some normal research

8/19/2019 Some Normal Research

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Some Normal Research

Fundamentally we rarely have rational control over why we buy some products and not others: our

brain subconsciously chooses for us. Traditional marketing methods no longer work and the reasons wethink we buy are deceptive.

Neuromarketing is the new key tool which will “revolutionize” marketing strategies in the future and

help us understand the science behind why we buy.

Buyology by Martin Lindstrom (this is a reference) is a compulsively readable (at least for marketers)

account of a research project that spanned three years and cost $7 million. Lindstrom’s team used both

fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imager) and EEG technologies to study what was really going on in

the brains of consumers as they watched commercials, thought about brands, and much more. This body

of research is surely the biggest compilation of neuromarketing data ever, and the results are always

fascinating and sometimes surprising. Here are just a few examples of what the Buyology researchers

found:

Cigarette Health Warnings Stimulate Smoking. While it’s accepted wisdom that printing health warnings

on tobacco product packages doesn’t have much of an impact on smoking behavior, the researchers found

that the warnings had no effect at all on the cravings of smokers. This applied not only to the rather subtle

messages on US packaging, but even packages that included bold text and gruesome disease photos.

None, zero, nada. Even worse, they found that the health warnings stimulated the subjects’ nucleus

accumbens, an area associated with cravings! The researchers concluded that the warnings not only didn’t

help, but triggered a stronger craving. The very warnings intended to reduce smoking might well be an

effective marketing tool for Big Tobacco! The brain is deceptive. This, the first of a series of examples,

demonstrates that what we say we think or feel, is often not mirrored by our brain. Apparently the billions

spent on health campaigns are actually helping the tobacco industry – 10 million cigarettes are sold every

minute.

Product Placements Almost Never Work. With TV commercial viewing under pressure from TiVO/DVR

fast-forwarding, greater viewing of commercial-free DVDs, etc., advertisers are turning to placing their

products inside the content of television shows and movies. With this approach, even if viewers avoid

watching any 30-second spots, they can still see the stars of the show typing on an Apple Computer,

drinking a Pepsi, and so on. Sounds great, but Lindstrom’s research showed that almost all product

placements are ineffective. Using EEG testing, they found that typical product placements caused no

increase in brand recall. The only product placements that DID produce such effects were those which

were heavily integrated into the content and actually made sense in their context. For example, people

tended to remember the Aston Martin brand in Daniel Craig’s first James Bond mov ie, Casino Royale,

(perhaps aided by the brand’s association with the series dating back to Sean Connery), but not FedEx or

Louis Vuitton whose placements weren’t central to the plot or even related to the on -screen action in any

significant way.

Strong Brands are like Religion. When the research team compared consumers’ brain activity while

viewing images involving brands, religion, and sports figures, the activity evoked by strong brands was

much like that caused by religious images.



Brain Activity Accurately Predicted TV Failure. Using EEG technology, the researchers measured the brain

activity of subjects while screening three new television shows: The Swan, How Clean Is Your House, and

Quizmania. Of the shows, How Clean Is Your House was found to be most engaging, and The Swan the

least. When the shows actually aired in the UK, the ratings the shows developed mirrored the predictions

of the researchers. Lindstrom predicts that this kind of successful application of neuromarketing will

reduce the number of product introductions that fail, and prove to be a more reliable tool thantraditional market research techniques like surveys and focus groups.

If there is a problem with neuromarketing today, it’s that there is little or no academic research that

validates the ability of brain scans, be they EEG or fMRI, to predict results in the marketplace. The volume

of data collected in this study would make it a great starting point for academic critique.

We may think we understand why we buy but looking closely at our brain suggests very differently.

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1) Emotions win out

We assume we think rationally when we buy, but we don’t. Emotions cloud o ur decisions whetherconsciously or subconsciously.

E.g. a Princeton University experiment testing short-term vs delayed rewards, where subjects were

offered $15 to receive in vouchers now or $20 in two weeks, despite the rational thinking that if they

waited longer they would have more. The flurry of excitement at the thought of being handed $15 in

vouchers there and then overcame logical thinking and most subjects chose the former option.

