Brainfluence.pdf

Neuromarketing

2. Contents
Preface: Why
Brainfluence?
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Chapter 1: Sell to 95 Per-
cent of Your Customer’s
Brain
Brainfluence Takeaway: Stop
Selling to 5 Percent of Your
Customer’s Brain

3. Section One: Price and
Product Brainfluence
Chapter 2: The “Ouch!” of
Paying
Bundling Minimizes Pain
Fairness Counts
Credit as Painkiller
Brainfluence Takeaway: Min-
imum Pain, Maximum Sales
Chapter 3: Don’t Sell Like
a Sushi Chef
Paying for Pain Avoidance
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Avoid Multiple Pain Points
3/743

4. Chapter 4: Picturing
Money
No Money in Sight
Restaurant Lessons
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Money Cues Wisely
Chapter 5: Anchors
Aweigh!
Gasoline: Drifting Anchor
Real Estate Prices
Less Familiar Products
Irrational Anchors
Presetting an Anchor
4/743

5. Brainfluence Takeaway: Be
Careful Where You Drop Your
Anchor!
Chapter 6: Wine, Prices,
and Expectations
Brainfluence Takeaway: Be
Careful With Discounts
Chapter 7: Be Precise With
Prices
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Precise Pricing
Chapter 8: Decoy Products
and Pricing
How Decoys Work
5/743

6. Decoys in Real Estate
Brain Scan Evidence
Brainfluence Takeaway: Try a
“Not-So-Good” Decoy to Push
Your Top Product
Chapter 9: How About a
Compromise?
Brainfluence Takeaway: Add
a High-End Product
Chapter 10: Cut Choices;
Boost Sales
Choice Fatigue
Brainfluence Takeaway: Find
Your Choice Sweet Spot
6/743

7. Section Two: Sensory
Brainfluence
Chapter 11: Use All the
Senses
Brand Fragments
Brainfluence Takeaway: Ap-
peal to All Five Senses
Chapter 12: Does Your
Marketing Smell?
More Scent Effects
Bad Smells
Brainfluence Takeaway: Own
Your Smell
Summary: Think Smell
7/743

8. Chapter 13: Learn From
Coffee
Nespresso’s Dilemma
Brainfluence Takeaway: Give
Your Product a Sensory
Tweak
Chapter 14: Sounds Like
Changed Behavior
Brainfluence Takeaway: Find
Background Music That
Works!
Chapter 15: The Sound of
Your Brand
8/743

9. The Musical Logo
Beyond Music
Brainfluence Takeaway: Find
and Keep Your Key Audio
Branding Elements
Chapter 16: Exploit the
Brut Effect
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Scent to Be Memorable
Chapter 17: Smelly but
Memorable
Tagline Recall Enhanced
Purchase Triggers
9/743

10. Brainfluence Takeaway:
Unique Scents Boost
Memorability
Chapter 18: Learn From
Yogurt
Brainfluence Takeaway: Im-
portant Product Characterist-
ics May Not Be Obvious
Section Three: Brain-
fluence Branding
Chapter 19: Neurons That
Fire Together . . .
The Monkey’s Paw
10/743

11. Anything for a Smoke
I Like It, but Why?
Pavlovian Branding
Brainfluence Takeaway: Keep
Your Brand Associations
Consistent
Chapter 20: Who Needs
Attention?
Low Attention, No Attention
“Ignored” TV Commercials
Fast-Forward Branding
Branding Without Seeing
Familiarity Breeds Likeability
(in Milliseconds!)
11/743

12. Brainfluence Takeaway: “No
Attention” Doesn’t Mean “No
Results”
Chapter 21: Passion for
Hire
Tech Passion
Brainfluence Takeaway: Feel
the Passion
Chapter 22: Create an
Enemy
The Tajfel Experiment
Us Versus Them
Compare People, Not Products
Our Customers Are Different/
Better
12/743

13. The Etsy Approach
Godin and Tribes
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Make Your Customers Feel
Like Members of a Group
Section Four: Brainflu-
ence in Print
Chapter 23: Use Paper for
Emotion
A Cautionary Note
Optimizing Paper-Based
Marketing
Digital Lesson
13/743

14. Brainfluence Takeaway:
Paper Means Emotion
Chapter 24: Vivid Print
Images Change Memory
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Vivid Images in Print
Chapter 25: Paper Out-
weighs Digital
Weighty Words
Brainfluence Takeaway: Bulk
Up for Impact
Chapter 26: Use Simple
Fonts
14/743

15. Brainfluence Takeaway:
Simple Fonts Spur Action
Chapter 27: When to Get
Complicated
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Complex Fonts and Big Words
to Enhance Your Product
Chapter 28: Memorable
Complexity
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Boost Recall With Complex
Fonts
15/743

16. Section Five: Picture
Brainfluence
Chapter 29: Just Add
Babies!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Baby
Pictures Draw the Eye
Chapter 30: Focus, Baby!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
the Baby’s Gaze to Direct
Attention
Chapter 31: Pretty Woman
Brainfluence Takeaway: Test
People Photos
16/743

17. Chapter 32: Itsy, Bitsy,
Teeny, Weeny . . .
More Arousal, Worse
Decisions
Bigger Is Better, and It’s Not
What You Are Thinking!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Sexy
Women Affect Male Decisions
Chapter 33: Photos In-
crease Empathy
Brainfluence Takeaway: In-
clude a Photo If Empathy Will
Help Your Cause
17/743

18. Section Six: Loyalty
and Trust Brainfluence
Chapter 34: Build Loyalty
Like George Bailey
Instant Loyalty, Just Add
Imagination
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Counterfactual Scenarios to
Boost Loyalty
Chapter 35: Reward
Loyalty
Loyalty Point Power
Brainfluence Takeaway: Offer
Loyalty Rewards
18/743

19. Chapter 36: Loyalty, Rats,
and Your Customers
Brainfluence Takeaway: Give
a Head Start
Chapter 37: Time Builds
Trust and Loyalty
Brainfluence Takeaway: Qu-
ality Contact Time Counts
Chapter 38: Ten Words
That Build Trust
Brainfluence Takeaway: Tell
’em to Trust You
19/743

20. Chapter 39: Trust Your
Customer
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Show Trust to Get Trust
Section Seven: Brain-
fluence in Person
Chapter 40: It Pays to
Schmooze
Brainfluence Takeaway: Sch-
mooze First; Bargain Later
Chapter 41: Shake Hands
Like a Pro
20/743

21. How About a Nice Massage?
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Touch Is Important
Chapter 42: Right Ear
Selling
Brainfluence Takeaway: Fa-
vor Your Prospect’s Right Ear
Chapter 43: Smile!
The Price of a Smile
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Smiles, Even Smiling Images,
Help Sales
Chapter 44: Confidence
Sells
21/743

22. Confidence Man: Jim Cramer
Natural Mind Readers
Brainfluence Takeaway: De-
monstrate Confidence
Chapter 45: Small Favors,
Big Results
Got the Time, Buddy?
Signs of Success
Foot in the Door
Brainfluence Takeaway: Ask
for a Small Favor First
Chapter 46: Hire Articu-
late Salespeople
22/743

23. Brainfluence Takeaway: Hire
Articulate People
Chapter 47: You’re the
Best!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Ethical Flattery
Chapter 48: Coffee,
Anyone?
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Serve Hot Beverages
Chapter 49: Candy Is
Dandy
Brainfluence Takeaway: Try
the Truffle Strategy
23/743

24. Chapter 50: Selling Secrets
of Magicians
1. People Focus on Only One
Thing
2. Motion Attracts Our
Attention
3. Big Motions Beat Little
Motions
4. The Unexpected Attracts Us
5. Mirror Neurons Engage Us
6. Cut the Chatter
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Learn From Magicians
Chapter 51: Soften Up
Your Prospects
24/743

25. Brainfluence Takeaway:
Soften Up Your Prospects
Section Eight: Brain-
fluence for a Cause
Chapter 52: Mirror, Mir-
ror on the Wall
Brainfluence Takeaway: Let
Donors See Themselves
Chapter 53: Get Closer to
Heaven
Lifting Generosity
Elevating Cooperation
Practical Implications
25/743

26. Business Applications
Brainfluence Takeaway: Con-
trol Altitude, Change Attitude
Chapter 54: Child Labor
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Babies to Boost Altruism
Chapter 55: Give Big, Get
Bigger
Nonprofit Reciprocity
Strategy
Business Reciprocity
Brainfluence Takeaway: Gift
Your Prospects
26/743

27. Chapter 56: Make It
Personal
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Make It Personal
Chapter 57: Lose the
Briefcase!
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Avoid Business and Financial
Cues
Chapter 58: Ask Big!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Start
With a Big Number
27/743

28. Section Nine: Brainflu-
ence Copywriting
Chapter 59: Surprise the
Brain
Brainfluence Takeaway: Sur-
prise the Audience
Chapter 60: Use a Simple
Slogan
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use a
Simple Savings Slogan
Chapter 61: Write Like
Shakespeare
28/743

29. Brainfluence Takeaway:
“Misuse” a Word
Chapter 62: A Muffin by
Any Other Name . . .
Beyond Food
Brainfluence Takeaway: Re-
name Your Category
Chapter 63: Why Per-
centages Don’t Add Up
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Real Numbers for Impact
Chapter 64: Magic Word
#1: FREE!
29/743

30. Free Kisses Beat Bargain
Truffles
Amazon’s Experience With
FREE!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Tap
Into the Power of FREE!
Chapter 65: Magic Word
#2: NEW!
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Make It NEW!
Chapter 66: Adjectives
That Work
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Season Your Copy With Vivid
Adjectives
30/743

31. Chapter 67: Your Brain on
Stories
Why Stories Engage Our
Brain
The Mind-Meld Effect
Advertising Stories
Brainfluence Takeaway: Tell
a Vivid Story
Chapter 68: Use Story
Testimonials
Brainfluence Takeaway: Go
Beyond Short Testimonials
31/743

32. Chapter 69: When Words
Are Worth a Thousand
Pictures
Brainfluence Takeaway: Text
Beats Richer Media When It
Tells a Story
Chapter 70: The Million-
Dollar Pickle
Brainfluence Takeaway: Don’t
Create Negative Stories
Section Ten: Con-
sumer Brainfluence
32/743

33. Chapter 71: Simple Mar-
keting for Complex
Products
Brainfluence Takeaway: Give
Buyers a Simple Reason to
Buy Your Complex Product
Chapter 72: Sell to the In-
ner Infovore
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Show ’Em Something New
Chapter 73: Want Versus
Should: Time Your Pitch
Timing Is Critical
33/743

