Neuromarketing: it’s all in the mind

Think you make reasonable purchase decisions? Think again, says Multiply’s Samia Bouazza.

Let’s start by considering how rational we really are. Just think: how rational do you think you are when you make a buying decision, for example? Well, thanks to advances in science and technology, we now know that when we, or our customers, are faced with any decision (such as what product to buy or service to try), the thinking process is largely emotional. According to Antonio Damasio, professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, up to 90 per cent of things we think we control, such as our decisions, are actually made on a subconscious level and are driven by our emotions. For the purpose of our marketing context, to put it more simplistically, we can think of the brain as divided into two components: the ancient and the more recent.

Neuromarketers alternatively call the ancient brain the primal or reptilian brain. This part of our brain is our instinctive and emotional centre and is quickly and subconsciously activated. It is quick to respond, prefers simplicity and is highly visual. The second part of the brain is the newer, sophisticated, slower, conscious neo-cortex, which serves as our logic, reasoning and language centre. What science is telling us, according to French neuromarketer Patrick Renvoise, is that when our consumers are faced with a purchasing decision; it is actually their primal, emotional brain making the initial buying decision. The sophisticated and logical brain follows, but only to better justify that decision to us.

Therefore, to make consumers buy our products, we must ensure our communication forms an emotional connection with that primal, deciding brain. But how do we know what drives our consumers’ decisions?

A lot of the time we ask consumers what they want, and we create products and campaigns around their answers. The problem is, we’ve been hearing varying numbers of how many new products are launched and fail each year, but more astonishing was a report published by HBR, which showed that, depending on the industry, between 70 and 90 per cent of newly launched products fail. Many of these products have been tested through surveys, focus groups and more. What we are now learning from the science is that when we send out a survey, the part of the consumer’s brain that is consciously thinking ahead is not the same part that will lead the buying decision in the moment she is faced with the product. Simply, we cannot depend on our consumers’ replies to know what they will buy in the future.

Neuromarketing is the understanding and the measurement of those subconscious and emotional drivers to better grasp consumer decision-making behaviour. It uses different tools that range in complexity, pricing, practicality and purpose. Some of these tools are: facial recognition software (using sensors that can pinpoint micro changes in the expressions of consumers), eye-tracking devices (which pinpoint which part of the ad is most/least attractive), voice analysis tools (to asses changes in tone and deduce emotion), EEG/MRI (pricy brain scans that provide some information about what response the brand/product is creating in the consumer’s brain), implicit association tests (that can measure unconscious beliefs about a product/brand) and others. While we cannot fully decode the effect our message has on our consumers, having that extra bit of information will have a great impact on the success of our campaign. The key take-away here is to acknowledge the crucial role emotions play in behaviours and the decisionmaking process, and to know that we are now able to measure these influences and assess how persuasive and effective our communication is.

To conclude, here are a few practical tips for you to begin implementing in your campaigns today: Make your campaign memorable by targeting the simplistic part of the brain and using simple, repetitive, or even memorable rhymes ( don’t overdo the repetitive though). Remember the eternal power of simple words like “you”, “free”, etc. Keep your colour schemes simple and avoid using too many varying colours in ads. Our visual brain reacts to contrast, which is why before-and-after images work. Try to use tangible words, images, and movement to create a multi-sensual experience for your consumer. Remember that facts and figures are not as effective as emotions are. So lead your campaign by asking: “What emotional reaction do I want my product to trigger in my customer?” And, most importantly, remember that communication is 55 per cent body language, 38 per cent tone of voice and 7 per cent of what you verbally say.

Hopefully in the future we will get to share some ad campaigns that have been tested via these neuromarketing tools and have some exciting examples for you.