For quite some time I’ve been growing increasingly uncomfortable about a particular trend in marketing… the “science” of neuromarketing. Neuromarketing entails the use of a functional magnetic resonance imaging machine to scan a consumer’s brain, recording responses to certain stimuli. Based on the results, marketers then draw conclusions about how to sell to customers more effectively.
The recent book, Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy by Martin Lindstrom serves as a harsh reminder that this marketing trend is not only NOT fading, it’s accumulating momentum. But, what do these studies say about the way we relate to customers? When we reduce customers to nothing more than a series of stimuli and responses, what does it say about the nature of our relationships?
Doesn’t this approach basically treat the customer as an emotional ATM? As in, “If you want to influence a customer, you just need to know which button to push.” Show the customer a picture of a lush, green field and she will buy product X; expose her to images of nasty gang members and she will buy product Y out of fear. All we need to do is to decipher her emotional passcode and she’s all ours. Isn’t this disgraceful?
Instead of messing with the customer’s brain, focus on her heart: Develop an appealing and financially justifiable experience that she’s willing to stand in line for. Customers are smarter and more empowered than ever before. It’s time to stop insulting them. Treat them as honest partners in a reciprocal relationship. Treat them as individuals, not as machines, and appeal to their ability to make decisions. If you want them to make the right decisions, give them the right reasons.
Taken from “Neuromarketing Isn’t Marketing” in Customer Relationship Management Magazine, January 2009 issue
About Wendi McGowan
It’s not insulting to use sensory cues when marketing IMHO. It’s just one part of the relationship.
Wouldn’t you tell someone to bake some cinnamon rolls before showing their house? Or, if you know people have a predisposition to walk around a store in a counter-clockwise direction, that you would set up your shelves to accommodate that information? Or, you open a new Hooters next to frat row versus the community church. ; D
Marketing is always trying to crack open human behavior to determine the best message / vehicle to sell their goods. A lot of it on it’s own is impersonal, however, the sum of the parts helps us get to know our customer better and deliver what they want. Hopefully in an honest way.
jb