34. Brainfluence Takeaway: Time
Your Pitch to Wants and
Shoulds
Chapter 74: Sell to
Tightwads
Brainfluence Takeaway: Min-
imize the Pain for Tightwads
(and Everyone Else)
Chapter 75: Sell to
Spendthrifts
Brainfluence Takeaway: Push
the Free-Spending Hot
Buttons
34/743

35. Chapter 76: Take a Chance
on a Contest
Golf Lessons
Pepsi’s Billion Dollars
Brainfluence Takeaway: Keep
Your Eye on the Prize
Chapter 77: Unconvention-
al Personalization
Brainfluence Takeaway: Try
Going Beyond Simple
Personalization
Chapter 78: Expect More,
and Get It!
Expectation Becomes Reality
35/743

36. A New Role for Marketing
From Wine to Software
Brainfluence Takeaway: Set
High but Achievable
Expectations
Chapter 79: Surprise Your
Customers!
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Create Positive Feelings With
a Small Surprise
Section Eleven:
Gender Brainfluence
36/743

37. Chapter 80: Mating on the
Mind
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Romantic Priming if Your
Product (or Service Project) Is
Conspicuous
Chapter 81: Guys Like It
Simple
J. Peterman Is From Mars, the
Catalog Copy Isn’t
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Simple Copy for Guys
Chapter 82: Are Women
Better at Sales?
37/743

38. Another Theory—The Peacock
Display
Brainfluence Takeaway: Ex-
ploit the Peacock Effect With
Male Buyers
Chapter 83: Do Women
Make Men Crazy?
Brainfluence Takeaway: At-
tractive Female Photos
Shorten Male Time Horizons
Section Twelve: Shop-
per Brainfluence
38/743

39. Chapter 84: Cooties in
Every Bag
Fat Transfer
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Watch Your Pairings
Chapter 85: Customer
Replies Change Minds
Brainfluence Takeaway: En-
gage Problem Customers
Quickly
Chapter 86: It’s Wise to
Apologize
The Price of Rude Behavior
The Apology Effect
39/743

40. Brainfluence Takeaway: Don’t
Be Afraid to Apologize
Chapter 87: The Power of
Touch
Psychological Ownership
Brainfluence Takeaway: Let
Customers Touch Your
Product
Chapter 88: When Diffi-
culty Sells
Brainfluence Takeaway: Easy
Isn’t Always Best
40/743

41. Section Thirteen:
Video, TV, and Film
Brainfluence
Chapter 89: Don’t Put the
CEO on TV
Our Bodies Talk
Brainfluence Takeaway:
Physical Actions Outweigh
Words
Chapter 90: Get the Order
Right!
Brainfluence Takeaway: Cred-
ibility Before Claims
41/743

42. Chapter 91: Emotion Beats
Logic
Brainfluence Takeaway: Get
Emotional
Section Fourteen:
Brainfluence on the
Web
Chapter 92: First Impres-
sions Count—Really!
Confirmation Bias Makes the
First Impression Stick
Happy Users Keep Trying
Brainfluence Takeaway: Test
Your Site’s First Impression
42/743

43. Chapter 93: Make Your
Website Golden
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
the Golden Mean
Chapter 94: Rich Media
Boost Engagement
Brainfluence Takeaway: Add
and Optimize Other Media
Chapter 95: Reward
Versus Reciprocity
Reciprocity Beats Reward
Not Just for Form Completion
43/743

44. Brainfluence Takeaway: Test
the Reciprocity Approach
Chapter 96: Exploit Scar-
city on the Fly
Scarce Seats
Overstock.com—The Scarcity
Trifecta
Daily Scarcity
Brainfluence Takeaway: Use
Scarcity and Be Specific
Chapter 97: Target
Boomers With Simplicity
Brainfluence Takeaway: Keep
It Simple
44/743

45. Chapter 98: Use Your Cus-
tomer’s Imagination
Brainfluence Takeaway: Help
Customers Imagine
Ownership
Chapter 99: Avoid the
Corner of Death
Brainfluence Takeaway: Put
Your Brand Front and Center
Chapter 100: Computers
as People
Get on the Same Team
“I’m on Your Side!”
Specialized = Smart
45/743

46. Brainfluence Takeaway: It’s
Not a Computer; It’s a Person!
Afterword: What’s Next?
Index
46/743

48. Copyright © 2012 by Roger Dooley. All
rights reserved.
Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.,
Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.
No part of this publication may be repro-
duced, stored in a retrieval system, or trans-
mitted in any form or by any means, elec-
tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted
under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United
States Copyright Act, without either the prior
written permission of the Publisher, or au-
thorization through payment of the
appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright
Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive,
Danvers, MA 01923, [phone], fax
[phone], or on the web atwww.copy-
right.com. Requests to the Publisher for per-
mission should be addressed to the

49. Permissions Department, John Wiley &
Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ
07030, [phone], fax [phone],
or online athttp://www.wiley.com/go/
permissions.
Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of War-
ranty: While the publisher and author have
used their best efforts in preparing this book,
they make no representations or warranties
with respect to the accuracy or completeness
of the contents of this book and specifically
disclaim any implied warranties of mer-
chantability or fitness for a particular pur-
pose. No warranty may be created or exten-
ded by sales representatives or written sales
materials. The advice and strategies con-
tained herein may not be suitable for your
situation. You should consult with a profes-
sional where appropriate. Neither the pub-
lisher nor author shall be liable for any loss
of profit or any other commercial damages,
49/743

50. including but not limited to special, incident-
al, consequential, or other damages.
For general information on our other
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50/743

51. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-
Publication Data:
Dooley, Roger, 1952-
Brainfluence : 100 ways to persuade and
convince consumers with neuromarketing /
Roger Dooley.
p. cm
ISBN 978-1-118-11336-3 (hardback);
ISBN 978-1-118-17594-1 (ebk); ISBN
978-1-118-17595-8 (ebk); ISBN
978-1-118-17596-5 (ebk)
1. Neuromarketing. 2. Marketing—Psy-
chological aspects. 3. Advertising—Psycholo-
gical aspects. 4. Consumers—Psychology. I.
Title.
HF5415.12615.D66 2012
658.8001’9—dc23
51/743

52. 2011029938
52/743

53. To Carol, for putting up with me, and to my
mother, who sparked my interest in words

54. Preface
Why Brainfluence?
Today’s #1 Challenge:
Better Results With
Less Money
Inthesetryingeconomictimes,marketers
arebeingcalledupontoaccomplishmore,
butwithfewerresources.Conventionalwis-
dompairssalessuccesswiththeamountof
resourcesyouexpend.Ifoneoutoffoursales
callsresultsinasale,maketwiceasmany
callstodoublesales.If10clicksonasearch
adyieldoneinquiry,onaverage,thenallit
takestouptheleadflowistokeepbuying
moreclicks.Needmorebrandawareness?
Buymoreads,sponsormoreevents,or
plaster your logo in more places.

55. Theproblemwiththe“moreresourcesap-
plied=moresuccess”modelisthatitgets
expensive—veryexpensive.Worstofall,if
thecostofgettingasaleisn’tjustifiedbythe
profitfromthatsale,themodelbreaksdown
completely.Applyingmoreresourcesjust
results in bigger losses.
The Answer: Appealing
to Your Customer’s
Brain
Thisbookisallaboutsmartermarketing.Al-
thoughtherearecertainlymanywaysto
boosttheeffectivenessofyourmarketing
andsalesefforts,inBrainfluencewe’llfollow
onetheme:understandinghowyourcus-
tomers’brainsworktogetbetterresults
with less money.
55/743

56. From Ad Psychology to
Neuromarketing
Theideaofusingourunderstandingofhow
peoplethinkinmarketingandsalesishardly
anewidea.Nodoubt,salespeopleinancient
bazaarshadsomeofthesameinsightsinto
humannaturethatwehavetoday.Andfor
decadeswe’veseentermslikeadvertising
psychologyandsalespsychologythrown
around in articles and books.
Sowhathaschangedsincetheeradepic-
tedinTV’sMadMen?Onehugeshiftisthe
developmentofmodernneuroscience.For
allitsaccomplishments,traditionalpsycho-
logytreatedthebrainasablackbox.Givea
personastimulus,andyougetaresponse.
Evenmorecomplexmodelsofhowwethink
(Freud’s,forexample)werebasedonobser-
vation,experiments,anddeduction,butnot
on a detailed understanding of brain science.
56/743

57. Modernneurosciencehasbroughtustools
thathelpusseeinsideourbrainsandopen
uppsychology’sblackbox.Now,withthe
magicoffunctionalmagneticresonanceima-
ging(fMRI)brainscans,wecansee,forex-
ample,thatourbrain’sresponsetoaprice
that’stoohighisverymuchlikegetting
pinched:it’spainful.Electroencephalogram
(EEG)technologyisbringingthecostof
measuringsomekindsofbrainactivitydown
andallowinglargersamplesizesforstatistic-
allyreliableoptimizationofadsand
products.
How Rational Are We?
Weallliketothinktherearegoodreasons
forwhatwedoandthatourdecisionsresult
fromaconscious,deliberativeprocess.Al-
thoughcertainlytherearerationalcompon-
entstomanyofourdecisionsandactions,
57/743

58. researchersareconstantlyexposingnew
waysinwhichoursubconsciousdrivesour
choices,oftenwithminimalconscious
involvement.
Sincetheearlydaysoftheirscience,psy-
chologistshavesuggestedthatourconscious
mindsarenotinchargeofwhatwedo.
Freud,forexample,developedelaboratethe-
oriesinvolvingrepressionanddreams.Many
modernscientistsattributebehaviorstoour
evolutionarypast.Evenaswetweetfromour
iPhones,evolutionarypsychologistssay,our
brainsareoperatingwithsoftwarefromour
hunter-gatherer days.
Notallthenewinsightscomefromcom-
plexneuroscientificstudies.Aroundthe
world,behavioralresearchersareconducting
simpleexperimentswithhumansubjects
thatrevealhowourbrainsworkand,insome
cases,workmuchdifferentlythanwemight
predict.DukeUniversityprofessorDanAri-
elyisoneoftheseresearchers,andifyou
58/743

