed the concept of the Messy Middle to describe what happens between a trigger and a purchase. Rather than an orderly funnel, there is a chaotic space in between.
Within this space, customers primarily move between two modes.
The first is exploration, during which they expand their range of options by searching for new products, brands, and information sources.
The second is evaluation, during which they narrow down their options by comparing them, eliminating some, and seeking confirmation.
These two modes can alternate several times before a final decision is made.
For businesses managing an e-commerce project or B2B lead generation activities, the implication is clear. It is not enough to know which channel generated a conversion or how long the decision-making process took. Businesses also need to understand which information helps customers make their decisions.
Cognitive Biases in the Decision-Making Process
Within the Messy Middle, people must process large amounts of information. Rather than evaluating everything in a perfectly rational way, they rely on shortcuts shaped by cognitive biases.
Google’s research highlights six: category heuristics, social proof, authority bias, scarcity bias, the power of now, and the power of free.
These are not simply persuasion techniques. They are mechanisms that help simplify a decision and, for businesses, they can become useful tools for designing content, product pages, offers, and calls to action more effectively.
Category Heuristics: Highlighting What Matters Most
Category heuristics are mental shortcuts based on the characteristics considered decisive within a particular category.
When buying a computer, we look at memory, processor, battery life, and weight. When choosing a hotel, we consider location, price, reviews, and available services. When evaluating an industrial supplier, we might focus on certifications, delivery times, materials, production capacity, and international presence.
The principle is straightforward: customers want to understand immediately whether an offer meets their needs.
In e-commerce, this means clearly highlighting the most important attributes. A product can immediately communicate that it is made in Italy, that it can be delivered within 24 hours, that it is compatible with a specific device, or that it comes with a five-year warranty.
In B2B markets, this principle is even more relevant. A website can immediately highlight certifications, minimum order quantities (MOQs), production capacity, materials, tolerances, markets served, and delivery times.
Generic claims such as “quality and innovation” help very little. Concrete information helps far more.
Social Proof: How Other Customers Reduce Perceived Risk
Social proof is based on a simple mechanism: a choice appears more reliable when we see that others have already made it.
In e-commerce, this principle is particularly evident. Reviews matter, as do average ratings, user-generated photos, bestsellers, and the number of satisfied customers.
The value of a review does not lie solely in its positive assessment. It lies above all in the reduction of risk: customers see that other people have purchased the product and that the experience was satisfactory. This makes them feel more confident, and they complete their own journey.
In B2B markets, the same logic takes different forms. Case studies, testimonials, existing customers, the number of countries reached, and completed projects all come into play.
For an international buyer, a reference can be decisive. An Italian company may be unknown to them, but if it has already worked with similar businesses, in the same industry or the same country, the perceived risk is reduced.
Authority Bias: Why Authority Builds Trust Faster
Authority bias describes the weight we give to the judgment of authoritative sources.
In B2C markets, this might be an award, a certification, or an expert’s recommendation; in B2B markets, it might be an ISO certification, a patent, a partnership with a university, or membership in an industry association.
Authority matters most when the subject is complex, because customers do not always have the expertise to evaluate everything and therefore look for reliable signals.
For companies involved in digital export, this is especially relevant. An international prospect may be unfamiliar with a company and its brand. Certifications, awards, and references therefore become tools of reassurance.
The objective is not to fill a website with logos, but to show credible proof.
Scarcity Bias: Why Limited Availability Increases Perceived Value
Scarcity bias arises from the perception that something rare or limited is more valuable.
It is common in e-commerce: a product may be available in only a few pieces, an offer may end by a certain date, or a collection may be produced in limited quantities. These signals can speed up a decision, but they work only if they are credible. Otherwise, they tend to drive users away.
Even without straying into unfair commercial practices, which can result in penalties, communicating false scarcity is risky: a message such as “Only two items left” loses its value if it appears every day, and it may undermine customer trust.
In B2B markets, the principle is less visible, but it exists. A company may communicate limited production slots, flag the imminent closing of an ordering period, or offer samples to a defined number of prospects. Here too, however, the scarcity must be real.
The Power of Now: Reducing Waiting Times
The power of now describes our preference for immediate benefits.
In e-commerce, the mechanism is intuitive: fast delivery can make the difference. The same applies to an immediate download, real-time tracking, or an instant order confirmation.
In B2B markets, a product may take weeks or months, but the principle still holds. The value, for example, can lie in the speed of the response: providing a quotation within 24 hours can be decisive because it meets the buyer’s need to gather information ahead of a meeting.
The same applies to a sample sent right away, a downloadable technical data sheet, an online configurator, or the possibility of booking a call. In this case, the “now” does not coincide with product delivery, but with reducing the time needed to move forward in the decision process.
The Power of Free: The Value of Zero
The power of free starts from another observation: people perceive what is free differently from what is simply inexpensive.
In e-commerce, this principle is visible in free shipping, but it may also apply to samples, accessories, free trials, or free returns. The benefit works above all when it removes a cost that customers find annoying.
In B2B markets, free resources can become a lead generation tool. An assessment can be free. The same goes for a sample, a preliminary audit, a benchmark, or a technical webinar.
The objective is not to give away value without criteria, but to lower the barrier that separates the prospect from the first contact.
The Messy Middle in Digital Export
For companies operating in international markets, the Messy Middle is particularly useful.
Distance increases uncertainty and makes it necessary for buyers to look for signals: the website, LinkedIn, reviews, commercial collaborations, certifications, videos, technical data sheets, and success stories.
The challenge is therefore not only to drive traffic to a website, but to support prospects during the exploration and evaluation phases.
A good digital export project must work on visibility and comparability: prospects should quickly understand why the offer is interesting and encounter no friction once they are ready to conclude their journey with a contact, a download, or a quotation.
The Messy Middle makes the funnel concept less rigid: KPIs, attribution models, and customer journey stages will remain necessary, but only as simplified representations of a more meandering path.
The marketer’s skills will mostly be about helping customers choose while they find themselves “in the middle.”