Buyology - Book Summary

“ Neuromarketing is it’s
about uncovering what’s
already inside our heads
—our Buyology”
Martin Lindstrom -
Buyology
2

WHY READ THIS SUMMARY?
Neuro-marketing is the new key tool which will
revolutionize marketing strategies in future and
help understand the logic behind purchase
behavior.
The summary highlights the major concepts
from the book which can help in building better
marketing campaigns
3

BRIEF INTRODUCTION
4
• People are constantly
surrounded by brands and
messages from marketers &
advertisers
• Some information is
retained and some is
instantly forgettable

BRIEF INTRODUCTION
5
• To make the brand message
stay with the consumer and to
induce product cravings,
research in “Neuromarketing”
is being done
• Neuromarketing is the window
key to unlock the
subconscious thoughts,
feelings & desires that drive
purchase decisions -
Buyology

1. A Rush Of Blood Of The Head
2. This Must Be The Place
3. I’ll Have What She Is Having
4. I Cant See Clearly Now
5. Do You Believe In Magic?
6
Contents

6. I Say A Little Prayer
7. Why Did I Choose You?
8. A Sense Of Wonder
9. And The Answer Is…
10. Lets Spend The Night Together
11. Conclusion
7
Contents

Chapter 1
A Rush of Blood to the Head –
The Largest Neuromarketing study ever
conducted
8

9
PROBLEM
ADDRESSED
Companies often are not able to
carefully detect what to do to
engage the consumers
authentically
“Half my advertising budget is wasted.
Trouble is, I don’t know which half.”
John Wanamaker 1889 – 1893
1. The Largest Neuromarketing study
ever conducted

For example, the smokers replied in negative to
purchasing cigarettes when shown the warning
signs on cigarette packs
The traditional marketing research techniques
namely - Qualitative & Quantitative research
techniques are not well equipped to evaluate what
the consumer wants
10
ever conducted

Hence a new marketing tool – neuromarketing is
required to test how the consumer’s brain
evaluates and responds to the brand messages it
encounters
Whilst the actual buy behavior has not much
changed as despite the results of traditional
marketing research tests, the smokers went and
purchased the cigarette packs
11
ever conducted

ever conducted
fMRI – The most advanced
brain-scanning technique
was used that measures
the magnetic property of
hemoglobin that carries
oxygen in the body. More
worked up a part of brain
is, more is the flow of
oxygenated blood to that
part of the brain
The study was conducted
using the fMRI technique to
assess which aspects of
the brand or product
message stimulate which
part of the part of the brain
that ultimately induces the
need to buy that product
12

ever conducted
13
Neuromarketing Study
Duration: Three years (2004-2007)
Cost: $7 million (provided by 8 MNCs)
fMRI Scans: 102
SST: To measure the degree of emotional
engagement, memory, approach & withdraw i.e.
how different parts of the brain talk to one
another

ever conducted
14
Neuromarketing Study
Volunteers: 2,081
Countries: America, England, Japan, China,
Germany
Research Team overseen by: Dr. Gemma
Calvert, Chairperson Applied Neuroimaging at
University of Warwick, England

ever conducted
15
Neuromarketing Study –
Experiment with smokers
Such cigarette warning signs, encouraged the smokers to buy more cigarette packs
This part of the brain when stimulated requires higher and higher doses to get it fixed
Analysis & Results: When these respondents went through fMRI, it was observed that
the cigarette warnings in fact stimulated the area of the brain called “the craving spot”
Answers were a quick “Yes” to both
Questions asked: Are you affected by these warnings? | Will you smoke lesser?
Test: Smokers were shown cigarette warning packs

ever conducted
16
Neuromarketing Study – Importance
Therefore, traditional marketing
research techniques are not reliable to
know what consumers really what
because the irrational mind shaped via
social & cultural bias acts in a
conditioned manner
Hence, what consumers think why they
have a particular behavior, a closer
look into the mind tells a different story

ever conducted
17
Neuromarketing Study – Importance
Unconscious minds are a lot better at
interpreting behavior than the
conscious minds which is what works
when traditional marketing research is
conducted
Consumer experience is more likely to
be found in brain, in the nansecond
lapse before thinking is translated into
words, the truth – unplugged &
uncensored, what causes us to buy

