Companies send a good 6,000 advertising messages to people every day. Only a fraction of these actually get through. However, the unconscious mind plays a pretty big role, for example in purchasing decisions. Even if we don’t want to admit it: Advertising works!
The “Pepsi problem”
In a 1983 experiment, one group of people was asked to evaluate two drinks that looked alike in terms of taste. The other experimental group had the same task, but knew what they were drinking, namely Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola. The result: the “blind” testers almost all preferred Pepsi, while the others predominantly said they preferred Coca Cola.
Today, we know why the experiment went the way it did. The subjects in the second group preferred Coca Cola because, influenced by the associated advertising, they thought Coke tasted better. Thanks to brain research, which is collaborating with economics in the still-new field of “neuroeconomics,” we now know that such emotions play a major role in purchasing decisions.
The view into the brain
Among others, scientists from the University of Münster have been studying brands and their effect on the brain. In a study in the Journal of Neuroimaging, they found that as soon as you see your favorite beer or brand of coffee, your mind shuts down and emotional areas are activated, which then take over the decision. This has also been proven with the help of magnetic resonance imaging.
Researchers can literally scan the brains of consumers. The scanners produced images of test subjects that showed exactly which areas of the brain are stimulated when a decision is made in favor of a particular product. The more colorful a brain region lights up, the more strongly it is activated.
For example, the advertising agency Grey conducted a research project with the Bonn-based institute LifeandBrain under the direction of brain researcher Christian Elger, in which the effect of advertising was measured.
For the study, 39 consumers were sent into an MRI scanner. Through video goggles, the subjects saw brand logos and images, including scenes from commercials. Twenty test subjects were between 20 and 35 years old, 19 between 50 and 65. The oxygen content of the blood in the individual brain regions was measured, because active nerve cells consume more oxygen. One of the findings was that women react significantly more emotionally to advertising than men.
Different processing in men and women
Brain areas where emotions are processed are activated more strongly in women than in the male subjects. Men, on the other hand, link what they see much more strongly to memories from earlier times. Older consumers respond more strongly to established brands such as Nivea, Persil, BMW and Miele. Younger consumers respond more to brands such as Ebay or Google.
Another research result confirmed the findings from market research practice: 95 percent of the stimuli received are absorbed and processed unconsciously. When people are emotionally touched, they are better able to retain information.