2) Product placement works if fully entwined into the program

TV advertisements are becoming increasingly monotonous, uninspiring and boring. In 1965 the average

consumer could remember 34% of ads on TV and what they were for. By 2007 this was down to only 2.21

ads remembered by someone EVER. Ultimately, our brains are so oversaturated by advertising that we

block it. The population no longer watch nor listen, it is “only the ad break” between TV shows.

Companies are turning to Product Integration within media & entertainment and is predicted by 2010,

$7.6bn will be spent on companies to involve their products in TV, music and film.

The experiment

Three brands, Coca Cola, Cingular and Ford all feature within the TV show American Idol. Coke has the

largest coverage (60% of the time) via subtle product placement, such as the contours of the sofas

resembling a Coke bottle or blatant advertising as the drink chosen by the judges. Cingular are mentioned

each time callers call in to vote for their favourite contestant and Ford are the sponsoring brand features

in ads during the break. Each of the volunteers were shown a sequence of 20 product-logos which included

Coke, Cingular and Ford before and after having watched an episode of American Idol and an episode of

another unrelated show (to act as a control). Whilst wired up to the SST brain scan their brain activities

were measured throughout.

The results



Results showed that after having watched American Idol, the brands featured were remembered

afterwards and served to inhibit memory of the other brands. For Ford, having watched the show, subjects

remembered less of the brand than before – most likely due to it being featured during the break, so

automatically associating it with being “just” an ad.

A “consumer’s memory of a product is the most relevant and reliable measure of an ad’s effectiveness”.

(p48). A product needs to be woven into the show as part of the ‘storyline’ for it to be remembered.

3) Subliminal messaging does work

Subliminal messaging has often had bad publicity and is considered to be ‘brainwashing’ the population

or “contrary to the public interest”.

1st experiment

Elderly people (60 – 85 years old) split into 2 groups were given a computer game to play. During this, one

group had a series of positive words (e.g. wise, accomplished) flash up on the screen and the other had

negative words (e.g. senile, diseased). Once finished, scientists measured the “swing-time” in their gaits

(time with one foot off the ground).

1st results:

Those who were in the positive group’s gaits improved by 10% suggesting that positive psychological

stimulus can improve physical achievement.

2nd experiment

Subjects were exposed to a millisecond image of either a smiley face or an unhappy face before pouring

and paying for a drink.

2nd result

Those who viewed the happier face poured more drink and were willing to pay almost twice as much for

the drink as those who saw the unhappy face.

This phenomenon was called “unconscious emotion” where our brains can remember and recall an image

or brand even before we have consciously realized what it is. Hence our brain ‘decides’ we will buy

something, before we have consciously realized.

4) Logos no longer work

Lindstrom pushes further and proclaims that brand logos are dead and can even reduce sales of a product

for being too garish, thereby causing the consumer to mentally shut it out as we know its purpose – to

make us buy it. If an ad is understated, we let our guard down, and it might just have an impact.

To counter this, for e.g. Marlboro use everyday objects and styles such as color schemes, tiles with similar

symbols to the Marlboro logo, ashtray designs and sofas in order to give the appearance of a Marlboro

ad/environment without brandishing the logo anywhere. We only need a visual image that reminds us of

a product/brand for it to seemingly imperceptibly register in our brains and cause an appropriate reaction.



(Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren & Marlboro are already doing this)

5) Ritual and Superstition help us have certainty in an ever changing world

Rituals are commonplace within our fast-paced unsettling society in an attempt for us to gain some control

over our lives (e.g. touching wood, not walking under a ladder… etc.) Rituals within products give us an

“illusion of comfort and belonging”.

Consumers have a sense of loyalty to a preferred brand, similar to a religious affinity, for products such as

shampoo and coffee, or a biscuit, which encourages them to keep buying.

Oreo’s cookies have 2 ways of being eaten and Nabisco who manufacture them has partnered with the

“Got Milk?” campaign. For consumers to associate a brand with a nationwide ritual, this brings with it a

sense of familiarity and unity – hence keeping sales going.

6) Brands can be like religions, with their rituals

Similar to the theory behind rituals, a unity exists between consumers of the same brand, a sense ofcamaraderie, of loyalty, of being on a ‘side’.

The experiment

Fifteen nuns used in a brain scan test were asked to relive their most profound religious experience (whilst

scientists monitored which part of the brain was engaged in activity). They were then asked to relive an

emotional experience had with another human being, and the part of the brain involved was also

examined.