59. doubttheexistenceofunconsciousinflu-
encesonourdecisions,readhisengaging
book,Predictably Irrational.
What Is
Neuromarketing?
I’vewrittentheblogtitledNeuromarketing
since2005,andIhaveexploredmanyways
thatmarketerscanusedifferentaspectsof
brainsciencetoimproveresults.There’sno
universalagreementastoexactlywhatdoes
(andwhatdoesn’t)constituteneuromarket-
ing.Somewouldusethetermtoreferonlyto
brainscan–basedmarketinganalysis.Others
mightaddrelatedtechnologies,suchasbio-
metrics(e.g.,trackingheartrateandrespira-
tion) and eye tracking.
Ipreferabroadlyinclusivedefinitionof
neuromarketingthatincludesbehavioralre-
searchandbehavior-basedstrategies.Tome,
59/743

60. it’sallacontinuum;thereasonthefMRIma-
chineshowsthatyourbrainlightsupata
particularpointinacommercialislikelydue
tosomeunderlyingpreferenceor“program.”
Thebrainscancanshowyouwherethehot
button is, but it can’t change it or push it.
Neuromarketingisallaboutunderstand-
inghowourbrainswork,regardlessofthe
scienceused,andemployingthatunder-
standingtoimprovebothourmarketingand
our products.
Good or Evil?
Somepeoplefindtheconceptofneuromar-
ketingfrightening.Theyviewitasmanipu-
lative and unethical. I disagree.
Ifneuromarketingtechniquesareused
properly,we’llhavebetterads,better
products,andhappiercustomers.Who
wouldn’twantaproducttheylikedmoreora
60/743

61. lessboringcommercial?Wouldconsumers
reallybebetteroffifcompaniesannoyed
themwithineffectivebutcostlyad
campaigns?
Anymarketingtoolcanbe“evil”ifthe
companybehinditmisusesit.Advertising
canbefunandinformative;itcanalsocon-
tainfalseinformationormisrepresentthe
product.Warrantiesareagreatconsumer
benefit,butnotifthecompanyfailstohonor
them.Neuromarketingissimplyanother
techniquethatmarketerscanusetounder-
stand their customers and serve them better.
Mostcompaniesseektobuildtheirbrand
forthelonghaulandwon’tabusetheircus-
tomerswithanykindofdeceptionormanip-
ulation, neuromarketing or otherwise.
What This Book IsNot
61/743

62. Thisisn’tasciencebookoraneuroscience
primer.It’snotanattempttoexplainthesci-
entificbasisforbrandingoradvertising.
(Onebookthatdoesthatingreatdetailisthe
excellentTheBrandedMindbyErikdu
Plessis.)Youwon’tfindanybraindiagrams,
becauseI’vekeptthereferencestospecific
brainstructurestoaminimum.(Andifyou
findanoccasionalreferencetotheamygdala
orprefrontalcortex,don’tworry;thesewon’t
beonthetest,andyouwon’tneedtobeable
to pinpoint them on a brain chart!)
Thisisn’tabigideabook.Ilovebookslike
ChrisAnderson’sFreeandMalcolmGlad-
well’sBlinkthatexploreonetrendortopicin
greatdepth.Forbetterorworse,Brainflu-
enceisn’toneofthose.Instead,it’sacompil-
ationofahundredsmaller,bite-sizedideas,
eachonebasedonneuroscienceorbehavior
research.
Thisisabookofpracticaladviceformar-
keters,managers,andbusinessowners,not
62/743

63. scientistsorneurosciencegeeks.(Ifyouarea
scientistorneurosciencegeek,I’veincluded
areferenceforjustabouteverystudyImen-
tion; feel free to explore more deeply.)
Who Can Benefit From
This Book
I’veselectedthehundredtopicsinBrainflu-
encetobeapplicabletoawiderangeof
budgetsandsituations.Althoughsomeofthe
ideasinthisbookcomefromcostlyresearch
usingfMRImachinesorothertechnology
unavailabletomostfirms,eachtopic
providesamarketingapproachthatisusable
byanyorganization,oftenatlowcost.Mar-
ketersinbothlargeandsmallbusinesseswill
findproblemsliketheirownandsolutions
theycanimplementonascalethatfitstheir
needs.
63/743

64. EachtopicinBrainfluenceisdesignedto
describeresearchfindingsthatshowhowour
brainsworkandofferoneormorewaysto
directlyapplythatknowledgetoreal-world
marketingsituations.AlthoughImakeafew
leapshereandthereinrelatingthatresearch
toactualbusinessneeds,youwon’tfindme
saying, “Do this because I’m telling you to.”
Mostofthebookusesthelanguageof
business,talkingaboutcustomersandsales,
butmanyoftheconceptsareapplicableto
thenonprofitsectoraswell.Everynonprofit
todayhastoaccomplishmorewithfewerre-
sources,andmanyofthetopicsherewillen-
able them to do just that.
Itisn’tnecessarytoreadthisbookfrom
covertocover,orevenfromfronttoback.
Althoughtheideasaregroupedinmajorcat-
egories,eachtopicstandsonitsown.Feel
free to browse as you like.
64/743

65. Andremember:“marketingsmarter”
doesn’tjustmeanusingyourbrain;itmeans
using yourcustomer’sbrain too!
65/743

66. Acknowledgments
It’scustomarytoacknowledgethecontribu-
tionsofthosewhocollaboratedinwritingthe
book.IncreatingbothBrainfluenceandmy
blog,Neuromarketing,mypartnersarethe
dedicatedresearcherswhodevotetheirlives
toteasingoutthedetailsofhowourbrains
work.SomeofthemIhavemet;othersI
knowonlyviacorrespondenceortheirwork.
It’speoplelikeDanAriely,GeorgeLoewen-
stein,RobertCialdini,PaulZak,Read
Montague,andsomanyothers,whodothe
heavyliftinginthisfield.Tothem,thank
you!

67. About the Author
RogerDooleyisfounderofDooleyDirect
LLC,amarketingconsultancy,andauthorof
thepopularblogNeuromarketing.He
cofoundedCollegeConfidential,thehighest-
trafficwebsiteforcollege-boundstudents,
whichwasacquiredbyHobsons,aunitof
London-basedDMGT,in2008.Heservedas
VicePresidentofDigitalMarketingatHob-
sonsandremainsinaconsultingroletothe
firm.Dooleyisalong-timeentrepreneurand
direct marketer.
Dooleyholdsanengineeringdegreefrom
CarnegieMellonUniversity(1971)andan
MBAfromtheUniversityofTennessee
(1977). He resides in Austin, Texas.

68. Chapter 1
Sell to 95 Percent of
Your Customer’s Brain
Ninety-fivepercentofourthoughts,emo-
tions,andlearningoccurwithoutourcon-
sciousawareness,accordingtoHarvardmar-
ketingprofessorandauthorGeraldZalt-
man.
1Andhe’snottheonlyexpertwho
thinksthisway;the95percentruleisused
bymanyneuroscientiststoestimatesubcon-
sciousbrainactivity.(NeuroFocusfounder
andchiefexecutiveofficer[CEO],A.K.
Pradeep,estimatesitat99.999percentinhis
book,TheBuyingBrain.
2)It’sdoubtfulwe’ll
everbeabletoarriveataprecisenumber,

69. butallneuroscientistsagreethere’salotgo-
ingonunderthesurfaceinourbrains.
(There’sdebate,too,overtheterminology;
manyscientistsprefernonconsciousorpre-
consciousforgreaterprecision.I’llmostly
usesubconscious,simplybecauseit’sthe
most familiar term.)
Oneindicationofthepowerofoursubcon-
sciouscomesfromastudythatshowedthat
subjectsgivenapuzzletosolveactually
solveditasmuchaseightsecondsbefore
theywereconsciouslyawareofhaving
solvedit.(Theresearchersdeterminedthis
bymonitoringbrainactivitywithanelectro-
encephalograph(EEG)andidentifyingthe
patternthatcorrelatedwithreachingasolu-
tion.
3)Otherresearchshowsalagindecision
making—ourbrainsseemtoreachadecision
before we are consciously aware of it.
Therealizationthatthevastmajorityof
ourbehaviorsaredeterminedsubcon-
sciouslyisabasicpremiseofmostofthe
69/743

70. strategiesinthisbook,andindeed,oftheen-
tirefieldofneuromarketing.Customersgen-
erallycan’tunderstandoraccuratelyexplain
whytheymakechoicesinthemarketplace,
andeffortstoteaseoutthatinformationby
askingthemquestionsaremostlydoomedto
failure.Furthermore,marketingefforts
basedmostlyoncustomerstatementsand
self-reportsoftheirexperiences,preferences,
and intentions are equally doomed.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Stop Selling
to 5 Percent of Your
Customer’s Brain
Therestofthetakeawaysinthisbookarea
lotmorespecificandactionable,butthisone
isthemostimportant.Despiteknowingthat
70/743

71. rational,consciouscognitiveprocessesarea
smallinfluenceinhumandecisionmaking,
weoftenfocusmostofourmessageonthat
narrowsliceofourcustomer’sthinking.We
providestatistics,featurelists,cost/benefit
analyses,andsoon,whileignoringthevast
emotionalandnonverbalsubconsciousshare
of brain activity.
Althoughthereareconsciousandrational
partsinmostdecisions,marketersneedto
focusfirstonappealingtothebuyer’semo-
tionsandunconsciousneeds.It’snotalways
badtoincludefactualdetails,astheywill
helpthecustomer’slogicalbrainjustifythe
decision—justdon’texpectthemtomakethe
sale!
Notes
1.Gerald Zaltman,How Customers
Think(Boston: Harvard Business School
Press, 2003).
71/743

72. 2.A. K. Pradeep,The Buying Brain:
Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious
Mind(Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley &
Sons, 2010), 4.
3.“Incognito: Evidence Mounts That
Brains Decide Before Their Owners
Know About It,”Economist390, no.
8627 (April 18, 2009): 86–87,ht-
tp://www.economist.com/node/
13489722?story_id=13489722.
72/743

73. SECTION ONE
Price and Product
Brainfluence
Everymarketerwrestleswithdecisions
abouthowtostructureaproductlineand
howtosetprices.Asmalldifferenceinpri-
cingcanmakeabigdifferenceinprofits,but
thewrongpricecankillsales,too.For-
tunately,neuromarketinghasplentytotell
us about these closely related areas!

