Neuromarketing: The new science of consumer decisions | Terry Wu | TEDxBlaine

Summary

This script explores the unconscious influences on our buying decisions, using studies like the wine store music experiment and the New Coke fiasco to illustrate how subtle cues and emotional connections sway choices. It delves into neuromarketing, showing how understanding the brain can optimize marketing strategies, with examples like Google's color tests and Amazon's website speed. The talk concludes by emphasizing the power of small, unnoticed details in decision-making, as seen in energy-saving emoticons and a urinal fly, encouraging finding 'your fly' for impactful change.

Takeaways

• 🎵 The study at a wine store demonstrated that background music can significantly influence customers' wine selections, with German or French music respectively promoting the sales of wines from those countries.
• 🙅‍♂️ Over 90% of shoppers were unaware that the background music influenced their choices, indicating that subtle environmental cues can affect our decisions without our conscious realization.
• 🤔 The script raises questions about the nature of decision-making, challenging the idea that all choices are made consciously based on facts, reason, and logic, and suggesting that emotions, feelings, and intuition play a significant role.
• 🥤 The New Coke story illustrates the power of emotional connection in consumer choices. Despite positive taste tests, the change in formula led to a backlash due to the emotional attachment people had to the original Coca-Cola.
• 🧠 A 2004 study showed that when people were told what they were drinking, their preference for Coca-Cola increased, highlighting the role of expectation and brand association in shaping our experience with a product.
• 💡 The script introduces neuromarketing as a field that combines neuroscience and marketing to understand consumer behavior and decision-making processes.
• 🧩 The limbic system, our emotional brain, is crucial for decision-making, as shown by the case of Frank, who struggled to make decisions after his emotional brain was damaged by a stroke.
• 📈 Google's experiment with different shades of blue in ad links resulted in a significant increase in revenue, demonstrating the power of subtle changes in user experience to influence behavior.
• 💻 Amazon's slight improvement in website speed led to a substantial increase in sales, showing that even minor enhancements in user experience can have a significant impact on consumer decisions.
• 👫 Invisible social influence, such as perceived popularity or scarcity, can shape our decisions, as seen in the cookie jar study where volunteers rated cookies higher based on the belief that they were in high demand.
• 🚀 The script concludes by emphasizing the potential for small, seemingly insignificant changes to have a major impact on decision-making, as illustrated by the use of emoticons on energy bills and the fly etching in urinals.

Q & A

What was the purpose of the study conducted at the wine store?

The purpose of the study was to determine if background music influenced shoppers' wine selections.

What did the study at the wine store find regarding the influence of music on wine sales?

The study found that when German music was played, German wines outsold French wines by a 3 to 1 ratio, and vice versa when French music was played.

What percentage of shoppers in the study believed that background music influenced their wine selections?

Over 90 percent of shoppers believed that the background music did not influence their wine selections.

What does the New Coke story illustrate about consumer decisions?

The New Coke story illustrates that consumer decisions can be heavily influenced by emotional connections to a product, rather than just taste preferences.

What was the outcome of Coca-Cola's introduction of New Coke?

The introduction of New Coke resulted in a backlash from customers who demanded the return of the original formula, leading to significant financial losses for Coca-Cola.

What role did emotions play in the New Coke failure according to the script?

Emotions played a crucial role in the New Coke failure as Coca-Cola overlooked the strong emotional connection people had with the original formula and its marketing as a feel-good product.

What does the 2004 brain study involving Coca Cola suggest about consumer behavior?

The study suggests that when people think of popular brands like Coca Cola, their brains activate areas related to emotions, memory, and thinking, indicating that these factors can unconsciously influence their experience with the product.

What is neuromarketing and why is it significant in understanding consumer decisions?

Neuromarketing is the application of neuroscience to marketing practices. It is significant because it helps understand how consumers make buying decisions and how emotions and intuition shape those decisions.

How did Google's testing of different shades of blue impact their annual revenue?

Google found that one particular shade of blue increased the number of clicks on their ads, leading to an increase in annual revenue by 200 million dollars.

What impact did Amazon's slight improvement in website speed have on sales?

Amazon's slight improvement in website speed resulted in an increase in sales by over 1.7 billion dollars.

What is the significance of the urinal spillage story in the context of subtle influences on behavior?

The urinal spillage story demonstrates that even a small, seemingly insignificant change, like etching a fly target in the urinal, can have a significant impact on behavior by reducing spillage by 80%.

What misconceptions about neuromarketing does the script mention and what is the truth?

The script mentions misconceptions that neuromarketing is all about brain scans and mind-reading, and that it can be used to manipulate people to buy anything. The truth is that neuromarketing is about understanding consumer decisions and influencing them subtly, without mind-reading capabilities.

How do the findings from the energy company's use of emoticons on energy bills relate to invisible social influence?

The use of emoticons on energy bills to indicate energy consumption levels is an example of invisible social influence, as it subconsciously motivates customers to reduce their energy usage to avoid a 'sad face' and to match the 'happy face' of their neighbors.