Pepsi Challenge or Sip Test, showed that more than half of
the volunteers prefer the taste of Pepsi over coke, this was
confirmed by the fMRI techniques
The later Brain scan techniques revealed when test
subjects know whether they were sampling coke or Pepsi
before they tasted it, 75% of respondents claimed they
prefer Coke.
1. A Rush of blood to the head
18

Positive associations the subjects had with Coca
cola- its history, logo, color, design, and
fragrance, their own childhood memories of coke,
emotional Coke-ness of brand beat back their
rational, natural preference for the taste if Pepsi
Emotions are the way in which our brain encode
things of value, and brands that engages us
emotionally will win every single time
1. A Rush of blood to the head
19

Chapter 2
This Must Be The Place–
Product Placement, American Idol and
Ford’s Multimillion-Dollar Mistake
20

In 1965 a typical
consumers had a
34% recall for ads,
in 1990 that figure
had fallen to 8 %
The relentless
advertising assault
have resulted in
strengthening the
filter system in our
brains grow thick
and self protective
2. This must be the place
19

To identify whether the product placement
in the show American Idol helps in creating
a lasting impact in the consumer’s minds
and hence translate into sales of the
company’s product
23
2. Product Placement, American Idol
and Ford’s Multimillion-Dollar Mistake
The Experiment - Objective

American Idol has three main sponsors – Cingular
Wireless, Ford Motor Company & Coca-Cola
Cingular Wireless – Runs 30 seconds ads during
the commercial breaks & also features its
products prominently during the show
24
The Experiment – The Sponsors

Coca-Cola: It has judges drink strategically placed
Coke, the judges’ chairs are shaped like coke’s
bottle, the walls are coke-red. Coca Cola is
present approximately 60% of the time on
American Idol
Ford: Doesn’t shares actual stage with the
contestants & it shells out $26 million only toward
traditional thirty seconds ad spots.
25
The Experiment – The Sponsors

Four hundred subjects were chosen to go through
the SST test that mathematically measures the
brain waves in real time
The subjects were seated in the darkened room
Twenty product logos (branded & unbranded) were
shown, one each/second
26
The Experiment – The Setup

“Branded Logos”: Logos of companies that aired
their commercials during American Idol – Coke,
Ford & Cingular
“Unbranded Logos”: Logos of companies that
had no products placed within the show i.e. no
connection or sponsorship with American Idol
like Fanta, Verizon, Target, etc.
27

The subjects were shown 2 shows, one was a 20
min special edition of American Idol followed by a
screening of another show
Rescreened the same sequence of logo thrice. It
was done to test whether viewers remembered
which logos they had seen during the show and
which ones they hadn’t
28
The Experiment – The Setup

Ad Effectiveness: measured by the consumer’s
memory of the product. A remembered product
has more probability of being purchased
29

Before-Screening: No matter how frequently the
products were featured during the show, the
memory of branded logos was the same as that
of the unbranded logos. Therefore, before the
study began, both branded and unbranded logos
were at par
Post- Screening: Branded logos had a greater
recall than unbranded logos. The potency of
branded logos had inhibited the recall of
unbranded logos i.e. memory of Coke, Cingular
had crowded out memories of Pepsi, Verizon
30
The Experiment – The Results

Coke was far more memorable than Cingular
which was far more memorable than Ford
Ford commercials were remembered by subjects
lesser post study than pre-study
31

Coke had permeated 60% of the show – Soft drink
cups – Furniture-Décor. Coke reinforced
throughout the show
There was no memory of the brands that did not
played an integral part in the story line of the
show
32
The Experiment – The Analysis

Coke played an integral part of the show – was
remembered the most and at the same time
weakened the memory of other brands
Ford just played ads in commercial breaks – no
significant difference than “just other ads”
33

Coke saturated show had suppressed memory of
Ford commercials
Ford had invested $ 26 million in yearly
sponsorship but – lost market share
34
The Experiment –
Ford’s Multimillion-Dollar Mistake

