đ§ Brainwashing Your Wallet: A Look into Neuromarketing
Spending more than you have? Brands have a cheat sheet to understand your brain chemistry and exploit it: neuromarketing. ReadOn to know how it works!
Have you ever walked into a store and come out with more than you planned to buy?
Donât be guilty. Weâre all victims of neuromarketing: something that brands from Apple to Coca-Cola use.
Wondering what exactly is neuromarketing and how it can âbrainwashâ us into spending more? ReadOn!
đ¤ Neuromarketing 101
We humans are products of the electrical impulses going on in our brains.Â
Neuromarketing studies these electrical impulses to understand how we respond to marketing strategies, new packaging, the taste/smell of a product, logos and so on.
By studying the brainâs responses, marketers can get super useful insights into how to best reach and influence us.
Neuromarketing basically proves that the heart of commerce beats not just in the wallet, but in the brain!
How does it work?
Neuromarketing is a mix of psychology, neuroscience and marketing.Â
It uses tools and techniques like:Â
Eye-tracking: It helps neuromarketers gain insights into where consumers are looking and how long they are looking at different elements.
Brain imaging: This enables neuromarketers to study how different areas of the brain are activated in response to marketing. This gives them insights into how the brain processes information and influences decisions.
Galvanic skin response (a change in the skinâs electric response due to emotions like stress): This can help neuromarketers gain insights into the emotional response of consumers.Â
Electroencephalography (EEG): It measures the electrical activity of the brain, giving insight into how the brain influences behaviour.Â
Basically, it gives marketers a cheat sheet for your brain.
đ¤ Why is Neuromarketing Needed?
Now, you may feel that scanning your brain just to design a package might be too much. But we dug deep into the need of neuromarketing. And we came across an anecdote.
For years, people demanded one thing from detergent companies: clean clothes.
For years, brands tried to perfect the formulas to clean clothes.
But years later, brands realised that customers didnât just want clothes to look clean, they wanted them to feel clean. That meant they needed to smell clean after a wash.Â
Smell mattered.Â
This information sounds basic. But this âbasic insightâ only came to surface when brands hired an anthropologist to figure out customer behaviour.
David Ogilvy, the Father of Advertising, rightly said, âConsumers don't think how they feel. They don't say what they think and they don't do what they say.â
Neuromarketing can help avoid such pitfalls.Â
It can tell you exactly what aspect of your product a customer likes or dislikes!Â
A customer may not want to give you brutal feedback on your product, but their brain will.Â
But does neuromarketing actually work?Â
Let's look at a few brands that have used neuromarketing successfully.
đ Neuromarketing in Action: Case StudiesÂ
Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo have all used neuromarketing for different purposes.Â
Lays: Frito-Lay needed to figure out the perfect way to create an addictive snack. So, it used neuroscience to understand the flavours and ingredients that are most appealing to consumers. Result? The company has found that the combination of sweet, salty, and crunchy sensations can activate reward centres in the brain. It used this information to create new and improved snack products.
Apple: Apple's advertising has always focused on engaging and inspiring customers. The brand is all about emotions. To capitalise on this, it used neuromarketing for its "Shot on iPhone" campaign. This campaign used EEG technology to measure the emotional response of viewers to the ads. The data was then used to determine which elements resonated most with the audience and helped Apple to optimise their ads for maximum impact.
Coca-Cola: Coca-Cola has multiple competitors that taste more or less the same. To stand out, it had to create a brand for itself. So, it created an emotional connect with customers through smell: It infused the smell of its classic cola aroma into retail spaces and vending machines. Studies have shown that the scents can trigger positive memories and increase consumer cravings.
KFC:
This hidden dollar in the KFC burger may be difficult to spot for the naked eye, but your brain catches it and relates the burger with power and wealth. Such subliminal messages are used by many brands.
In fact, the first subliminal marketing was used in 1957 in a theatre. They flashed âDrink Coca-Colaâ for 1/3000th of a second. This meant people couldnât perceive the message actively but Coca-Cola sales increased by 18.1%.
Now, these techniques may be great for companies but they arenât always great for us.
đ The Negative Side of NeuroMarketing
Neuromarketing may be very helpful for brands. But is it ethical for marketers to study our brain and then exploit this power?
Subliminal advertising, for instance, has been the most controversial aspect of neuromarketing. It could influence diabetics patients to buy more sugary stuff or could influence children to buy products that may be harmful for them.
Neuromarketing also raises privacy concerns. After all, the idea of having your brain activity monitored is scary. Plus, there is limited regulation around neuromarketing. Some companies have used this to engage in unethical or manipulative practices. This has led to calls for increased regulation of the industry. But such regulation is yet to come. Until then companies are taking liberties with consumer privacy.
Many companies are even taking things a step forward by bringing ads to your dreams!
This could take consumerism to another level, increase peopleâs debt, impact their health and even impact the environment.
Do you think governments should take a stronger look at regulating neuromarketing?Â
What are your thoughts on this?
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See you tomorrow, smarty! đ¤
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