Let’s talk for a moment about the human brain and its main systems.

Why?

That’s where it’s all happening – the marketing, the persuading and finally the decision to buy. The more we understand the brain, the more successful we will be in persuading people to buy.

My hope is that this introductory article will convince you that differences in marketing success between brands are not accidental. They come from different levels of understanding customers’ needs and motivations. In other words –understanding the human brain.

I won’t go into details of neuropsychology, because  first –  it’s quite complicated, therefore not interesting for most people – and second – you don’t need deep understanding of brain anatomy to use its implications for marketing purposes. The model presented below is one of the most popular human brain models in psychology, but it is also a simplification. The human brain is a very complex structure and we are just starting to understand how it works, therefore there is no single model explaining the whole range of human behaviors. This model, however, comes closest to achieving this goal. It is also very practical for usage in marketing, user experience and web design.

ABOUT THE MODEL

Our brain comprises multiple systems – developed in different stages of human evolution. Each of these systems specialized in performing tasks crucial for survival at the time they were formed. How did evolution ensure the creation of these systems? Simple –  individuals that developed them survived and reproduced. The rest didn’t.

THE SYSTEMS ARE CALLED

1. PRIMAL BRAIN

2. EMOTIONAL BRAIN

3. RATIONAL BRAIN

Together they provide a framework for understanding how we think, feel and make decisions in everyday life. They explain why we like songs that we already know, why we freeze on the street when unexpected car approaches and also why we choose one product over another in a supermarket or an e-commerce website.

If you want to persuade someone to do something you need to address more than just one of those systems. Also, the systems were not created equal – they differ in importance for persuading success. A common mistake made by marketers is addressing just one of them (also in most cases –  the wrong one).

Let’s dive into the cerebrum…

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1. PRIMAL BRAIN

Often referred to as “reptilian” as it is common to all animals.

Comprises the brainstem.

Responsible for basic vital functions, such as breathing, digestion, heart rate, and involved in regulating arousal and alertness levels.

Responsible for imminent reaction to dangers in our environment to ensure survival. Such as freeze-flight-fight response  (casually called “fight or flight“). These kinds of reactions were crucial during previous stages of our evolution. In dangers of the modern world, they may seem inadequate, but they are automatic and unstoppable. Understanding why people react violently to some kinds of situations and how to calm these reactions may be a very useful skill in marketing.

HOW TO PERSUADE YOUR CUSTOMER’S PRIMAL BRAIN TO BUY FROM YOU:

• Make sure your product seems familiar to your customers.  For the primal brain familiar means safe, therefore no negative reaction is triggered. The art here is to balance familiar with new. Novelty is attractive for the neocortex but feels unsafe for primal parts of the brain. Best practice is to show something new and exciting in a familiar environment.
• Use sex cues. The brainstem responds to opportunities for sex. Most adverts use pictures of young attractive people because they successfully grab people’s attention.  We are drawn to them by primal parts of our brain whether we realize it or not.
• Use food images, even if you are not a restaurant. This may seem odd, but tasty looking images of food attract attention as well as sex cues. Like all animals, we are hardwired to look for food in our environment because it is necessary for our survival. Including food in your marketing materials is obviously not always possible, but probably easier than you think. Try thinking outside the box – for example if you are selling some kind of social tool you can show photos of  friends hanging out, laughing, and eating some tasty snack.
• Use pretty images to present your products, rather than lots of text. Images trigger instant reaction and are a primary way we perceive our surroundings.
• Showcase contrasts such as before/after. The greater the difference the stronger the reaction of primal parts of the brain.
• Use call-to-action terminology such as “limited stock” and “final reductions“. Because of our full-of-hunger evolutionary past we can not stand missed opportunities.

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2. EMOTIONAL BRAIN

Comprises the limbic system – a veryancient and automatic area of the brain.

Includes amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus and hippocampus.

This part of the brain is responsible for registering relevant stimuli in our environment and reacting to it with primitive emotional responses – such as positive or negative affect.