Ray-Ban: Suffered from slowing sales, tied up
with the movie Risky Business where Tom
Cruise flaunted Ray-Ban sunglasses. Sales
increased by over 50%. Again in Top Gun, sales
rose by 40%
But movies like Die Another Day that displayed
23 brands in 123 minutes or Driven that
displayed 103 brands in 117 minutes – all the
brands made no effect
35

Mid 1940s Warner Bros. movie had General
Electric refrigerator or a love story with
diamonds from DeBeers Co.
E.T. Extra Terrestrial had tactically placed
Hershey's candies
36
The product has to be a good match with the
TV show or movie

Product Placement in Movies
37

In Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra-
Terrestrial, a boy named Elliott
discovers an extraordinary-looking
creature living in the woods behind
his house.
To lure it out of hiding, the boy
tactically places individual pieces of
candy—instantly recognizable as
Hershey’s Reese’s Pieces—along the
path from the forest leading into his
house
38

In the late 1970s and early ’80s,
the U.S.-based sunglasses
manufacturer Ray-Ban was
fighting to stay alive as their
sales figures remained dismally
flat. That is, until the company
struck a deal with Paul
Brickman, the director of 1983’s
Risky Business, and Tom
Cruise gave the retro-looking
shades a whole lot of renewed
cachet. When the movie
became a hit, Ray-Ban sales
rose by over 50 percent.
40

In Tony Scott’s Top Gun,
when the actor alit from
his fighter jet clad in Air
Force leathers and
Aviator Ray-Bans, the
sunglasses maker saw
an additional boost of 40
percent to its bottom
line
41

SST study showed, for product placement to
work, it has to be a lot slyer and more
sophisticated than simply plunking a series of
random products on a screen and expecting
us to respond. Let’s revisit E.T. for a moment.
Elliott didn’t just pop those Reese’s Pieces
into his mouth during a thoughtless bike ride
with his buddies; they were an essential part
of the storyline because they were used to
lure E.T. from hiding.
42

In order for product placements to work, the
product has to make sense within the show’s
narrative. So if a product isn’t a good match
with the movie or TV show in which it
appears viewers will tune it right out
43

Chapter 3
I’ll Have What She’s Having –
Mirror Neurons at Work
44

Mirror neurons at work- Neurons that fire when an
action is being performed and when that same
action is being observed
3. I’ll have what she is having
45

Do humans’ brains work in the same way? Do we
too, mimic how others interact with objects?
Not only animals, but
humans also imitate.
When a person in front of
you YAWNS, you also feel
like yawning!
46

Are you yawning now or feeling the initial strings
of yawning?
Mirror neurons becoming activated even when
we’re reading about someone performing it
47
Mirror neurons make humans mimic each other’s
buying behavior too.

48
3. Mirror Neurons at Work
If people see something cool and jazzy, they will
wish to have that product in order to feel
themselves as cool and jazzy – They are the mirror
neurons at work
Example 1: According to an
experiment, when a monkey
picked up a nut or even
when it saw other monkey
pick up the nut, the
macaques’ pre-motor
neurons lit up and in the
latter case too it imagines
itself picking up the nut

49
Example 2:
When an adult ticks out his tongue, the baby too
imitates and sticks out his tongue – These are
mirror neurons at work

• While people view baseball matches
and the favorite player strikes or the
football player scores a goal, the
viewer pumps the arm in the air
• Based on fMRI & EEG, the mirror
neurons are activated when someone
is performing an action or when a
person observes someone else
performing the action
50

• Hence people often imitate other
people’s behavior
• We empathize when bad things happen
to good people and feel pleasure when
bad things happen to bad people
• In short, everything we observe or read
someone else is doing, we do as well – in
our minds
51

When people see white cool earphones on
someone else, they want to buy it
When people see mannequins in GAP stores
wearing fitted jeans with a bandana, they wish to
buy that outfit and be like it
52

When someone smiles at you, we tend to smile
back. We remember the names of the people
who smile back.
When one has a great shopping experience at a
store owing to the music, décor, products
available, one shops. Few days later, when he
encounters another store of the same brand,
Dopamine-one of the most additive brain
chemical work and one wishes to re-experience
the last time’s shopping experience
53