74. Chapter 2
The “Ouch!” of Paying
Oneofthekeyinsightsneuroeconomicsand
neuromarketingresearchhaveprovidedusis
thatbuyingsomethingcancausethepain
centerinourbraintolightup.Researchers
atCarnegieMellonandStanforduniversities
presentedsubjectswithcash,putthemina
functionalmagneticresonanceimaging
(fMRI)machinetorecordtheirbrainactiv-
ity,andthenofferedthemitems,eachwitha
price.Someoftheproductswereoverpriced,
andotherswereagoodvalue.Thesubjects
wereabletochoosetobuyitemswiththeir
moneyorkeepthecash.Theresearchers
comparedself-reportingofpurchase

75. intentionsbythesubjects,brainscandata,
and actual purchases.
1
IspokewithCarnegieMellonUniversity
professorGeorgeLoewensteinafterthat
workwaspublished,andhenotedthatone
significantaspectofthefindingsisthatthe
brainscanspredictedbuyingbehavioral-
mostaswellastheself-reportedintentions
ofthesubjects.Inotherwords,absentany
knowledgeofwhatthesubjectintendedto
do,viewingthebrainscanwasjustaboutas
accurateasaskingthesubjectwhatheorshe
would do.
Loewensteinpointedoutthat,inthisex-
periment,thequestionsabouttheintentions
ofthesubjectwerequitestraightforwardand
onewouldexpecttheanswerstobegood
predictors of actual behavior.
The“negative”activationproducedbycost
isrelative,accordingtoLoewenstein.Thatis,
itisn’tjustthedollaramount;it’sthecontext
ofthetransaction.Thus,peoplecanspend
75/743

76. hundredsofdollarsonaccessorieswhen
buyingacarwithlittlepain,butavending
machinethattakes75centsandproduces
nothing is very aggravating.
Bundling Minimizes
Pain
Autoluxurybundlesminimizenegativeac-
tivationbecausetheirpricetagcoversmul-
tipleitems.Theconsumercan’trelateaspe-
cificpricetoeachcomponentinthebundle
(leatherseats,sunroof,etc.)andhencecan’t
easilyevaluatethefairnessofthedealor
whethertheutilityoftheaccessoryisworth
the price.
Fairness Counts
76/743

77. Costisn’ttheonlyvariablethatcauses
“pain.”It’sreallytheperceivedfairnessor
unfairnessofthedealthatcreatesthereac-
tion.Otherpartsofanofferthatcauseditto
appearunfairwouldpresumablycausea
similar reaction as a price that was too high.
There’snotalwaysasingle“fair”pricefor
anitem.Formostpeople,afairpricefora
cupofcoffeeatStarbuckswouldlikelybe
higherthanacupfromastreetcornercoffee
cart.AfamousstudybyeconomistRichard
Thalershowedthatthirstybeachgoerswould
paynearlytwiceasmuchforabeerfroma
resorthotelthanforthesamebrewfroma
small, rundown grocery store.
2
Credit as Painkiller
Overall,Loewensteinwasn’tenthusedabout
usinghisworkforneuromarketingpurposes.
Hepointedoutthat,formanyyears,credit
77/743

78. cardcompanieshaveprosperedwhileen-
couragingconsumerstospendtoomuchby
exploitingtheprincipleshe’snowuncovering
in his research.
Theproblemisthat,formanyconsumers,
thecreditcardtakesthepain(quiteliterally,
fromthestandpointofthecustomer’sbrain)
outofpurchasing.Pullingcashoutofone’s
walletcausesonetoevaluatethepurchase
more carefully.
Wethinkthismakesalotofsenseandis
entirelyconsistentwithreal-worldbehavior.
Acreditcardreducesthepainlevelbytrans-
ferringthecosttoafutureperiodwhereit
canbepaidinsmallincrements.Hence,not
onlydoesacreditcardenableaconsumerto
buysomethingwithoutactuallyhavingthe
cash,butitalsotipsthescaleasone’sbrain
weighsthepainversusthebenefitofthepur-
chase.Thiscanbeabadcombinationforin-
dividuals lacking financial discipline.
78/743

79. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Minimum
Pain, Maximum Sales
Pricingandtheproductitselfneedtobeop-
timizedtominimizethepainofpaying.First,
thepricemustbeseenasfair.Ifyour
productismoreexpensivethanothers,take
thetimetoexplainwhyitisapremium
product.
Ifyoufindyourselfinasituationwhere,
forcostorotherreasons,thepriceofa
productislikelytoproducean“ouch!”reac-
tionfromyourcustomers,seeifsomekindof
abundlewithcomplementaryitemswilldull
the pain.
Paymenttermsandcreditoptionscanalso
reducethepainofpaying.Don’tpushyour
customersintobuyingproductstheycan’taf-
ford,butevenaffluentcustomerswillfeel
79/743

80. lesspainiftheydon’thavetomakeimmedi-
ate payment in cash.
Notes
1.Brian Knutson et al., “Neural Predict-
ors of Purchases,”Neuron53, no.1
(January 4, 2007): 147–156,ht-
tp://www.neuron.org/content/article/
abstract?uid=PIIS0896627306009044.
2.Richard Thaler, “Transaction Utility
Theory,”Advances in Consumer Re-
search10 (1983): 229–232.
80/743

81. Chapter 3
Don’t Sell Like a Sushi
Chef
Ilovesushi.ButIhatethewaymostsushi
restaurantssellit,withaseparatepricefor
eachtinypiece.EverybiteItakeseemsto
haveapricetagonit.“Mmm...notbad.But
wasthatmouthfulworthfivebucks?DoI
really want another one?”
Itturnsoutmybrainisnormal,atleastin
relationtomyaversiontothetypicalsushi
pricingscheme.Inthelastchapter,wemet
CarnegieMellonUniversityeconomicsand
psychologyprofessorGeorgeLoewenstein.
Anotherinsightfromhisworkisthatselling

82. productsinawaythattheconsumerseesthe
priceincreasewitheverybitofconsumption
causesthemostpain.Thisisn’tphysical
pain,ofcourse,butratheractivationofthe
samebrainareasassociatedwithphysical
pain.InaninterviewwithSmartMoney,
Loewenstein noted
3:
[Consumersare]notweighingthecur-
rentgratificationvs.futuregratifica-
tions.Theyexperienceanimmediate
pangofpain[whentheythinkofhow
muchtheyhavetopayforsomething].
. .
ItalsoexplainswhyAOLswitchedfrom
pay-per-hourInternetservicetopay-
per-month.Whentheydidthat,they
gotafloodofsubscribers...Whydo
peoplelovetoprepayforthingsorpay
aflatrateforthings?Again,itmutes
thepangofpain.Theworst-caseal-
ternativeiswhenyoupayforsushiand
82/743

83. you’repayingperpiece.Orwatching
thetaximeter;youknowhowmuch
every inch of the way is costing you.
Marketershaverealizedthisforyears,and
theyhaverespondedwithoffersdesignedto
minimizethepainassociatedwithbuying
theirproducts.All-inclusivemealoptionsare
popularatmanyeateries.Netflixcrushedits
videorentalcompetitorsinpartbyits“all-
you-can-watch”pricestrategy.Cruiseshave
surgedinpopularityinpartbecausetheyde-
liveravacationexperienceforafixedprice.
Ineachcase,themarketeroffersasingle,re-
lativelyattractivepricethatremovesaddi-
tional pain from the buying experience.
Paying for Pain
Avoidance
83/743

84. Inmanysituations,thesinglepriceisactu-
allyhigherthantheamounttheconsumer
wouldhavespentonindividualfooditems,
movierentals,andsoon.Nevertheless,the
all-inclusivenumberislikelytoappealto
manyconsumers,particularlythosethat
Loewensteinwouldidentifyasbeingmost
sensitive to the pain of buying.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Avoid Mul-
tiple Pain Points
Tominimizecustomerpain,marketers
shouldalwaystrytoavoidmultipleindividu-
alpainpointsinthepurchasingprocess.Ob-
viously,somesituationsmakeindividual
purchasesunavoidable;forexample,agro-
cerystorecan’tofferfee-basedshoppingin-
stead of item-by-item pricing.
84/743

85. Manybusinesssituations,though,will
permitsomeexperimentationwithasingle-
priceapproachforitemsusuallypurchased
separately,suchasamonthlyorannualfee
insteadofindividualtransactions.Thatsim-
plerpricingapproachmayboostnotonly
sales,butbecausesomepeoplewillpaya
premiumforpainavoidance,profitmargins
as well.
Notes
3.Lisa Scherzer, “Professor: Pain, Not
Logic, Dictates Spending,”
SmartMoney,March 22, 2007,ht-
tp://www.smartmoney.com/invest/
markets/professor-pain-not-logic-
dictates-spending-20987/.
85/743

86. Chapter 4
Picturing Money
Theconceptofprimingissimple,although
it’salsoabitunsettling:ifyoupresentanin-
dividualwithsubtlecues,youcanaffectthat
person’ssubsequentbehavior,eventhough
heorsheisentirelyunawareofeitherthe
primingorbehavioralchanges.Money-re-
latedimagesaresomeofthemorepotent
forms of priming.
PsychologistKathleenVohshasstudied
primingextensivelyandfoundthatsupply-
ingsubjectswithcuesrelatedtomoneyin-
creasesselfishbehavior.Forexample,she
andhercolleagueshadstudentsubjects
eitherreadanessaythatmentionedmoney

87. orsitfacingaposterthatpictureddifferent
types of currency.
Thesubjectswhowereprimedwithmoney
cuestook70percentlongertoaskforhelpin
solvingadifficultproblemandspentonly
halfasmuchtimehelpinganotherperson
(who,unknowntothesubject,wasactually
part of the experiment) needing assistance.
Themoney-primedsubjectsalsopreferred
toworkaloneandchosesolitaryleisure
activitiescomparedwithunprimedsubjects.
Theyevensatfartherapartwhensettingup
chairs to chat with another subject.
Vohsconcludesthatevensubtlemoney
cueschangetheframeofmindpeoplearein:
theydon’twanttodependonothers,nordo
they want others to depend on them.
Thisworkhasinterestingimplicationsfor
advertiserswhofrequentlyusemoney
themesintheirads.Bigsavings,higherin-
vestmentreturns,visionsofprosperousre-
tirement,moneycontainersrangingfrom
87/743

88. piggybankstogleamingbankvaults...ads
arefulloftheseimages.Mostoftheseads
appealtotheselfishinterestoftheviewer,so
anyprimingthattakesplacematchesthein-
tentoftheadvertisement.Amutualfund
companytoutingsuperiorreturnsand
prosperous-lookingretireesclearlywantsto
appealtotheself-interestofthecustomer;
thecompanyhopestheviewerwillbesuffi-
cientlyenticedbytheseimagestotransfer
funds to it.
Money-relatedadvertisingimagesareper-
vasiveinothertypesofads,though,andnot
allappealtoselfishinterests.Manyprint,
television,andevenin-storeadsseemtoem-
phasizesavings.Are“savemoneyongiftsfor
Mom”advertisersshootingthemselvesinthe
footbysubtlyprimingthewould-begift
givers with selfish feelings?
Theadvertiserswhoshouldbeparticularly
cautiousaboutmoneycuesarethosewho
wanttoappealtotheviewer’sfeelingsabout
88/743

