Whenever people discuss marketing strategies, psychology often pops into the conversation. Understanding consumer psychology provides a leg-up against the competition and resonates with your target audience. There is no doubt that psychology and marketing complement each other beautifully. But when neuroscience is brought into the mix, something almost magical happens: neuromarketing.
Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior, but neuroscience focuses on the structure and function of the nervous system and brain. To put it simply, psychology studies the mental brain, and neuroscience studies the physical brain. An understanding of these definitions is essential to fully grasp the concept of neuromarketing. While neuromarketing often uses brain imaging to measure one’s physical responses, previous research results can be just as effective. With neuromarketing, you can reach your audience more efficiently. Even the most basic knowledge can influence your success.
Our brains evolved slowly over many generations and can be divided into three parts. Each part is so unique that instead of being referenced as one brain, they are known as “the three brains.” The three brains, in order of development, are:
Old Brain: Unconscious survival instincts such as breathing or pumping blood through the body.
Middle Brain: Emotions, which are also mostly unconscious.
New Brain: Higher cognitive functions like logic and reasoning.
Whatever message you send through your marketing campaigns will be received differently by each brain. To fully capture the attention of your audience, consider all three when creating your campaigns.
There is much research to still be done in the field of neuroscience, but there are a number of undisputed facts. For example, humans are hardwired to want to belong. Steve Jobs used that to his advantage. With a long series of “us vs. them” campaigns, Apple not only created droves of raving fans, but also an active dislike for its competitors.
Another way that advertisements play the neuroscience card is by appealing to your emotions. When an ad triggers a strong emotion, the brain becomes more active and absorbs content more effectively. Ever notice the Cheetos ads that flaunt the sticky cheese dust left behind on your fingers? That’s because Frito-Lay put neuroscience to work. They learned that consumers have a powerful, positive association with the orange residue. Turns out, neon-coated fingertips sets off a sense of giddy subversion for Cheetos aficionados. They know its a messy snack and that’s part of the charm. Or how about the Budweiser Super Bowl commercial that had football fans all across the country reaching for a tissue?
The human brain is the most complex and intelligent of all the in the animal kingdom, but we still operate on basic instincts too. Ego is one of them — it’s helped us stay alive. When something inflates our ego, we feel good. Marketers can use this to their advantage as well by designing campaigns that make your audience feel important and validated.
Neuromarketing may sound impossible to master, but armed with basic knowledge of the human brain, you can create a campaign so successful that even your competition will want to buy your product. Okay, maybe not, but you can design a more effective campaign than you could have before.