Just seeing a product over and over makes it
more desirable.
54

We don’t think twice before buying as we
calculate our purchases based on how they might
bring us social status
55
BRAND CELEBRITY
STYLE
ASPIRATIONSDESIRE
RECOGNITION
SOCIAL
STATUS

Chapter 4
I Can’t See Clearly Now –
Subliminal Messaging, Alive and
Well
56

Subliminal messaging
Visual, auditory or any sensory message that
register just below our level of conscious
perception and can be detected by the
subconscious mind
57
4. I can’t see clearly now

Subliminal advertising in political messaging
58
George Bush criticizes Al Gore’s prescription
plan, towards the end of the ad the word RATS
flashes in oversized letters for a split second

Malboro’s subliminal advertising
59
Everything Formula 1
represented was subliminally
transformed into representing
the Malboro brand
Subliminal images invoked more activity in brain
and better recognition than the overt images

Subliminal messaging examples
60

61
Subliminal messaging has many a times
garnered bad publicity. It is considered:
• To be ‘brainwashing’ the population
• “Contrary to the public interest”
4. Subliminal Messaging

62
Subliminal messaging – The
Experiment
Elderly people in the age group of 60
– 85 years old were split into two
groups
Both groups were given a computer
game to play

63
Experiment
One group was displayed a series of positive
words like wise, accomplished, achievement, etc.
on their computer screen
The other group had negative words like senile,
diseased, forlorn, etc. displayed on their
computer screens
When finished, the researchers measured the
“swing-time” in their gaits or walks i.e. the time
when they had one foot off the ground

64
Results
The people who were in the positive
group, their gait increased by 10%
This suggested that positive
psychological stimulus can have a
positive impact and it improved the
physical achievement

65
Experiment
The respondents were shown an image of
either a smiling face or an unhappy face
for a millisecond
Post that, they were asked to pour a drink
and pay for it

66
Results
The respondents who saw the happier
face poured more drink
This lot was also willing to pay almost
twice as much for that drink as compared
to the respondents who were shown sad
faces

67
Phenomenon of Unconscious Emotion
This was the result of a phenomenon called the
“unconscious emotion”
Unconscious emotion: The brain remembers
and recalls a brand or an image even before it
has consciously recognized it
Therefore, the brain decides that something is to
be bought even before the respondent has
consciously realized it

Chapter 5
Do You Believe in Magic? –
Ritual, Superstition, and Why We Buy
68

RITUALS AND SUPERSTITIONS are defined as
not entirely rational actions and the belief that
one can somehow manipulate the future by
engaging in certain behaviours, in spite of the
fact there’s no discernible causal relationship
between that behaviour and its outcome.
Rituals will force the consumer to buy the
product even if you don’t like that product
synonymous to the numerous superstitions we
hold on to in daily lives.
5. Do you believe in magic
69

70
5. Ritual, Superstition, and
Why We Buy
Rituals are persistent and embedded in our
culture
It is these rituals that helps people gain control
over their lives in this ever changing fast-paced
unsettling society
Rituals and Superstitions make people feel
certain and stable in times of ever changing
world

71
Why We Buy
For example, touching wood to ward off evil, not
walking under stairs or ladders
Rituals within the products gives people a sense
of illusion of comfort and belonging
Rituals and Superstitions make people feel
certain and stable in times of ever changing
world

Take the fear of the number thirteen, for
example. In early 2007, in response to countless
customer complaints, Brussels Airlines
reluctantly altered the thirteen dots in their
airline logo to fourteen.
If you want to sit in the thirteenth row on your
Air France, KLM, Iberia (or for that matter,
Continental) flight, you’re plain out of luck, as
there isn’t one.
72
5. Do you believe in Magic?