89. others.Fillingviewerswithfeelingsof
warmthandadesiretopleasesomeoneelse,
andthenremindingthemaboutmoney,
could be self-defeating.
Really,ofcourse,it’satrade-off.Good
salespeopleoftenmakethesaleusingfeel-
ingsandemotion,andthenclosethedeal
withafinancialincentivethathasanexpira-
tionlooming.Ifyou’veeversatthrougha
time-sharesalespitch,you’llrecognizethat
technique.Muchofthepitchisintendedto
evokewarmfeelingsaboutrecreation,qual-
itytimewithfamilyandfriends,andsoon,
butthere’salwaysafinancialincentiveasthe
closeapproaches.Specialfinancingisavail-
ableonlytoday,there’sapricereductionfor
48hours,andsoon.Thisapproachisclearly
effective.Anadvertisermustmakeajudg-
mentcallonwhetherandhowtobring
moneyintothepictureiftheappealis
primarily an emotional one.
89/743

90. No Money in Sight
Thinkaboutthelong-runningADiamondIs
Forevercampaign.Thisisagoodexampleof
advertisingthatscrupulouslyavoidsintrodu-
cingmoneycues.Theiradstargettheluxury
giftmarket.Spendinglargesumsofmoney
togivesomeoneelseapolishedpieceofcar-
bonwhosevalueisdeterminedbycartel-en-
forcedscarcityishardlyaconceptthatap-
peals to one’s self-interest.
Thiseffectiveadcampaignisapurely
emotionalpitchthatwouldbespoiledbya
taglinethatoffered,forexample,“special
savingsinDecember!”Theadsevenavoid
talkingabouttheinvestmentvalueof
diamonds.
Restaurant Lessons
90/743

91. Evenasimplecurrencysymbolinfrontofa
pricecanmakeadifference.OneCornell
studylookedatseveralcommonrestaurant
price display techniques:
Numerical with dollar sign: $12.00
Numericalwithoutdollarsignor
decimals: 12
Spelled out: twelve dollars
Theresearchersexpectedthatthewritten/
scriptedpriceswouldperformbest,butthey
foundthattheguestswiththesimplenumer-
alprices(thosewithoutdollarsignsor
decimals)spentsignificantlymorethanthe
othertwogroupsdid.Whenyouvisitares-
taurantandfindthemenuhassmallprices
presentedthisway,you’llknowtheyareup
on their neuromarketing best practices!
4
91/743

92. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Money
Cues Wisely
Usecurrencysymbolsinadsforproducts
consistentwithselfishfeelings—products
thatofferfinancialindependence,forex-
ample,orevenaself-indulgentpurchaselike
a sports car.
Forcampaignsfocusedongivingand
thinkingaboutothers,suchasgifts,non-
profitappeals,andsoforth,advertisersmay
wanttobeabitcautiousandshouldlikely
avoid introducing financial imagery.
Notes
4.Sybil S. Yang, Sheryl E. Kimes, and
Mauro M. Sessarego, “$ or Dollars: Ef-
fects of Menu-price Formats on
92/743

93. Restaurant Checks,”Cornell Hospitality
Reports9, no. 8, The Center for Hospit-
ality Research, Cornell University
School of Hotel Administration,ht-
tp://www.hotelschool.cornell.edu/re-
search/chr/pubs/reports/ab-
stract-15048.html.
93/743

94. Chapter 5
Anchors Aweigh!
Here’sascenario:Youdecidetoventureinto
acellphonestore(despiteyourreluctanceto
dealwithabewilderingnumberofphones,
options,plans,andconfusingpricing).As
usual,youfindyou’llhavetowaitabitfora
salesperson.Thegreeterhandsyouacard
withabig“97”printedonitandsays,“It
shouldonlybeafewminutes.We’llcallyour
number,97,whenasalespersoncanhelp
you.”Younoticethatalargedigitaldisplay
onthewallisshowing“94.”Youseeitclick
to95,then96,andfinally97.Thereception-
istsays,“Number97,please,”andasalesper-
sonarrivestoassistyou.Youthought

95. nothingofthenumericorderingofcustom-
ers,butit’spossiblethatthestorehadanul-
teriormotive:theycouldhavebeenattempt-
ingtomanipulatethepriceyouwouldpay.
Sound bizarre? Read on . . .
Whenaconsumerviewsanoffer,akey
elementinthedecisiontoacceptorrejectit
iswhetheritappearstobeafairdealornot.
Weknowthatbuyingpain—theactivationof
ourbrain’spaincenterwhenpayingfora
purchase—increaseswhenthepriceseems
toohigh.Buthowdoesthatvalueequation
work?Theanswerisanchoring;typically,we
storeananchorpricefordifferentproducts
(say,$2foracupofcoffeeforthelocalcoffee
shop)thatwethenusetojudgerelative
value.Thatsoundssimpleenough,butit’s
actuallynot.Someanchorpricesarestickier
thanothers,andattimes,totallyunrelated
factorscanaffecttheseanchorpoints.The
bettermarketerscanunderstandhowan-
choringworks,themorecreativeand
95/743

96. effectivepricingstrategiestheywillbeable
to develop.
Gasoline: Drifting
Anchor
First,let’slookatanonstickyanchorprice
scenariothatmostofuscopewithdaily:
fluctuatinggasolineprices.IntheUnited
States,we’veseenpricessurgepastthe$4
level,nothighbyworldstandardsbutanew
thresholdforAmericans.ThefirsttimeIsaw
that“4”digitatthefrontoftheprice,I’m
suremybrainregisteredpain.Ihadbarely
becomeusedtopaying$3pergallonofgas.
But,afterashorttime,myanchorwasreset.
The$4priceswerenolongerexceptional,
andifIhadbeenseeingmostly$4.29prices,
a$4.09pricewouldregisterasagooddeal.
IfIsawastationofferinggasfor$3.99—a
pricethatonlyafewmonthsearlierwould
96/743

97. haveseemedoutrageouslyhigh—I’dbehard
pressednottopullintothestationtotake
advantageofthe“bargain.”Ofcourse,gasol-
ineisauniqueproduct;weexpectitspriceto
vary,andwehaveconstantfeedbackoncur-
rentpricingaswepassgasstationsigns.For
this product, we are constantly reanchoring.
Real Estate Prices
Otheritemshavestickieranchorpoints.In
PredictablyIrrational,DanArielydescribes
researchbyUriSimonsohnatPennandGe-
orgeLoewensteinatCarnegieMellon
University,showingittakesaboutayear
afterrelocationforhomebuyerstoadaptto
thepricinginanewmarketwithhigheror
lowerrealestateprices.Peoplewhomoved
andboughtanewhomeimmediatelytended
tospendthesameamountonhousingas
theyhadbefore,evenifitmeantbuyinga
97/743

98. homethatwasmuchlargerorsmallerthan
the one they left.
5
Less Familiar Products
Butwhataboutitemsforwhichwehavefuz-
zieranchors?Wegetdailyfeedbackongas
prices,andifweownahome,weprobably
keepaneyeonsalesofcomparableproper-
tiestogaugeourownlevelofequity.Items
thatareunfamiliarorrarelypurchasedmay
formananchorpointwhenwestartthinking
aboutthepurchase.Ifwedecidetobuyabig-
screentelevision,wemayspotonewelikein
aBestBuycircularfor$1,000.Wemaynot
buythatitem,butaccordingtoArielythat
nowbecomesananchorpriceagainstwhich
other deals are measured.
Irrational Anchors
98/743

99. Here’swhereanchorpricesgetweird—and
weirdisn’tawordIuselightlywhenI’m
talkingaboutthefoiblesofhumanbrains.
Uptothispoint,therewasaperfectlylogical
frameworkunderpinningthebrain’sanchor-
ingprocess.ButresearchconductedbyAri-
elyshowedthatgettingsubjectstothinkofa
randomnumber—inthiscase,thelasttwo
digitsoftheirSocialSecuritynumber—im-
pactedthepricetheywerewillingtopayfor
variousitems.Ahigherrandomnumberled
to higher prices.
Table5.1isjustonedatasetfromAriely’s
experiment—pricesthatsubjectswouldpay
for a cordless keyboard:
Table 5.1Priming Number Effect on
Acceptable Price
Social Security Number DigitsKeyboard Price
00–19 $16.09
20–39 $26.92
99/743

100. Social Security Number DigitsKeyboard Price
40–59 $29.27
60–79 $34.55
80–99 $55.64
Foranunfamiliarproductlikeacordless
keyboard,therandomnumberthatthesub-
jectswerethinkingofendedupaffectingthe
pricetheysaidthey’dpay.Thecorrelation
betweenSocialSecuritynumberrangeand
priceforthisdatasetwasanamazing(tome,
atleast).52!(Beforeyoustarthanging
posterswithbignumbersalloveryourstore,
beawarethat,aswithmanyofAriely’sclever
experiments,thisoneusedsubjectswho
wereansweringaquestionnaire,notactually
buying the product.)
Presetting an Anchor
100/743

101. OtherexperimentsbyArielyshowedthatan-
chorscouldbepresetforunfamiliaritems;in
thatcase,apaymentforlisteningtoanan-
noyingsound.Aquestionnairethatincluded,
“Wouldyoubewillingtolistentothissound
againfor$.10?”elicitedlowerbidsthan
thosegivenbysubjectsaskedthesameques-
tion with a price of $.90.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Be Careful
Where You Drop Your
Anchor!
It’snobignewstomarketersthatcustomers
mayhavespecificpriceexpectationsfora
productorproductcategory.Ifonecanbring
aproductintothatcategorywithaprice
lowerthanexpected,itshouldbean
101/743

102. attractiveoffer.Ifone’sproductispremium
priced,thenitwillbeimportanttoseparate
itasmuchaspossiblefromlower-priced
products.
Themoreinterestingchallengeishowto
dealwithnewproductsforwhichconsumers
havenoclearlyestablishedanchorprice.Ari-
ely’sresearchshowsthatanchorpricingfor
suchproductsisquitefungible,andmar-
keterswoulddowelltoavoidinadvertently
establishingalowanchorprice.Ifahigher
anchorpricecanbeestablished,thenoffers
involvinglowerpriceswillbeattractiveto
consumers.
Apple’siPhoneintroductionisagoodex-
ampleofusinganchorpricingtokeepde-
mandstrong.Whentheyfirstreleasedthe
iPhone,itrangedinpricefrom$499to
$599,establishingtheinitialanchorforwhat
theuniqueproductshouldcost.Tothechag-
rinofearlyadopters,Appledroppedthe
priceby$200afteronlyafewmonths,
102/743