65 men were then used to determine whether the parts of the brain associated with sports and sporting

heroes were the same as those used when referring to religion. Before the test the men rated their

spirituality from 1 to 10 and were then shown a slideshow of images of ‘weak’ and ‘strong’ brands

interspersed with religious and sports imagery.

The result

An entirely different area of the brain shows activity when a religious scenario is imagined to when an

emotional encounter with another person is thought of. The part of the brain which displays the most

activity when viewing both ‘strong’ brands and sports imagery is exactly the same as when viewing

religious images. Therefore, the way the consumer’s brains react to sports, ‘strong’ brands and religion is

exactly the same. It was however the brands which showed the most activity in the decision making area

of the brain, more so than the sports images. This makes sense as when subjected to products, we have

to make choices as to whether or not we will buy them. As brain activity seemed identical whetherreferring to religion or brands, there has been a recent flurry of attempts at creating spiritual and/or

religious products such as “Holy Land Earth” and “Spiritual Water”. Other companies have also begun

incorporating traits of religion and mystery into their products, e.g. Vodafone plan to offer a daily text

messaging services containing quotes from Pope John Paul II.



Another anecdote used is that of the mystery X9 Factor. An employee wrote on a bottle of Unilever

shampoo “contains the X9 Factor” and undetected millions of labels were printed containing this new

ingredient. Once the supplies ran out, the brand was reprinted without this X9 Factor. The result was

thousands of complaints, sales decreased and, despite none of the customers knowing what the Factor

X9 was, some claimed the shampoo no longer worked!

Brands do however also behave similarly to religious icons; take MacDonald’s or the Nike ‘tick’. These

logos are universal, and evoke powerful associations with the companies they represent, with consumers

instantaneously knowing exactly what the logo stands for.

7) Use of multiple senses to ‘lock’ in a brand

Sight and smell stimulate our brain in the same way, thus visual advertising is not necessarily better. Visual

images are most effective if combined with sounds and smell for a more complete experience of the

product. The senses must complement each other and consumers are more likely to remember the ‘nice’

smells.

Examples of fragrances used already are

– Honeydew Melon in Samsung to encourage electronic purchases

– Meadow Grass in British Airways Business Lounge to simulate pleasant environment.

Uses of sound within the market

– Type of music played in supermarkets can determine type of product bought (e.g. French music

increases sales of French wine) as we subconsciously hear the music.

Our senses are the most powerful tools we have to determine what we feel about a product, use of sight,

sound and smells together will revolutionize advertising in the future.

The experiment

A brain scan was conducted in which subjects were shown a slideshow composed of 4 different product

categories: airlines, mobile phones, software and images of London city. Along with this, a selection of

signature sounds associated to the four categories were selected (e.g. the Nokia ringtone and Microsoft

start-up sound). Images unrelated to the sounds were also shown to act as controls. The sounds were

played in a 10 minute series alone, followed by the images alone and then slides where a sound was

played along with the image displayed. This sequence was repeated 5 times with the participants scoring

from 1-9 what their preferences were between sound, image or sound and image together.

The results

We can recall what we see and hear much better if our sight and hearing are stimulated at the same timecompared with when they are working alone. Brain activity increases, suggesting we are paying more

attention, when both sight and sound is stimulated. Therefore, if a well-known logo is coupled with a

familiar theme tune, the consumer will be much more likely to notice and remember the product.

The reason Windows 8 was a failure was because of the changed Start Menu. We liked Windows start

menu before Windows 8/8.1 was released. Thus, it was widely hated. Windows 10 brought many old

Windows features back and people just love it, don’t they? This is because the Start Menu is associated



by many people as a Windows feature so for most people Windows 8 felt like a foreign land and we don’t

like to change our associations. That’s just human condition.

Color is very powerful in connecting consumers visually with a logo or brand. Colors increase chances of

recognition by 80%.

8) A Solution New Product Development

Companies are notoriously bad at predicting how products will do in the market. Neuromarketing could

be the solution to this as neuromarketing could help to determine how successful a brand will be. This

will consequently save millions in attempting to launch products which will fail (8/10 product launches

fail).