In Asian cultures, the unluckiest possible
number is four, since the Mandarin word for that
number is read as si, which comes perilously
close in sound to shi, which means “death.”
As a result, in hotels in China, and even in Asian-
owned hotels around the world, there are no
fourth or forty-fourth floors.
73

When Nestlé rolled out their candy in the Far
East, locals couldn’t help but notice how close
the words “Kit Kat” were to “Kitto-Katsu,” which
roughly translates to “win without fail.” In time,
students began to believe that eating a Kit Kat
before they took their exams would result in a
higher grade, which is a major reason the Kit Kat
brand is doing so well in Japan’s overcrowded
retail market.
74

3 aspects of rituals:
Preparing for battle; Feasting; Indulgence
Preparing for battle is preparing for the daily
chores of life.
Feasting is explained as having a family dinner
time
Indulgence means caring for self and doing
activities which boost your self confidence
75

All these rituals are meant for humans to have a
control in their lives
It makes them feel safe and at the same time
makes them believe that uncertainty has reduced
Brands have recognized this need for control
and rituals and used it to their advantage
76

77

78
Why We Buy
People have a loyalty towards their preferred
brand
This behavior towards products like shampoo,
biscuit or coffee is similar to their religious
affinity which encourages them to keep on
buying
Oreo cookies offers two ways of being eaten

79
Why We Buy
Nabisco that manufactures the Oreo cookies
partnered with the “Got Milk?” campaign
For people to associate a brand with a
nationwide ritual, this brings along with it a feel
of familiarity and unity, keeping sales going

Chapter 6
I Say a Little Prayer? –
Faith, Religion and Brands
80

81
6. Faith, Religion and Brands
A sense of unity exists amongst
consumers of the same brand – there is a
sense of belonging, camaraderie, loyalty
and the feeling of being on one side
Brands can be like religions with
their rituals

82
A brain Scan test was conducted
Respondents: 15 nuns
The experiment: The respondents were told to
relive their most deep and impactful religious
experience
Faith, Religion & Brands – The Experiment

83
The researchers monitored and mapped which
part of the brain was involved in the activity
Next, the respondents were told to relive an
emotional experience and the researchers again
monitored and mapped which part of the brain
was involved in the activity

84
Next, 65 male respondents were used to find out
whether the brain part associated with sports &
sportsmen was the same part that was involved
when referring to the religion
The experiment: The respondents rated their
spirituality levels on a scale of 1 to 10 and they
were then shown a series of images of strong
and weak brands interspersed with religious
and sports images

85
A different part of the brain is engaged when a
religious experience is imagined and when an
emotional experience with a person is imagines
The same part of the brain is involved when
images of ‘strong’ brands, sports images and
religious images were shown. Hence the brain
responds exactly the same for all the three
Faith, Religion & Brands – The Results

86
A different part of the brain is engaged when a
religious experience is imagined and when an
emotional experience with a person is imagines
The same part of the brain is involved when
images of ‘strong’ brands, sports images and
religious images were shown. Hence the brain
responds exactly the same for all the three

87
The brain activity seemed identical whether it
was referring to brands or religion
Many companies have also started creating
spiritual or religious products like the Spiritual
Water

88
6. Faith, Religion and Brands – An
Example
Unilever Shampoo printed
millions of labels saying
“Contains X9 Factor”
without realizing it
When the supplies ran out,
the label was printed
without the X9 factor
Result:
Thousands of consumer
complaints, sales
decreased, complaints
saying the shampoo no
longer works without
knowing what X9 was
about
Brands are similar to
religious icons –
McDonald’s or Nike’s logo –
They are universal and
induce associations within
minds of the consumers
with the companies these
logos represent

Symbols play an important role in helping
people finding solace or finding people with the
same religion . A cross, a dove are symbols of
religion which can be easily identified and make
a statement for a person who is wearing them.
6. I say a little prayer
89

Mystery is an important aspect of religion as
well. People tend to get attracted to mysterious
news and stories involving faith and religion.
Companies have used this behavioral trait to
their advantage.
90

Sense of belonging (Absolut, Harley davidson users)
Clear vision (“Solutions for a Small Planet” – IBM’s
mandate)
Power over enemies (Pepsi vs coke, visa vs mastercard)
Sensory appeal (Nokia ring tone)
Storytelling (Disney mickey mouse)
Grandeur ( Dubai’s Hotel Burj Al Arab)
Evangelism (Centurion black card in US)
Symbols (Nike Swoosh, McDonals golden arches)
Mystery (Coca cola’s secret formula)
Rituals (Apple’s discarding of Newton handheld
computers)
91