103. creatinganapparentbargainandstimulat-
ingmoresales.Whentheyintroducedthe
iPhone3G,pricingwasaslowas$199,and
they sold one million phones in three days.
Therearemanyreasonswhymarketers
startwithahighpriceinitially.Onebigone
istoworkthedemandcurve,thatis,tode-
mandahighpricefromtheportionofthe
marketwillingtopaythatmuchbeforedrop-
pingthepricetoreachalargernumberof
customers.Akeybenefitofthisstrategyfor
newproducts,though,isthatahighanchor
priceisestablishedinthemindsofcustom-
ers,makingeachsubsequentreductionabig-
ger bargain.
Nonsense Anchors
Canmarketerstakeadvantageofirrational
anchorpricing?Wouldaskingcustomersto
thinkofanumberbetween90and99while
standinginlineatafast-foodrestaurant
103/743

104. makethemwillingtopaymoreforaburger?
Shouldstoreshangpostersofbignumbers
bythecheckouts?AlthoughAriely’swork
suggeststhatthiskindofirrationalanchor-
ingeffectcouldexist,Iwouldn’trecommend
buildingamarketingstrategyaroundsuch
techniques.Butbyallmeansfeelfreetotest
it!
Infomercials and Anchor
Pricing
Onegroupofmarketersthatseemstoimpli-
citlyunderstandanchorpricingarethecre-
atorsofsuccessfulinfomercials.Justabout
everyoneoftheseseekstoestablishahigh
anchorpricefortheirusuallyuniqueorunfa-
miliarproduct.Theystartbysayingthings
like,“Departmentstorescharge$200for
thiskindofproduct...”;thentheymakean
offeratalowerprice.Theytypicallyproceed
toaddbonusproductsintotheofferaswell,
104/743

105. makingthenewanchorpriceoftheiractual
offer(“Only$59.99plusshipping!”)look
betterandbetter.Bytheendofthepitch,the
offerpriceisnotonlyfarlowerthantheini-
tialanchorbuttheofferitselfhasexpanded
toincludefarmoreproducts.(Onesuch
commercial,asitconcluded,droppedthe
priceby$5“forcallersinthenext20
minutes”—yetanotherexploitationofafa-
vorablecomparisontoapreviouslyestab-
lished anchor.)
Marketersofalltypescoulddoworsethan
studyingthetechniquesofsuccessfuldirect
marketers.Thelatterliveordiebythesuc-
cessoftheircommercials,catalogs,orweb-
sites,andifyouseeanofferrepeatedtime
aftertimeyoucanbecertainthatitis
working.
Notes
105/743

106. 5.Dan Ariely,Predictably Irrational:
The Hidden Forces That Shape Our De-
cisions,rev. ed. (New York: Harper Per-
ennial, 2010).
106/743

107. Chapter 6
Wine, Prices, and
Expectations
Inanareaassubjectiveaswinetasting,it’s
easytobelievethatwhatwinedrinkerssay
aboutawineisinfluencedbywhatthey
knowaboutthewine.(Or,bywhattheythink
theyknow!)Itmightbesurprisingtofind
out,though,thatwinethoughttobemore
expensivereallydoestastebetteratthemost
fundamentallevelofperception.Researchers
atStanfordUniversityandCaltechdemon-
stratedthatpeople’sbrainsexperiencemore
pleasurewhentheythinktheyaredrinkinga

108. $45wineinsteadofa$5bottle,evenwhenin
reality it’s the same cheap stuff!
6
Theimportantaspectofthesefindingsis
thatpeoplearen’tfibbingonasurvey;thatis,
theyaren’treportingthatawinetastesbetter
becausetheyknowit’smoreexpensiveand
theydon’twanttolookdumb.Rather,they
are actually experiencing a tastier wine.
Theprice(orwhatthesubjectsthought
wastheprice)actuallychangedtheirexperi-
encewiththeproduct.BabaShivandhisfel-
lowresearchersmonitoredbrainactivityus-
ingfMRIwhilethesubjectstastedthewine
toobservehowthesubjects’brainsreacted
with each sip.
Wineisn’ttheonlyproductaffectedbyits
price.Shiv,inanotherexperiment,showed
thatpeoplewhopaidmoreforanenergy
drinkactuallysolvedpuzzlesmorequickly
thanthosewhoboughtitatadiscount.The
higherpricemadethedrinkmore
stimulating.
108/743

109. Yetanotherstudyshowedthat85percent
ofsubjectsgivenaplacebopillforpainrelief
reportedareductioninpainwhentheywere
toldthepillcost$2.50perdose;whentold
thepillcost10cents,only61percentofsub-
jectsreportedapainreduction.Thepills,of
course, had no actual active ingredients.
7
Here’stheconundrumformarketers:On
onehand,weknowthatthepainofpaying
kicksinwhenpeopleperceivethataproduct
isoverpricedandmakespeoplelesslikelyto
makeapurchase.Butnowwehavemultiple
studiesshowingthatpeopleenjoyaproduct
morewhentheypaymoreforit.Howshould
a marketer determine the price point?
Idon’tthinktheseneuralreactionstopri-
cingarenecessarilyinconflict.Ifthewine
drinkersintheStanfordUniversity–Caltech
studyhadbeensenttothesupermarketand
askedtopickupabottleofwineontheway
tothelab,theywouldnodoubthavefeltthe
painofpayingtoomuchforabottleofwine.
109/743

110. Unlesstheywerewineaficionados,they
likelywouldhavechosenalesscostlybottle.
(Otherfactorscouldinfluencetheselection
process,too.Wouldtheresearchersseethe
bottlechosen?Ifitwastoocheap,would
theythinkthesubjectwasawineignora-
mus?Wouldblindlychoosingacostlybottle
makethesubjectlooklikeasnoboraspend-
thrift?)Thepleasurableboostfromahigher
priceoccursafterpurchaseandconsump-
tion,somarketersstillfacethesameprob-
lemtheyalwayshave:settingapricethat
consumerswillacceptandthatwillyielda
suitablecombinationofprofitmarginand
total revenue.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Be Careful
With Discounts
110/743

111. Whatthisdoessuggestisthatmarketers
needtounderstandthatpriceisanimport-
antpartoftheexperienceforapremium
productorluxurybrand.Thisisn’thuge
news;we’veseenonce-proudbrandsdes-
troyedbyoverdistributionandpervasivedis-
counting.Anditisn’teventhepricethatthe
consumerpays;thesubjectsinthestudy
didn’tpayanythingforthewinetheytasted,
buttheystillstatedthattheexpensivewine
tasted better.
Theconsumerhastobelievethata
productispricedatacertainlevelforthe
braineffecttokickin.Ifsomeonegivesmea
$100bottleofwine,I’llnodoubttasteitas
such.IfIfindthesamebottlemispricedat
thewineshopandbuyitfor$10,itwilllikely
stillbea$100winetome(andI’llhave
greatly reduced my buying pain as well).
But,ifIfindabinfullofthewinepricedat
$10andmarked“Hugesale;save$90per
bottle!”someskepticismwillkickin.Didthis
111/743

112. vintageturnoutpoorly?Didtheshopstorea
fewcasesnexttothefurnaceandfindthey
hadgonebad?DidRobertParkeroranother
wineexpertgiveitaterriblereview?I’mcer-
tainthatthesedoubtswouldlowermy
brain’sperceivedvalueofthewine.Ifthe
winewasadvertisedwitha“newlowprice”
of$10,mybrainwouldbeevenmorecertain
it didn’t taste like a $100 bottle of wine.
There’snotaneasywaytocutthroughthe
complexbalancingactofpricingtheproduct
highenoughtoappealbutlowenoughtosell
involume.Myadviceistopricetheproduct
appropriatelyforthetargetmarketandtobe
awarethatdiscountingmayactuallyreduce
thequalityofthecustomerexperience.That
doesn’tmeanthatdiscountsorlowpricesare
bad;theyhaveapowerfuleffectoncon-
sumers, too.
Mostconsumerswillhavenoproblemin
decidingwhetherthebettertaste(realor
perceived)ofamorecostlybottleofwine
112/743

113. justifiesthedifferenceinprice.That’swhy
two-buckchuckhassoldhundredsofmil-
lionsofbottlestodate,whereas$100bottles
mostly gather dust on wine store shelves.
Notes
6.Lisa Trei, “Price Changes Way People
Experience Wine,”Stanford News Ser-
vice,January 16, 2008,ht-
tp://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/
january16/wine-011608.html.
7.Benedict Carey, “More Expensive
Placebos Bring More Relief,”New York
Times,March 5, 2008,ht-
tp://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/05/
health/research/05placebo.html.
113/743

114. Chapter 7
Be Precise With Prices
Inmytimeasacatalogmarketer,Iusually
pricedproductsjustbelowthenextdollarin-
crement.So,forexample,acheapitemmight
be$9.97ratherthan$10,andamoreex-
pensiveitemmayhavebeen$499,oreven
$499.99, instead of $500.
Thisapproachwasbasedonacoupleofas-
sumptions.First,Ithoughtthattherewas
probablysomethingdesirableaboutoffering,
say,a“nine-dollar-and-change”priceversus
a“ten-dollar”price.Eventhoughthediffer-
encewasonlyafewpennies,Ithought,some
customerswouldperceivethe$9.97priceto
offer more substantial savings.

