The book is a representation of findings emanating from large scientific studies that explores the mind of a consumer when exposed to several marketing stimuli. According to the author, the main aim of writing the book was to delve into the mind of the consumer and try to understand different buying patterns and the associated drivers. Therefore, the book is useful for both private and public companies who are seeking to understand buying preferences and coin their products appropriately.
Review of the book
One of the main questions that arise in the book is the choice of one brand over the other. The author approached the question by exploring the future of advertising which is examined through a new confluence related to technology, marketing, and medical knowledge. The author has the ability to scan the brain and observe its activities when paced under different stimulations.
The audience of the book includes consumers, marketers and other medical practitioners who are interested in the subject of neuroscience. Consumers read the book in order to gain more understanding about themselves and the reasons why they buy certain products. From a scientific perspective, the performance of market research is done with the aim of incorporating technology in understanding the working of the brain when exposed to different stimuli. According to the author, the results as he published in the 12 chapters of the book go against recent market research. In all the investigations listed, the author goes ahead to explain the implications and conclusions with the aim of capturing a larger audience.
The book can be termed as a neuromarketing study that involved multiple experiments. The cost of conducting the study has been pegged at 7 million dollars due to the involvement of thousands of subjects as gathered from across the world (Seeken, n.p). The subjects involved in the study include 200 researchers, 10 professors as well as doctors and the Central Ethics Committee of the United Kingdom. The host of the study was the Centre for Neuroimaging Sciences in London with funds coming from Great Britain and Australia. Hence, the study was a debut on the problems that consumers face, extending to the companies and marketers. Investigations tried to answer the power bestowed on brand logos, if product placement works, effects of health warnings on consumers and if subliminal advertising is effective.
Experiments and themes covered by the author
Right from chapter one, the author starts by asserting on the unreliable and misleading nature of market research. In this chapter, Lindstrom asserts that the words spoken about different products are necessarily not a true reflection when translated into behavior (Lindström, 3). Therefore, the main conclusion emanating from the onset of the book is the misleading nature of the mind.
In an experiment, 32 smokers from various geographical regions in the world undertake the experiment that makes use of functional magnetic resonance imaging. Through brain scanning, the experiment shows that there is a craving spot activated in the brain when images of warnings displayed on cigarettes are shown. The activation is observed in smokers despite all of them agreeing to the knowledge of awareness that cigarettes affect their health. Apparently, the warning has zero effect on driving smokers away from their habit. The conclusion from the experiment according to the author is that feelings and thoughts are not mirrored by the brain. The bottom line is that the millions spend in antismoking campaigns are rather assisting the tobacco industry to sell more. Every minute, 10 million cigarettes are sold across the world.
The next chapter focuses on product placement that works when intertwined in other television programs. The experiment in this chapter shows that advertisements aired on television are growing to be uninspiring, monotonous and boring in nature. Year after year, the percentage of advertisements that consumers can remember is dropping with 2007 down to 2.21 percent (Seeken, n.p). The memory placement is a result of oversaturation of advertisements in the brain which leads the brain to block them. However, when intertwined with favorite shows such as American Idol as in the experiments, the consumers are able to remember some of the advertisements on a more vivid level.
Despite chapter three’s experiments showing that subliminal messaging working, chapter four’s experiment showed that logos do not have a place in advertising anymore. The subliminal experiment involved the elderly people, some given positive words while others offered negative words. The words were flushing on the screen and once done, the elders were asked to stand with one foot off the ground. Those given positive words showed had a longer swing time as compared to the rest, suggesting that positive gaits have a positive effect on the environment.
On the other hand, the book found a close relationship between religion and product brands. The literature alludes to unity between the same brand consumers and a sense of companionship which is significant in loyalty. Chapter seven found out that the senses of smell that stimulate the brain act in equal measure. For example, visual advertising has the same effect that sight and smell have on the brain. The experiment done in this chapter involved scanning the brain in relation to the picture of four different categories, accompanied by a signature sound related to the four chosen products. For instance, a picture of a Nokia phone and the Nokia ringtone. There was a unified response on the image and sound for the experiment which forces the conclusion that recalling what is seen and hear is improved when the two stimuli go together.
According to the author, 80 percent of the products launched fail (Seeken, n.p). Therefore, a solution to product failure is neuromarketing that determines the level of success of a product before launching. This conclusion was arrived at through an experiment that involved watching two of the successful shows and a show that failed. At the end of the experiment, the participants filled a questionnaire on the possibility of watching more episodes of the shows watched. The results, after thorough analysis showed consistency in the real world where the failed shows scored lowly as compared to the other shows.
When looking into the effect of adding sexual connotations in advertisements, the author in chapter nine observed that the people who watched programs and advertisements having sexual connotations could not remember what they saw. As a conclusion, the chapter ends by noting that sexual implications in the advertisements took away the attention from the real product being sold. Additional investigations revealed that women do not favor adverts that have very beautiful women due to the insecurities that arising making them feeling threatened.
The last chapter asserts that a majority of the buying decisions are unconscious with 10 percent of the rational brain involved in decision making. The introduction of products to the market can be assured of success when brain scans are sued prior to launch. However, the process is expensive, tedious and time consuming to a majority of the businesses looking to start small.
Impressions and conclusions
From a personal standpoint, after reading the book it still remains unclear whether the book is offering secrets of marketing to the consumers or it is another experiment all along and using the readers as guinea pigs. The main question that is arising after reading the book is around the possibility of getting around all the marketing avenues explored to influence the human mind and live a happy life by just buying what we need. The book also triggers thoughts on more experiments to understand the ideas projected or any criticisms of the message.
Just by having the knowledge from the book is half the battle. The other part of the battle involves getting a mechanism of living in a manner that consumers will not be subjugated to the advertisements extending from the television to social media. Further, our senses do not spare the temptations and act as stimuli to buy. For example, just by walking past a restaurant, mall or shopping center, the smell of fresh food is a stimulus to buy. The sight of billboard advertisements and posters are stimuli to buy. The effect of stimuli further tortures us in our dreams and subconscious, even by hearing a phone ring.
Since the world of advertising is not going away any time soon, the book offers educative lessons on how to live in a world where as consumers we will be faced with advertising onslaughts from every angle. Hence, it is important to understand what attracts as compared to what repels from different products, as well as what can be termed as irritating. The book offers liberation to consumers by understanding the way our subconscious works and how to manage efforts by marketers and companies who are after controlling it.
The book, therefore, offers a warning to watch out for the effects of eye-catching advertisements. Before a consumer rushes out to acquire that new vanilla-scented cream or any other product with mysterious ingredients, it is important to engage a rational mind. A rational mind will assess the side effects of buying such products and using them on the skin or any other body part. The book offers consumers an oversight of what to look for in escaping the traps and tricks of seduction used by companies to get us into buying their products.
