Innovation and Customer Satisfaction: How Neuroscience Can Guide and Predict Customer Preferences

From current views of neuroscience, particularly Active Inference Theory, Friston (2010) introduced the idea that the brain is actively inferring.

Essentially, our brain is constantly predicting outcomes while minimizing "variational free energy," which is just neuroscience jargon for the gap between what we expect and what actually happens.

So, how does this relate to customer experience? Bear with me...

Recently, the innovative founder of Spanx Sara Blakely and self-made billionaire launched, a new venture Sneex aimed at solving an age-old problem for women: uncomfortable high heels.

Let’s be honest—most of the high heels we crave are designed by men like Christian Louboutin and Manolo Blahnik, and we’ve all wondered why they’re so painful. It's about time a woman solved this long-standing puzzle, and who better than her?

Now, Blakely’s product, Sneex , has been met with a lot of criticism since its debut. At first glance, it looks like a sneaker with high heels. And while I haven’t personally tried them on yet, from the photos, they look very comfy.

But why all the pushback?

This is where Active Inference Theory comes back in. If we think of the brain as constantly predicting based on past experiences, here’s what women, as consumers, are used to:

1. Laid-back, comfortable sneakers, or
2. Fancy, uncomfortable high heels.

We’re conditioned to believe that we must trade beauty for comfort or vice versa. So, our brains weren’t prepared for Sara's new option: sneakers with heels.

Here’s the catch with Sneex : it’s outside our expected options. It puts the consumer’s brain in a state of surprise, or what neuroscientist Dr. Karl Friston calls a "high entropy state"—aka, chaos or confusion.

But here’s the good news for Sara Blakely : once our internal model (belief system) experiences a prediction error, like with Sneex, the brain begins to adapt. Over time, with repetition, the brain updates its model. Eventually, we’ll get used to the idea that comfortable high-heel sneakers are possible.

That said, Sara will likely need to invest more heavily in educating her customers through advertising. It’s going to take time for people to adjust and for Sneex to become as accepted as traditional sneakers or high heels.

One more thing to consider: while the brain can handle complex information, it often operates in binary mode at first glance. We categorize things as good, bad, or neutral right away. So even if the initial reaction to Sneex is negative, with persistence, the brain can adjust, and the consumer can learn to appreciate the innovation.

Here’s something for all innovators to note: our brains are prediction machines. We like stability and resist surprises. A smoother approach to introducing new products might be gradual improvements rather than a “never-seen-before” idea. In this case, women probably expected a high heel with slightly more comfort—maybe something with improved cushioning or innovative materials that would provide a step above the comfort that traditional heels provide us. By keeping the familiar aesthetic of high heels while adding comfort, you minimize “variational free energy” (thanks, Friston), which means creating a less surprising experience. This would have made consumers more open to buying at launch without needing a massive education campaign.

That said, I'm with Sara Blakely ! And I hope to see her succeed again, no matter how long it takes!