Brand following has been developed and
created on the similar lines in sports as well. We
can see the examples of brand following in
terms of European football clubs where they are
revered and followed as religion.
92

Chapter 7
Why did I Choose You?
The Power of Somatic Markers
93

7. Why did I Choose You?
Most consumers think about their choice for all of
2 seconds
It may have seemed that you made your decision
rationally, but it wasn’t so at all.
There are subconscious conversations that go on
in our head every time we choose one product
over another. These are rarely uttered aloud.
94

A Somatic Marker is a kind of
bookmark or shortcut in our
brains created due to past
experiences of reward and
punishment.
95

An experience makes an “impression”. These
markers connect an experience or emotion with a
specific required reaction
Somatic Markers instantaneously narrow down
the possibilities in a situation and direct us
towards the best or least painful outcome.
96

The real rationale behind your choices are built on
a lifetime of positive and negative associations,
that you aren’t consciously aware of.
Our brain summons and scans incredible
amounts of memories, facts, and emotions and
leads to rapid response  dictating what we buy.
50% of shopping decisions are made
spontaneously at point of sale
97

7. Why did I choose you?
Favorable somatic markers play a very important
role in deciding winning brands in low
involvement and low differentiation categories
98

Everyday we manufacture new Somatic Markers.
Without them, we wouldn’t be able to make any
decisions at all.
All the seemingly unrelated bookmarks create
certain associations that make you feel that your
decisions are rational, whereas they aren’t so at
all
99

Fear spreads faster than anything else.
However, not all somatic markers are
based on pain/ fear.
Some of the most effective ones can be
rooted in sensory experiences which can
be quite pleasant
10
0

For advertisers, its easy and inexpensive to
create a somatic marker in consumer’s brains
Somatic Markers are associations between two
incompatible elements, which make them far
more memorable and lasting
=> Advertisers aim to create surprising, shocking,
humorous and fear generating associations
between disparate things to catch our attention
10
1

Chapter 8
102
A Sense of Wonder
Selling to Our Senses

Our visual sense is NOT the most powerful in
getting us interested to buy
These days, we are more visually stimulated than
before and that makes it even harder to capture
our attention through images
=> Visual advertising did not result in higher
sales. Sight isn’t as powerful as we assumed and
sound & smell are more effective than before
103
8. A Sense of Wonder

SENSORY BRANDING:
Visual images are far more effective & memorable
when they are coupled with another sense – like
sound or smell
To fully engage us emotionally, companies should
use logos, fragrances and music.
104

Our senses are very important in interpreting the
world around us and have a deep impact on our
behavior
When a pleasant fragrance is matched by an
appealing visual image, we perceive it as more
pleasant and memorable. But if image &
fragrance are incongruent, the effect is equally
negative
Odour activates the same regions of the brain as
the sight of a product
105

8. Selling to our senses
Restaurants pump specially crafted aromatic
chemicals into there air vents to induce
favorable reaction from consumers
106

8. Selling to our senses
IFF is the world’s largest flavor company and
supplies flavors to the world’s best know fast
food chains
These flavors make the otherwise bland
processed food an extremely enticing affair
107

Of all our senses, smell is the most primal and
deeply rooted and closely tied to how we
experience brands and products.
The feel of a product also plays an important role
on whether we decide to buy it
Colours can also be very powerful in generating
emotional connect to a brand. Colours can
increase brand recognition by up to 80%.
Coloured ads hold consumer’s attention much
more than black & white ones
108

Sight is not very powerful in getting us to buy as
we once believed, however much of what we
perceive everyday is related to our sight
Sounds can also trigger strong association &
emotions and have a powerful impact on our
behaviour
109

Sounds & images when presented together are
much more favourably and left an impression
than when either of them was presented alone =>
lead to greater preference & stronger recall of the
brand
110

SENSORY SUCCESS
SHAPE: Consumers associate shape of packaging
with the product
SOUND: Unique noises associated with products
enhance their brand appeal & recognition
COMBINATION: Improved recall and perception
when a sound & image are paired versus being
used alone
111

SMELL: Plays a very important role due to mirror
neurons. Prime role in brand experience &
perception
TOUCH: Tactile sensation is an important factor.
Research suggests heavier items are perceived to
be of higher quality
112