115. Second,Iobservedthatbigmarketerslike
Sears,whocouldaffordtotestanynumber
ofpricingoptionsandnodoubtdidsofre-
quently,tendedtostickwiththe“justbelow
thenextincrement”approach.Asitturns
out,Iwasright,butforthewrongreason.
Newresearchpointsustowardthereasons
whyconsumersrespondbettertoa$499
priceversusa$500price,andithasmoreto
dowiththeapparentprecisionoftheodd
number than the lower price.
UniversityofFloridamarketingprofessors
ChrisJaniszewskiandDanUytestedhow
peoplereacttopricinginanauctionenviron-
mentbygivinggroupsofbuyersthreediffer-
ent starting prices:
•$4,988
•$5,000
•$5,012
115/743

116. Whileforpracticalpurposestheseprices
maybeessentiallyidentical,whenthere-
searchersaskedthebuyerstoestimatethe
wholesalepriceoftheitem,thebuyergroup
withthe$5,000priceestimatedamuch
lowernumber.Notonlydidthe$5,000
groupmovefartherawayfromtheanchor
price,buttheyalsotendedtoestimatethe
wholesale price as a round number, too.
JaniszewskiandUyattributethisphe-
nomenontoourcreationofamentalmeas-
uringstickbasedontheinitialprice.Ifwe
thinkatoasterpricedat$20isoverpriced,
weestimateitmightbeworth$19or$18.
Forthesameitempricedat$19.95,our
measuringstickhasmoreprecision,so
prices like $19.75 or $19.50 come to mind.
8
Anotherstudylookedatthepriceof
housesandfoundthatsellerswholisted
theirhouseatanoddprice,suchas
$494,500,soldatapriceclosertotheirask-
ingpricethanhousespricedateven
116/743

117. numbers,like$500,000.Oddly,theeven-
pricedhouseslostmorevalueastheyaged
on the market, too.
9
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Precise
Pricing
Accordingtothesefindings,itseems,Imight
havedonejustaswellsellinga$499product
at$502.50;thekeythingistoavoidthe
dreadedroundnumberof$500,whichim-
pliesalackofprecisionandmakescustom-
erswonderif$400isamoreappropriate
price.
Istillthinktheremightbeasmallbiasto-
wardtheslightlylowernumberthanthe
slightlyhighernumberwhenitcomesto
buyerdecisionmaking,buttheresearchers
didn’texplorethatdirectly.Anotherarea
117/743

118. thatcouldusemorestudyiscomparingpre-
cisepricingtominimalistpricing,suchasthe
tiny“19”(withnocurrencysymbolordecim-
al) as one might find on a restaurant menu.
Thisworkshouldgivemarketerstheam-
munitiontheyneedtofendoffrequestsfor
simplifiedpricing.Inthepast,Irecallfre-
quentadmonitionsthat“Nobodyisfooledby
apricethat’sapennycheaper—let’skeepit
simpleandjustchargeanevennumber.”
Peoplemaynotbefooledbythemoreprecise
price,buttheymayattributeahighervalue
to the product itself.
Notes
8.Wray Herbert, “Why Things Cost
$19.95,”Scientific American Mind19,
no. 2 (April 2008),http://www.scienti-
ficamerican.com/article.cfm?id=why-
thin,gs-cost-1995&ec=su_1995.
118/743

119. 9.Ibid.
119/743

120. Chapter 8
Decoy Products and
Pricing
Needtosellmoreofaproductorservice?
Here’sacounterintuitiveidea:offeryour
customersasimilar,butinferior,productor
serviceataboutthesameprice.Whileit’s
unlikelythattheywillactuallybuytheless
attractiveitem,youmayseeajumpinsales
of what you are trying to sell.
Here’sareal-worldexample.Thelasttime
Ineededacanofshavinggel,Ifoundmyself
staringatashelffulofoptions.Gelsand
foamycreams,withvariationsthatincluded
“SensitiveSkin,”“Aloe,”“Cleansing,”and

121. manymore,linedtheshelves.AsIstood
therebefuddledbythechoices,Inoticeda
tallercanofthe“Advanced”gelamidthe
forestofshaveproducts.Thiscanwas
identicaltoseveralothercansof“Advanced,”
butitwasoneortwoinchestallerandhelda
coupleofouncesmoreoftheproduct.Bestof
all,itseemedtobethesamepriceasthe
shorter cans.
Istudiedthecansforanotherfewseconds
tobesureIwasn’tmissingsomething.Nope,
Iwasn’t—samestuff,samepackagedesign,
sameprice,but20percentmoreproduct.My
confusionevaporated.Ihadnoideahow
shavinggelcouldbe“Advanced,”orhowthat
mightcomparewith“Aloe,”butIgrabbed
thebiggercan,rootedaroundandfoundone
moreinback,andheadedforthecheckout
withbothcans.Howdidbuyerbefuddlement
turnintoalarger-than-expectedpurchaseso
quickly?Theanswer:decoymarketing.In
thiscase,thedecoywasunintentional,but
121/743

122. therearelotsofwaysthatmarketerscanuse
thetechniquetosteercustomerstowarda
decision.
Intheshavinggeldisplay,theinclusionof
theextralargeshavingcreamcanwasanac-
cident—thestorejusthadafewleftfroma
previouspromotion.Buttheprinciple
workedjustfine.Inthiscase,theregular-
sizedcanswerethedecoys.AssoonasIspot-
tedanearlyidenticalproductthatwas
clearlyabettervalue,thatnewfindstood
out as the right choice.
Relativityisthekeyelementindecoymar-
keting.Ourbrainsaren’tgoodatjudgingab-
solutevalues,buttheyarealwaysreadyto
comparevaluesandbenefits.Whenused
proactivelybymarketers,adecoyproductor
offercanmakeanotherproductlooklikea
better value.
InPredictablyIrrational,authorDanAri-
elydescribesanexperimentusingmagazine
subscriptionoffers.LikemostofAriely’s
122/743

123. experiments,thisoneisdeceptivelysimple.
Twogroupsofsubjectssawoneortheother
oftheseofferstosubscribeto
TheEconomist
10:
Offer A
•$59—Internet-onlysubscription
(68 chose)
•$125—Internetandprintsubscrip-
tion (32 chose)
•Predicted Revenue—$8,012
Offer B
•$59—Internet-onlysubscription
(16 chose)
•$125—Print-onlysubscription(0
chose)
•$125—Internetandprintsubscrip-
tion (84 chose)
123/743

124. •Predicted Revenue—$11,444
Takeamomenttolookatthisratherstart-
lingresult.Bothoffersarethesame,withthe
exceptionofincludingtheprint-onlysub-
scription in Offer B.
Despitethefactthatnotasingleperson
chosethatunattractiveoffer,itsimpactwas
dramatic—62percentmoresubjectschose
thecombinedprintandInternetoffer,and
predictedrevenuejumped43percent.The
print-onlyofferwasthedecoyandservedto
makethecombinedofferlooklikeabetter
value.Althoughit’struethatAriely’stesthad
thesubjectschoosewithoutactuallyconsum-
matingthedealwithacreditcard,it’sclear
thatintroducingthedecoymadethecom-
bined offer look more attractive.
How Decoys Work
124/743

125. AccordingtoAriely,decoyschangebehavior
whenasubjectischoosingbetweenalternat-
ivesthataremoreorlessequallyattractive.
Hegivesanexampleofchoosingbetweena
triptoRomeandatriptoParis,bothof
whichincludefreebreakfasts.Onemightex-
pectaslowdecision-makingprocesswitha
moreorlessevensplitbetweenthetwoal-
ternatives.Arielysuggeststhatintroducinga
decoy,atriptoRomewithnobreakfast,
wouldmaketheoriginaltriptoRomemore
attractive,andthat,giventhoseoptions,the
triptoRomewithbreakfastwouldhandily
beat the similar Paris trip.
So,jumpingbacktotheshavinggeltopic,
ifadrugstorereceivedashipmentofpromo-
tionalcanswithanextra20percentof
productinside,theirfirstreactionmightbe
toremovetheregularcansfromtheshelfun-
tilthepromotionalstockwasgone.What
customerwouldbedumbenoughtobuythe
125/743

126. smallcanwhenthebiggercanswerethe
same price?
Accordingtodecoymarketinglogic,
however,thestorewouldbewelladvisedto
leaveafewofthesmallcansontheshelf
withthebiggerones.Ascounterintuitiveasit
seems,thepresenceofsomesmallcans
wouldlikelyboostsalesofthelargerpromo-
tionalcans,perhapseventakingmarket
shareawayfromcompetingproductsthat
came in the larger size to begin with.
Decoys in Real Estate
I’veboughtanumberofhomes,andI’ve
foundthatrealestateagentsoftensetupa
tourofseveralhousesinthesameprice
range,leavingthemostdesirableforlast.
Thisseemstometobeanotherformofde-
coymarketing,particularlywhenthenext-
to-lasthousecomparespoorlywiththeone
126/743

127. theagenthopestosellyou(e.g.,thesame
price but in need of more repairs).
Arielysuggeststhatthiswillbemostef-
fectivewhenthecomparisonisbetweensu-
perficiallysimilarhomes,forexample,
betweentwo-storycolonial-stylehomeswith
thesamenumberofbedrooms.Buyinga
houseisacomplex,risky,andexpensivepro-
cess,andgettingabuyertomakeade-
cision—evenwhenheorsheknowsit’sne-
cessary—canbedifficult.Cleverrealestate
agentslearnthatcomparisonsareakeypart
ofthebuyer’sprocessandthatselectingthe
righthomestovisitisakeypartofmoving
toward a decision.
Brain Scan Evidence
OnestudyusedfMRIscanningtoseewhat
happensinourbrainswhenwearetryingto
choosebetweenoptions.Theresearchers
127/743

128. foundthatchoosingbetweentwoequallyat-
tractiveoptionscausedthesubjectstodis-
playirritationduetothedifficultyofchoos-
ing.But,whenanotherlessattractiveoption
wasoffered,thechoiceprocessbecameeasi-
er and more pleasurable.
11
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Try a “Not-
So-Good” Decoy to
Push Your Top
Product
Idon’tadvocateanytechniquesthatpush
customersintobuyingsomethingtheydon’t
needorwant.Sometimes,though,customers
havedifficultydecidingbetweenalternatives.
Togettheproducttheyneed,theyrequirea
nudgeinonedirectionortheother.For
128/743

129. example, I was certainly going to buy shaving
gelinthatstore,buttheunintentionaldecoy
gotmetothedecisionpointandonmyway
morequicklythanifIhadspentanotherfew
minutesconsideringtheweightyissuesofgel
versusfoam,aloeversussensitiveskin,
cheapersmallsizeversusexpensivebigsize,
andsoon.Theregular-sizeddecoysnudged
metowardthejumbocanatthesameprice,
and the deal was closed.
Whencreatingtheirproductofferings,
mostcompaniestrytodevelopthebestand
mostattractiveofferstheycan—apracticeI
whollyendorse.Butsometimesaddingaless
attractiveoffertothemixwillclosemore
dealsonthebetterofferswithoutdisad-
vantagingthecustomerinanyway.So,the
nexttimeyouarecreatingyour“good,bet-
ter,andbest”packages,considertossingina
“not-so-good”packagethat’ssimilarto(but
notasgoodas)theoneyou’dliketodrivethe
129/743

