When Neuroscience meets marketing

When Neuroscience Meets Marketing

Human behaviour is sometimes counter-intuitive, always multifaceted and undeniably capricious.

Countless books have been written with the intent to explain why we do what we do, and studies are conducted daily in numerous fields to learn more about what makes us tick. The human condition may never be fully explained. But through careful research, scientists can identify predictable patterns in our behaviour.

According to neuromarketing specialist and author Roger Dooley, such scientific findings can be applied to the field of marketing in order to better predict and influence consumer outcomes.

So what’s “neuromarketing”? As Dooley puts it, “There are different definitions, but neuromarketing relates to any use of brain or behavioural research to improve marketing.”

The quintessential neuromarketing proponent chooses to rely on scientific findings, rather than “marketer’s instinct”, in the development and implementation of marketing collateral.

Small businesses can use neuroscience to strengthen their own campaigns, despite not having Fortune 500 marketing budgets. The key for the small business is to study neuroscientific findings and incorporate them into their existing marketing campaigns. Dooley gives an example: “Persuasion psychologists have found you can convince people to do something if you do them a small favour first.” Dooley’s talking about the law of reciprocity (which was also covered by Robert Cialdini in his classic book on persuasive psychology: Influence).

It can be surprising to see small changes within marketing messages cause major differences to response. But human behaviour, ultimately, is illogical. Our gut feelings and emotions drive our decision-making, and these things are often influenced and triggered through stimuli we perceive subconsciously, rather than consciously.

Take this example from a study conducted in Minnesota – exploring the impact of font choices: Two separate groups were exposed to the exact same directions, but one group received them in a harder-to-read font. The harder-to-read font group predicted that the task asked of them would take 15 minutes, while the easy-to-read font group predicted that it would take 8.

Dooley advises, “If you are asking people to fill out a form, use an easy-to-read font and short, simple language.” This advice stems from the findings of this study. Logically, it’s crystal clear that the font the directions are delivered in has no bearing whatsoever on the time required to complete the task. But when human beings respond to a marketing message, logic seldom comes into play. Appealing to intuition, emotion and feeling pays much better.

Neuromarketing is an interesting field, and a useful one to study. When it comes time to craft your next marketing message, study neuroscientific findings and consider every last detail. You never know what small change might make a huge difference to your bottom line.

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