The road to emotions runs through our sensory
experiences and emotions is one of the most
powerful forces in driving purchase behavior
An effective retail world will therefore involve
vivid colors, tunes and melodies that make u
sing, and distinct memorable fragrances. This
will win customers attention and loyalty
113

Chapter 9
114
And the Answer is…
Neuromarketing and Predicting the Future

80% of all the new product launches fail in the
first 3 months
Companies are bad at predicting how consumers
will respond to their products.
This is because how people “say” they feel about
a product can never truly predict their behaviour
9. And the Answer is…
115

Market research is highly unreliable and can at
times seriously mislead a company or lead to an
unsuccessful product development
NEUROMARKETING:
=>Can help companies create products that
consumers actually like
=>Can reliably and scientifically predict the
success or failure of a product or a brand
(research suggests)
116

Research studies have shown that questionnaire
based responses did not reflect the success or
failure status of a program as it actually
happened in reality
=> How we say we feel and how we actually
behave rarely match up
=>Brains’ responses (based on SST Scans) were
consistent with actual results
117

Can Neuromarketing help the
companies create products that
the consumers actually like?
Can it reliably, scientifically
predict the failure of a brand or
product?
Problems
Addressed
Majority of the companies are woefully bad at
predicting how we as consumers will respond
to their products
That is also because how we say we feel about
a product can never truly predict how we behave,
market research is largely unreliable.
118

200 volunteers were shown 3
different shows : a proven
success, a proven failure and
the show whose success of
failure had to be predicted i.e.
QUIZMANIA
Methodology
Quizmania was already a success in U.K and was going to be
launched in U.S
The other two shows : The Swan ( a proven failure) and How
Clean is your House? ( a proven success) had already been
broadcasted in U.S
Volunteers were first asked questions about the shows : Did
they like or dislike them? And then SST scans were performed on
them
119

The SST scan showed that although the
subjects rated the unaired pilot program
Quizmania as the show they were least likely
to watch, viewers’ brains were actually more
engaged when watching Quizmania than when
watching The Swan, a show they had claimed
to have liked.
Results
Proving, once again, that what people say and how
they really feel are often polar opposites
The SST scans predicted the show’s (Quizmania)
performance accurately and it was indeed more
successful than The Swan but less than How Clean is
Your House?
120

Soon more and more
companies would be trading
their pencils for SST caps.
Neuromarketing will become
the primary tool that the
companies will use for
predicting the success or
failure of their products to be
launched.
Applications
121

Hundreds of millions of dollars can be saved if
companies could predict beforehand that their
launches would be failures
Traditional market research tools will gradually
take a smaller role and neuromarketing will
become the primary tool for companies
As neuromarketing becomes more popular, it will
become cheaper and easily available
122

Chapter 10
123
Let’s Spend the Night Together
Sex in Advertising

Roughly 1/5th of all the ads use sex overtly to sell
its products
Sex in ads is everywhere: TV Commercials,
Magazines, Retail Spaces and on the Internet, bill
boards, etc.
10. Let’s Spend the Night Together
124

Research Studies carried out show that people
shown sexually suggestive ads were no better
able to recall the brands and products as
compared to those shown other unerotic ads.
=> Sex does not sell anything other than itself
=> Sexual stimuli interfere with effectiveness of
ads
=> Sexually suggestive material blinds audiences
to other information in the ad, including the name
of the product itself
125

VAMPIRE EFFECT:
Titillating content (such as sexually suggestive)
was sucking attention from what the ad was
actually trying to convey
However, it is the attention that is more effective
than suggestive content itself  controversial
ads can be more intensely effective than sexually
suggestive ads.
126

Extreme beauty or celebrity can also take our
attention away from crucial information in an ad 
Celebrities overshadow the message of an ad
Women are turned off by extremely attractive
models
The more provocative a model’s expression, the
more disinterested or bored the women is in
buying a product.
Twice as many people are willing to buy products
that portrayed love in their ads than those that
showed sex
127

Consumers are far more likely to identify with and
purchase products that look more like them
Consumer generated advertising is the trend
these days – ads that allow everyday people to
participate in the campaigns
We can connect and identify with the brand more
easily. Average looking people seem more
welcoming and inviting us to the brand
128

