How Neuromarketing Saved My Masculinity
Tue, Mar 9, 2010
The purpose of this post is two-fold:
- To further our discussion on the physiology and functioning of the brain, so as to help you better understand how it works, such that your marketing efforts might be enhanced.
- To revoke an apology I made 15 yrs ago to an ex-girlfriend
Picture it: 15 yrs back, a younger, more dashing, moustache having marc on a date at the movies. Engaged in casual conversation as we walked back to the car, having left the theatre, I notice out of the corner of my eye the front of what turned out to be a speeding car careening around the corner and down the ramp of the multi-storey parking garage. With cat like reflexes, I grab my date, pull her and jump out of the way, to safety!
So why was there a need for an apology you ask? Well, as it happens, I was ‘on the outside’ – in the path of traffic, while my date was ‘on the inside’- walking along the parked cars. I jumped to safety, pulling her into the path of said oncoming careening car!
Though I tried to explain, my explanation of an act of heroism fell on deaf ears, as the only life saved was my own. I relented and apologized. Today, I take back my apology!!!
You see, today, as a result of a deep passion for neuromarketing, I have a clearer understanding of brain function – thanks to neuroscience, we now know that it wasn’t a masculinity-challenged action. There is instead, a scientific explanation for my (from henceforth referred to as ‘heroism’) act. The reptilian told me to do it! The neuroscientist Dr. Paul MacLean proposed the Triune Brain model back in the 1950s, identifying the 3 distinct structures of the brain:
- The Neocortex
- The Limbic System
- The Reptilian Brain
The reptilian brain is our oldest brain. As mentioned in the ‘Capt. Caveman’ post, it’s the brain we have still in common with our Neanderthal great uncles. Responsible for fear, sex and automatic body functions; it is not logical, has no concept of space and time but can exert more influence over the other two brains, than they can do of it. As Christopher Morin outlined in his book ‘Neuromarketing’ – this old brain is visual.
The optic nerve is physically connected to the old brain with stimuli reaching it within 2 milliseconds, long before the visual cortex in the new brain is able to interpret the situation (500 milliseconds) later. It is the reason why when trying to be macho, walking with your girl, you jump back screaming like her 6 year old sister in fear when you notice a stick and ‘think’ it’s a snake. The ‘thinking’ actually doesn’t come till 500 milliseconds later, when the cortex is able to process the stimuli and essentially say “It’s a stick stupid”.
(Note: were it to happen, the correct ‘macho’ action would be to kill the stick anyway)
In my particular situation, having glimpsed the speeding, careening around the corner car, my old brain literally hijacked my body, instructing it to jump to safety. The old brain doesn’t ‘think’ – it doesn’t care about anyone else or the feelings of another. Its function is to keep itself alive!
In Conclusion:
- Shara, I take back my apology
- Consider this fact in your marketing. Having understood the immense influence of this subconscious brain, are you taking advantage of the images on your marketing collateral? Is the image in your ad a random one? It shouldn’t be. The perception gained from first impression will influence the customer’s overall view of your product or service long after.
This article was written by Marc Narine.Marc works with companies to elevate marketing performance and profitability by going beyond the feature/benefit approach to instead assessing the consumer’s emotional and cultural imprints and subconscious attachments to a product. He is the primary author at 3Brain Marketing.
Thanks for an honest and truthful post, the like of which is surprisingly rare and all the more valuable for it. Regards, John.
Really good desgin of this web page. It can be individual and compares in your posts. Don´t give up and make your very own thing!
Hey Daniela – Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words! – i’m on twitter @marcnarine. Looking forward to seeing you on there!
Hi,Fantastic blog dude! i am Tired of using RSS feeds and do you use twitter?so i can follow you there:D.
PS:Have you thought about putting video to this blog to keep the people more enjoyed?I think it works.Kind regards, Daniela Awender
Steve/Dino- Thanks for your feedback. Dino, it’s exactly that i’m attempting to illustrate, that is, a vast majority of cognition (as much as 95%) actually occurs below our consciousness. The intention wasn’t to suggest that this activity occured only in the earliest of brain structures (reptilian/brain stem) but to give the reader – she who might be new to the field, an introduction to the non-coonscious and a sense of how much of her consumer’s decision making and buying behavior are driven by it. Subsequent posts show how to better communicate with this level of the brain (e.g. using pictures and metaphors as opposed to words) to, as you noted, engage the subconscious and hopefully affect the customer’s buying decision. We want to give our readers clear, accurate and easy to interpret information, thanks for sharing your knowledge.
ha ha ha…I really enjoyed reading, interestingly enough i read that book, was recommended to me by my boss. i’m in marketing, have been for 10+ yrs.. neuromarketing is new to me, it’s such an enlightening approach to better understanding my customer.
Nice story. As you mentioned the theory of the reptilian brain is from the 1950′s. This theory is now considered in neuroscience old and outdated. It is still true that anatomically speaking we have what you call the reptilian brain (scientifically it is called the brain stem) and it is partly in charge of our basic survival needs like breathing, body posture etc. and is essential for our survival. The term the limbic system (originally proposed by Papez in the 40′s) is less and less used in neuroscience due to it’s problematic definition both anatomically and functionally. The correct way to think about what you described is that we have a widespread neuronal network of brain areas that operate in concert to induce the rapid and automatic response like jumping from the speeding car. The basic functional separation will be between automatic (or unconscious) responses and intentional (conscious) thoughts and responses. Most of the time a vast part of our brain is analyzing, computing and make responses that we are unaware and are automatic. Only a tiny fraction of all the information that is being incorporated into the nervous system reaches our consciousness. That said, the idea that we need in our adds to activate our reptilian brain to influence our decisions has a nice flavor to it but is inaccurate in principal. two main reasons; first, the automatic, unconscious networks is more widespread than just the brain stem. Second, inmost cases, when we make purchase decisions it is a complicated behavior that involves multiple networks and takes into account automatic information as well as conscious reasoning. So what you really want to achieve with your adds is to influence the automatic unconscious computations that undergoes every second in our brains and the influence of this system on the actual conscious, deliberate purchase choices that we make. By influencing I mean that it will eventually make them choose your product and not just increase their arousal or emotion to the add.