Influencing behaviour with neuromarketing
Optimize all communication using science
26.07.2022
The processing of advertisements happens quickly, based on emotions, and is 95% unconscious in our brains. By using neuromarketing, which examines the responses of our brains to investigate our behavior and choices, you can optimize advertising messages. Ensure more attention and a longer focus on the key message of your communication. Therefore, we have listed some marketing tricks derived from neuromarketing below.
What is neuromarketing?
The term neuromarketing arises from the concepts of neuroscience and marketing. In neuroscience, the responses of our brains (such as specific emotions) and their influence on our choices, thinking patterns, and behavior are studied. This includes both our conscious and unconscious reactions.
Results and insights from neuroscience research are then applied in the marketing world to create more effective messages. For example, you can conduct a small study to test reactions to a potential new packaging for your product or examine how a price increase for your service would be received by the target audience. If you want to find out what people associate with your brand and how to better respond to it, neuromarketing has the answers.
Anchoring
Neuroscientists have discovered something: an imperfection in the way our brains make decisions for us. Research shows that we rarely determine the value of a product or service based on its intrinsic worth but instead compare it to other available options. When you choose to employ neuromarketing in such situations, you ensure the occurrence of the so-called "anchoring effect".
For example, imagine you are comparing two hotel rooms online that have the same price. What if you find out that when booking hotel room A, you receive a free cup of coffee and a croissant in bed every day? As a result, our brains no longer look further and are very likely to immediately choose hotel room A. Any good qualities of hotel room B are no longer taken into consideration.
Eye focus
It has long been known that advertising messages featuring people are more effective at capturing the attention of the target audience than those without people. Particularly, the use of small children or babies, due to their "cuteness factor," works exceptionally well in attracting and maintaining attention.
Research has shown that when a person in an advertisement is looking directly at you, the focus of the recipient primarily goes to the person in the ad, causing the textual message of the advertisement to lose its impact. Therefore, it is wise to make the person depicted in the ad look towards the actual message of the ad. The recipient's eye follows the line of sight of the depicted person, automatically focusing on the most important message. That's where the focus remains.
Reward and Punishment
Especially in the world of gaming and educational communication targeted at children, we frequently see the principle of reward and punishment being used. (Educational) games increasingly utilize rewards and punishments to increase engagement and ensure people continue playing them.
When the reward for a good performance keeps increasing, our bodies produce dopamine in the brain. That substance is associated with pleasure and positive thoughts, causing people to play for longer. What can we learn from this? That a pleasurable experience is crucial when trying to persuade someone about your product or service.