The experiment

4 groups of 50 men and women representing the general demographics of the US population were used

in the SST brain scan. 3 TV shows, How clean is your house, a proven ‘success’, The Swan, a proven ‘failure’

and Quizmania were all used in this experiment in order to determine whether Quizmania, a British game

show, would be a success if launched in the US. 2 groups watched the failure show and Quizmania, whilstthe other 2 groups watched the successful show and Quizmania. [To reduce novelty effect, all the

participants had watched an episode of both their shows the night before] Each filled in a questionnaire

answering what the chances were of them watching the program again and these answers were compared

with the brain scan.

The results

The questionnaires didn’t reflect the differences apparent in the successful TV show compared with the

failed show, which appeared ‘neck-a-neck’ via the questionnaires. The SST scans, however, showed results

that mirrored the relative successes of each show. When it came to the highly visual, multicolored, action-

packed, loud, exhausting, TV show Quizmania on paper, the majority of the subjects hated the show andvoted it the one they were least likely to ever watch it again. Their brains on the other hand showed

intense activity, that they were engaged in the program and actually “liked” it. The brain scans had

accurately conveyed the show’s success in the UK.

Brain scans can be used in the future to surmise TV shows’ potential success within a wider audience, and

this can be transferred onto all products, brands and advertising campaigns.

9) Does Sex Still Sell?

Tracing the use of sexually potent images in advertising, what has been controversial in the past is later

regarded as tame, as marketers continue to push the frontiers of acceptability. However, its usage is a

pretty exacting skill — too overt and titillating a sexual element can actually swamp the brand message.A clever technique seemingly used by some advertisers is to generate such controversy about the sexual

content of an ad that it eventually has to be withdrawn, by which time it has achieved its aim of gaining

publicity and strengthening brand awareness.

One reason why sex continues to be a powerful marketing device is the activity of those mirror neurons

discussed later. Both men and women want to confer on themselves the images of sexuality conveyed,

for example, in underwear ads for their own gender. They are visions of one’s ideal self . Of course, the



effectiveness of these images also reaches across to the opposite sex, as we also use them to idealize the

images of our partners. The images of those manly and well-endowed men on packaging for boxer shorts

are not just for the male mirror neurons. Three quarters of all male underpants are bought by women, as

those same mirror neurons seek to transfer the purchaser’s aspirations to the recipient! Sex in advertising

is all about wish fulfillment, about planting dreams inside consumers’ brains. And because, thanks to the

Internet, sex is more accessible than it’s ever been, its importance as an influencer is likely to increase.

Nevertheless, for precisely the same reason, its ability to shock may fade over the longer term and we can

expect the sexual dimension of advertising to become more suggestive than overt. These ads will likely

become sneakier and more subtle. (Check: http://www.mangobaaz.com/sexist-ads-in-pakistan/ )

10) Mirror Neurons helps us ‘associate’ into things/feelings

Mirror Neurons are the “future of advertising”. These nerves in our brains are responsible for the feeling

we get when we relate to something we are seeing or thinking about (e.g. when the heroine in a film cries,

we feel tearful, or when our team scores a goal, we share their elation). Our mirror neurons allow our

feelings or actions to “mirror” those of someone else, hence are triggered in our subconscious when we

see some ads. Window shopping has the same effect and our emotions overcome rational thinking causingus to buy a product purely because we ‘‘like the feeling we get from doing so’’. Trends are set due to

mirror neurons (such as the iPhone, everyone else has one – I want one).

Dopamine is a chemical released in our brains which makes us feel a surge of happiness. This chemical is

often released whilst shopping, making us feel good about purchasing a product that we see and are

automatically drawn to, regardless of whether we can afford it. Seeing diamonds in the window will

release dopamine as we like what we see and increase the chances of us buying it.

Purchases are linked to “reproductive success” and our status, we buy things which make us look good

and elevate us up the social hierarchy.

Conclusion

Most of our buying decisions aren’t conscious, only a very small part of the rational brain plays a part in

the decision making (10% is conscious). All products in the future will be branded using brain scans prior

to introducing them to the market but this will be initially very expensive and time consuming. Despite

the cost, companies are already using neuromarketing e.g. Christian Dior, Microsoft, Unilever. Finally,

there is, as yet, still much to discover about the science behind why we buy and why we don’t buy.

Isn’t life mostly shades of grey as opposed to black and white?

http://www.mangobaaz.com/sexist-ads-in-pakistan/




some normal research

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