Marketing expert Martin Lindstrom recently published ‘Buyology’—a book that delves into neurological marketing research.
“A difficulty of standard marketing research,” Lindstrom says, “is that people will not — or cannot — provide accurate information about their mental states.” Whenever a consumer is asked to justify their choices, they don’t give straight answers. “This is the great advantage of brain waves,” asserted Lindstrom.
As opposed to conventional research methods, neurological marketing research protects consumer information from bias, i.e. lying, peer pressure, vanity, and many more. Neurological research uncovers the truth behind every consumer’s choice.
Lindstrom’s studies used two technologies: SST (Steady State Topography) and MRI (Magnetic Response Imaging). The test had 2,000 subjects, and here are some of the findings as reposted from USAToday.com,
“•Warning labels on cigarettes don't work. They stimulate activity in the part of a smoker's brain linked to cravings.
•Traditional advertisements no longer create lasting impressions. By age 66, most people with a TV will have seen nearly 2 million commercials. That makes it hard for an ad to increase a viewer's memory of a brand, despite the millions spent.
•Product placement only works when fully integrated. It works when Coke-bottle-shaped furniture is part of the set design on American Idol, for example, or when Reese's Pieces candy was used for bait in the movie E.T. However, when a product is not integrated, such as FedEx packages appearing in the background of Casino Royale, there is no measurable effect with regard to viewer recollection of brand.
•Sex sells itself. Viewers of sexually suggestive ads did pay attention, but more to the sex than the ad. In one study, fewer than 1-in-10 men who saw a sexually suggestive ad could recall the product, while twice as many remembered the product in non-sexually suggestive ads.
•Successful branding functions like religion. Simple rituals, such as putting a lime wedge in a Corona or slowly pouring a Guinness, give the brand added cachet. Brands attract zealous followers — "I'm a Mac; I'm a PC." Scans using fMRI technology showed that some viewers had the same neurological response to strong brands that they did to religious iconography” (Seth Brown, USAToday).