It responds to threats and opportunities, for instance, food when hungry. It also plays a role in value judgments – deciphering facial expressions to decide whom to trust (amygdala).

Processes emotions such as happiness, sadness and disgust (thalamus).

Controls feelings of pleasure, aggression, and sexual behavioral responses (hypothalamus + pituitary gland).

Manages visceral functions and body temperature (hypothalamus + pituitary glad).

Releases dopamine (the neurochemical associated with pleasure, reward, risk-taking and motivation). It relays a message about pleasure to other parts of the limbic system (within midbrain – ventral tegmental area).

So-called “emotional” part of the brain plays a significant role in judgment and trust, therefore, it’s crucial for persuasion. Studies show that it is responsible for many of our purchasing decisions, especially for impulse buying.

Much of the processing that happens in this area occurs beneath our conscious awareness – which means it’s not influenced by rational arguments. Rather by our primitive and social instincts.

HOW TO PERSUADE YOUR CUSTOMER’S EMOTIONAL BRAIN TO BUY FROM YOU:

• Show images of positive emotions such as happiness and excitement. This will both associate your product with well-being, and put your customers in a better mood (this alone increases readiness to buy). But only if this state corresponds with selling your product.
• Otherwise, use photos and videos conveying the emotional state you want your customers to be in. For example, charities want their website visitors to feel guilty at the beginning and happy and proud after they contribute. They often use images of sad and hungry-looking children, knowing how they make people feel (we are hardwired to empathize). Then they show a way out of this unwanted emotional state – contribute and feel better. Easy and very effective.
• Promote your product by showing emotional faces as often as possible. Don’t focus on a product but on its user. The human face is one of the most compelling visual stimuli for our brains. Use it to attract attention.
• Tell a story. Stories are a primal way of communication for people. Our ancestors used to sit around a fire and tell each other exciting stories about the world. This was a useful method of sharing important knowledge between herd members. Stories improve memorizing and make us emotionally engaged. Create a story for your brand.
• Watch out for colors. Colors have the power to cause various emotions (on the subconscious level). Use them with caution. Soon I will write a whole post about the psychology of colors.

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3. RATIONAL BRAIN

Comprises the neocortex.

Responsible for higher cognitive functions, such as  long-term planning, organizing and problem solving.

Enables abstract thinking, imagination, consciousness and communication with sophisticated verbal language (the features distinguishing us from other animals).

Draws inputs from almost all other regions of the brain, integrating it. This enables us to plan ahead and delay gratification in order to achieve long-term goals.

Processes underlaying social learning are located in this part of the brain.

HOW TO PERSUADE YOUR CUSTOMER’S RATIONAL BRAIN TO BUY FROM YOU:

Use authority figures to endorse products.

• Verify claims using third-party sites.
• Provide a good rationale for making the purchase. Humans like to think of themselves as rational. This makes us feel in control of our lives. But the truth is that we make decisions based on our “gut” and AFTER that we justify them with a bit of post-rationalization. We are much more emotional creatures than rational ones. I will write more about that in the next post, but for now try to remember that nice logical rationale makes people feel good about making a purchase and eases the pain of spending money.
• Use secure badges to emphasize trust. Trust is crucial for online transactions. Show popular secure badges to present your website as trustworthy.
• Use social proof. People are social animals – information that others trusted you is a very strong indicator of legitimacy. Show faces of happy customers, present impressive numbers of loyal partners (only if they’re true), add testimonials. If you already made so many people happy there is no reason why you would fail this time, right?
• Put items on sale. Purchase of a discounted product can easily be rationalized as a good deal. People present discounts to themselves as money saved that would be spent in the future, if not for the discount. From brain imaging experiments, we know that from the brain perspective the money we save looks very similar to the money we earn.

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

This model provides a framework for understanding how we think and make decisions in everyday life.

The human brain comprises 3 main systems – developed in different stages of human evolution. If you want to persuade someone to do something you should address more than just one of them.

The systems differ in significance for persuasion in consumer reality.