People respond to real or ordinary looking models
more due to their desire for AUTHENTICITY
Consumers believe in what such models are
saying, unlike ‘stories’ narrated by supermodels,
where they intrinsically feel whatever being told
about the product is ‘phony’
In a more user-generated world, marketers can
sell more by using charismatic yet ordinary
people with real stories
129

Why is Sex and Beauty so prevalent in ads?
MIRROR NEURONS: Looking at the idealised
bodies gives them an impression that using the
product will make them feel as confident about
their body as projected in the ads.
However, future predictions suggest that sex in
ads will go down and will no longer serve the
purpose of catching ones attention as well. It will
be the activity in one’s brain that can help
determine and predict buying behaviour
130

Chapter 11
131
Conclusion
Brand New Day

11. Conclusion
The book is a meeting between science and
marketing & sheds light on how and why people
buy.
It tells us the impact on our hidden preferences
unconscious desires, irrational dreams &
opinions through neuroimaging
90% of the buying behavior is unconscious &
most marketing & branding strategies are a
guessing game
132

Examples of
companies leveraging
Neuromarketing
11. Conclusion
133

Studies reveal that expensive products
presented before the consumer leads to a flurry
of activity in the brain  perception of
pleasantness
11. Conclusion
134

Human beings are poor reporters of their own
actions
Brain scans have revealed information on why
products were not working
Traditional Research methods only get a
minuscule part of the brain processes that
underlie decision making
135
11. Conclusion

Most buying decisions are unconscious. Our
brain makes the decision & we are hardly aware
of it
Fear based advertising can be most persuasive &
memorable as it plays on our insecurities about
ourselves
Our brains are hardwired to bestow upon brands
a religious importance and as a result people
show brand loyalties
136
11. Conclusion

Branded things are perceived much more valuable
& special than they actually are.
NEUROMARKETING will help us predict the
directions and trends that will alter the face of
commercials in future
It will help consumers understand what drives &
motivates them & help them avoid becoming the
slaves of their subconscious mind on which the
marketers play.
137
11. Conclusion

When things are branded our brain perceives
them as more special and valuable
11. Conclusion
138
The prices of the Seki
Saba fish in Japan
skyrocketed when it was
given a brand by the Govt

When things are branded our brain perceives
them as more special and valuable
11. Conclusion
139

Biggest Lesson
Traditional research of asking consumers for
reasons why he/ she bought a product will only
reveal a minute part of the information.
Neuromarketing explains much more.
11. Conclusion
140

141
References
•http://flowchainsensei.wordpress.com/2012/04/06/emotioneering-at-the-bcs/
•http://www.reema-k.com/buyology-martin-lidstorm/
•http://aydenmcdonald.wordpress.com/2013/02/26/calvin-klein-perfume-eternity/
•http://marketingsciences.co.in/blog/2010/05/six-senses-to-get-and-stay-
connected-in-social-media/
•http://www.familieseatingbetter.com/2011/09/12/getting-healthy-in-the-age-of-
nutrition-confusion/
•http://www.angelamontoya.com/el-neuromarketing-en-multinivel/
•http://www.square2marketing.com/blog/bid/147321/Neuromarketing-Out-Of-The-
Box-But-In-Line-With-Inbound
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Lindstrom
•http://brainbrilliance.org/
•http://pulpbits.com/5-brains-synapse-neurons-wallpaper/brain-synapse-
wallpaper/
•http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/ustv/s91/american-idol/news/a531085/mariah-carey-
on-judging-american-idol-it-was-like-working-in-hell.html
•http://www.ibtimes.com/ford-motor-companys-google-jump-start-approved-brand-
pages-coming-soon-300123
•http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/govt-may-ease-retail-fdi-norms-to-woo-
retailers/articleshow/20859259.cms

14
2
Prepared By: Prof. Sameer Mathur, Ph.D.
Sameer Mathur
Indian Institute of Management,
Lucknow
Marketing Professor 2013 –
Marketing Professor 2009 – 2013
Ph.D. and M.S. (Marketing) 2003 – 2009

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