Neuromarketing – Pressing the “Buy” button in the customer’s brain

In this three-part series of articles we will try to get to the bottom of the often diffuse, vague and often completely misused concept of neuromarketing - and how you can use this for your business.

The question of how neuromarketing can be used in concrete terms to encourage consumers to make a positive purchase during their purchasing decision process will also be addressed.

And how industry already works with it.

And - maybe even more important – how YOU could use these tools.

Human decisions are mainly based on unconscious processes. But what does "consciousness" or "unconsciousness" mean in this context? Is it even possible that a buyer cannot make rational and clear decisions? Is the homo economicus really an outdated view? Certain processes in the human brain should be better understood by means of neuromarketing and thus made easier to influence.

Which instruments does neuromarketing use for this? In the following, these questions will be analysed and examined. But before we really start: where does neuromarketing actually come from?

The field of neuromarketing originates from neuroeconomics. Both are concerned with economic purchasing behavior and decision-making processes. So it makes sense in this context to stick relatively closely to the findings of brain research.These prove that the assumption that we humans make rational decisions is not true. We are controlled from the subconscious and the corresponding perception channels process our sensory impressions.

The different tools and concepts used in neuromarketing show which methods brain research has used to gain access to brain activities and insights into brain processes.

In order to understand customers' purchasing behavior and decision-making processes and to be able to use them efficiently in marketing, one has to realize how the human brain actually works, what it reacts to and with which tools this can be measured.

For example: Coca-Cola or Pepsi?

For years there has been untiring competition between the two brands. To get to the bottom of the question of a better product, a study was carried out almost ten years ago by McClure and his partners. One of the aims of the study was to clarify what effect brands have on consumers and their point of view on products.

In the course of an open examination and a blind test, test subjects were asked which drink they liked better. The blind test showed that there were no explicit taste preferences for Coca Cola or Pepsi. A previous survey also showed a balanced result for both soft drinks. The mere fact that the participants were not able to distinguish the two drinks exactly from each other is an indication of the influence brands can exert.

However, the result of the open taste test was astonishing.

The subjects tried two cups, both filled with cola, but only one of the cups had the inscription "Coca Cola". The result was that the Coca Cola cup was perceived as much tastier than the other. In the same experiment with Pepsi, the taste did not change.

The study examined not only the differences in taste but also the neuronal effect of the brand on the test subjects. For this purpose, the participants were again subjected to the experiment in a brain scanner. In contrast to the Pepsi brand, the Coca Cola brand caused a clear neuronal activity in the brain.

Successful brands therefore have an impact on the perception of products, as it has been established with the help of the fMRI that brands can influence consumer choice behaviour. The Pepsi/Coca Cola test has not only produced important neuroscientific results, it was in a way the birth of neuromarketing.

With this experiment, the brain scanner was first used for marketing purposes in 2003. The fMRI found that in the blind test of both brands, the same areas in the brain were irritated. The enjoyment of Coca Cola also stimulated other and, above all, many more brain areas. Pepsi, however, did not cause any neuronal activity. Neuromarketing is therefore a way of taking targeted measures from the customer's field of vision to arouse interest and create an incentive to buy.

So the question arises: how can neuromarketing be applied in practice? What measures can an operator take to design the website? What does an online shop operator have to consider in order to attract interested parties and generate buyers? What is the problem with websites that do not convey emotions?

What neuromarketing is, what insights have emerged from it, what consumer behavior has to do with it, which tools and concepts are used and how it can be applied on the Internet will be made clear in the following three articles over the next three weeks. The aim is to show how neuroscience can be used to influence customer purchasing behavior on the Internet.

All right? Then let's get started:

How do you make purchasing decisions on the Internet?

Products or services are consumed almost daily and customers make quick, important, short-term or spontaneous decisions to buy. The number of purchases made on the Internet is growing continuously.

In principle, consumers in online retailing can be divided into two different classes of purchasing decisions, just as they are in traditional retailing:

On the one hand, there are regular or ordinary everyday purchases where decisions are made extremely spontaneously, directly and immediately, such as the online purchase of food or an iTunes song. On the other hand, the Internet is used to procure much more important and long-term products, such as the online booking of a holiday or the online ordering of a new vehicle. The processes of information procurement or a comparative analysis on the Internet are much more careful and precise until the buyer finally decides on an offer.

However, purchase decisions can also be divided into four additional categories

- impulsive,

- habitualized,

- limited and

- extensive.

The decisive criterion for assignment to one of the four classes is the intensity of cognitive control during a purchase decision process. In other words, it means to what extent a customer decides for or against a purchase through conscious considerations. 

When making an extensive purchase decision, the cognitive involvement is particularly high, which means that the customer needs a comprehensive period of reflection and sufficiently well-founded information to be able to make a decision. This type of decision is usually innovative or difficult, such as ordering a vehicle online. Although the cognitive control is less with a limited purchase decision than with an extensive one, it is still pronounced.

Purchases are also well considered and intended in this type of decision, largely based on experience or knowledge. For example, if further details are required in the search for a suitable location on the Internet, a customer of this classification will only search for relevant key information.

The decision is usually less risky and everyday purchases, such as the purchase of food via online providers.

A decision is based on experience, takes little thought and the proportion of cognitive involvement is minimal.

The last of these four types is called impulsive buying decision. As the name suggests, decisions are made rashly and spontaneously at the point of sale. Emotionality, the influence of external influences and the small amount of cognitive control are decisive for this type. To encourage customers to make impulsive purchasing decisions on the Internet, various components can be integrated into an online shop. Additional components on a website, such as "Customers who bought this item also bought" or "More suitable items", should help to entice consumers to spontaneous promotions. Despite a conscious decision for or against a product, these processes in the brain are already guided by the subconscious before or during this time.

The findings of brain research have shown that a decision is almost exclusively guided by unconscious processes. The share of conscious and rational influences in a purchase decision process is only about 5 to 20 percent.

The term consciousness cannot be explained and defined to date, since no concrete research results are available for this topic. So far there are only assumptions and ideologies, which agree, however, that consciousness is always defined by the subconscious.

In the anterior part of the cerebrum, mainly deliberate and intentional decisions are made.

It is known, however, that this anterior brain area is also involved in the control of emotionality. Consequently, conscious processes cannot be free of any emotional influences. The so-called emotional construction principle, which is hidden behind deliberate processes, is not apparent to consciousness.

All information and processes are treated subconsciously before they are finally processed by consciousness. According to Dr. Hans-Georg H?usel's theories, it is only possible to create customer value by conveying emotionality through a product, a service or a brand. Based on these findings, neuromarketing can examine articles and services in detail in order to intensify the positive emotional value and prevent the negative one on the basis of emotion systems and assessment procedures. 

A purchase decision therefore depends on the relevance of the object, the type of a purchase decision and thus on both conscious cognitive control and subconscious emotional control.

There are 4 codes that provide access to the human brain. Which are these? More about this next week...

Have a great weekend and keep your head up,

Meik B?deker