130. mosttrafficto.Ifthatboostssalesofthat
item, you’ll know your decoy is working.
Notes
10.Ariely,Predictably Irrational.
11.University of Minnesota, “Inside the
Consumer Mind: U of M Brain Scans
Reveal Choice Mechanism,” news re-
lease, December 11, 2008,ht-
tp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/
2008-12/uom-itc121108.php.
130/743

131. Chapter 9
How About a
Compromise?
Whenmarketersplanacompany’sproduct
offerings,theyusuallytrytodosointhe
mostlogicalwaypossible.Severallevelsof
productmaybeoffered:astripped-down,
basicversion;amorecapablebetterversion;
andperhapsa“best”version.Thesearenor-
mallypricedatquitedifferentlevels,prob-
ablybasedinpartontherelativemanufac-
turing costs of the products.
Inthelastchapter,wesawhowaseem-
inglycrazypricingstrategy—thatis,pricing
aninferiorproducteitherthesameasor

132. almostthesameasabetterone—couldboost
salesofthebetterproduct.(Inthatcase,the
inferior product is the decoy.)
Now,let’slookatadifferentkindofdecoy:
anewhigh-endproductthat,evenifitsells
poorly,canboostsalesofthenextproductin
the lineup.
RetailerWilliams-Sonomaatonepoint
offereda$275breadmaker.Later,theyad-
dedalargecapacityversionata50percent
premium.Theydidn’tsellmanyofthemore
expensivemodel,butsalesofthecheaper
one doubled.
12
Whathappened?Simplyput,introducing
thehigher-pricedmachineframedtheprevi-
ouslymostcostlyunitasacompromise,or
middle-of-the-roadchoice.Buyerswereno
longerspendingtoomuchonthe“Cadillac”
oftheline,butrathermakingawiseand
practicalchoice.Beforetheretaileradded
thehigher-pricedbreadmaker,customers
mayhavecompromisedonastilllower-
132/743

133. pricedmachine,orperhapsboughtnoneat
all.
AStanfordUniversityexperimenthada
groupofconsumerschoosebetweentwo
cameras,onemorefull-featuredthanthe
other.Asecondgroupchosefromaselection
ofthreecameras,whichhadtheothertwo
cameras plus one even higher-end model.
Thefirstgroupsplittheirpurchaseabout
50/50betweenthetwomodels.But,inthe
secondgroup,fewerofthecheapestunitsold
whilemoreofthesecondcamerasold.Ad-
dingtheveryexpensivemodelmadethe
secondcameralooklikeareasonablecom-
promise.
13
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Add a High-
End Product
133/743

134. Fromapracticalstandpoint,thismeansthat
ifyouhaveasolidproductatthetopofyour
line,youcanactuallyincreaseitssalesby
addinganevenhigher-pricedproductabove
it in the lineup.
Youmightfind,ofcourse,thatthemarket
willsupportthenewpremiumitemonits
ownmerits.Ifthathappens,perhapsintro-
ducinganevenmorecostlysuper-premium
productmightfurtherboostrevenue.But,
evenifthenewhigh-endproductdoesn’t
generatespectacularsales,youmayfindthat
itboostssalesofthenext-bestormid-range
products.
Ofcourse,thereareafewcautions.First,
thecustomermaynotbecomparingyour
productsonlyagainsteachother;keepan
eyeoncompetitiveofferings,too.Second,
youshouldavoidhavingtoomanyproduct
variations.Researchshowsthathavingtoo
manychoicesreducessales,duetoasortof
paralysis of analysis.
134/743

135. Restaurant Decoys
Oneareawheredecoyproductsareused
withgreatregularity(andsuccess)isinres-
taurants.Thecostlyfiletmignonandlobster
combinationatthetopofthemenuislikely
moreeffectiveatmakingtheotherentrees
seemreasonablethaningeneratingorders
itself.Similarly,the$100CabernetSauvign-
ononthewinelistmakesa$35bottleanac-
ceptableupgradecomparedwiththe$20
plonk at the bottom of the price range.
Notes
12.Barbara Buell, “The Limits of One-
to-One Marketing,”Stanford Business
68, no. 4 (August 2000),ht-
tp://www.gsb.stanford.edu/com-
munity/bmag/sbsm0008/faculty_re-
search_mktg.html.
135/743

136. 13.Itamar Simonson, “The Effect of
Product Assortment on Buyer Prefer-
ences,”Journal of Retailing75, no. 3
(Autumn 1999): 347–370,ht-
tp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/
article/pii/S0022435999000123.
136/743

137. Chapter 10
Cut Choices; Boost
Sales
Consumersmustlikelotsofchoices—why
elsewouldtherebehundredsofshampoo
brandsandvariantsonatypicalsupermar-
ketshelf?Actually,it’sbeenknownforyears
thattoomanychoicescanreduceconsumer
purchases.
AstudyatColumbiaUniversitycompared
consumerbehaviorwhenconfrontedwitha
selectionofeither6or24gourmetjamsin
anupscalegrocerystore.Thebiggerselec-
tiondidindeedcausemorecustomersto
stopandcheckitout—60percentlooked

138. versus40percentforthelimitedselection.
Theinterestingpart,though,wasthepur-
chasingbehavior.Whereas30percentofthe
customerspresentedwiththelimitedselec-
tionmadeapurchase,amere3percentof
thosewhosawtheextensiveselectionbought
something.
14
Thatresultisquitestartling—thesmallse-
lectionsold10timesasmuchasthelarger
one.
Choice Fatigue
Additionalresearchshowsthatmaking
choicestiresthechooser’sbrainandcanac-
tuallymakesubsequentdecisionmaking
more difficult.
15
Onestudy,byNedAugenblickandScott
NicholsonofStanfordUniversity,analyzed
votingpatternsinaCaliforniacounty.They
foundthatthelowerontheballotanitem
138/743

139. appeared,themorelikelythevoterwasto
notmakeanychoiceortouseashortcut,
suchaspickingthefirstchoice.Theprocess
ofworkingthroughtheballotmakingchoices
causedvoterstolookforaneasywayoutas
they progressed.
16
We’velikelyallexperiencedthatourselves
whencompletingonlinesurveys.Westart
outpayingcloseattentiontothequestions
andchoices,butiftheprocessstartsto
stretchacrossmultiplescreens,ourdiligence
wanes.
Cuttingchoicesworksintherealworld.
Walmartdroppedtwobrandsofpeanutbut-
terandfoundsalesinthecategorywentup.
Similarly,Procter&Gamblecuttherangeof
skincareproductsataretailer,andsalesof
theremainingproductsincreased.Cus-
tomersreportedthattheproductselection
seemedlargerafterthecut,perhapsbecause
themerchandisecouldbebetterorganized
and displayed.
17
139/743

140. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Find Your
Choice Sweet Spot
Thetrick,itseems,isfindingtheoptimal
numberofchoicesforyourproduct:offering
enoughchoicestoensurethatacustomer
canfindasatisfyingproduct,butnotso
manythatthecustomerwillbebewilderedor
demotivated.Aswithmostelementsofmar-
keting,testingbeatsguessworkforthiskind
ofdecision.Ifanygeneralconclusioncanbe
drawn,it’sthataddingmorechoicesbecause
youwanttohavewhatlookslikealargese-
lectionisabadstrategy;ifpoorlyselling
choices are axed, sales may actually increase.
Helping Customers Choose
140/743

141. Customerguidancemayhelp,too.Inthe
Columbiastudy,almostnobodypurchased
jamproductswhentheselectionwashuge.
Whatifasalespersonhadbeenonhandto
askcustomersaquestionortwoabouttheir
preferencesandthenmakeastrongrecom-
mendation?“Ifyoulikestrawberries,then
you’llabsolutelyloveourstrawberryginger
jam.It’sfulloffruitflavorbuthasreallyin-
terestingspicynotes,too.Agroupofchefs
ratedittheirfavoritechoicefromourfull
rangeofjams.”Likely,abitofefforttohelp
thecustomerdecide(andvalidatethatde-
cisionwithadditionaldata)wouldgoalong
waytowardslicingthroughtheconfusion
and frustration caused by too many choices.
Self-Service Help
Eveninaself-servicesetting,guidanceinthe
formoflabels,shelftalkers,andsoon,may
helpbydirectingconsumerattentiontoward
141/743

142. productsthatmaybesuitedtotheirneeds
andwants.Thewineshelvesatthesuper-
marketareagoodexampleofaparalyzing
arrayofchoices.Wineshopsdealwiththis
profusionofoptionsbyoffering(apparently)
expertadvicetocustomers.Incontrast,
manysupermarketwinesectionsofferas
largeaselectionasawineshopbuthaveno
trainedstafftoassistconfusedcustomers.
I’veseensmartretailersguidechoicesbyla-
belingafewwineswithprominentdescrip-
tions and expert ratings.
Choosing on the Web
Onlineretailerscanofferagreaterselection
ofproductsthanbrick-and-mortarstores,
andtheycanuseallkindsoftechniquesto
makechoosingeasier:recommendationen-
gines,sortingandrankingfeatures,ratings
andreviews,suggestionsofsimilarproducts,
andsoforth.Amazon.comhasaproductlist
142/743

143. thatnumbersinthemillions,butitstillman-
agestoguideitscustomerstoappropriate
choices.Someonlineretailersfailthetest,
though.I’veleftsitesthatpresentedmewith
alargeassortmentofproductsthatmetmy
initialcriteriabutofferedmenowaytosort
through them and narrow my options.
Avoid Similar Choices
Thewideselectionphaseofthejamexperi-
mentisagoodexampleofofferingmany
choiceswithnoshortcutstohelpconsumers.
Choicesarelessdauntingwhentheitemsare
quitedifferentandoffertheconsumermean-
ingfulvariation.Sales-killingchoicesare
thosethatappearverysimilarandofferthe
consumer no shortcuts in making a decision.
Thebasicmessageisthesameforallven-
ues:morechoiceisn’talwaysgoodandcan
actuallyreducesales.
143/743

144. Notes
14.Sheena S. Iyengar and Mark R. Lep-
per, “When Choice Is Demotivating: Can
One Desire Too Much of a Good Thing?”
Journal of Personality and Social Psy-
chology79, no. 6 (December 2000):
995–1006,http://psycnet.apa.org/
?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/
0022-3514.79.6.995.
15.Randy Dotinga, “Choices Sap Your
Stamina, Self Control,”Washington
Post,April 18, 2008,http://www.wash-
ingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/art-
icle/2008/04/18/
AR2008041802473.html.
16.Ned Augenblick and Scott Nicholson,
“Choice Fatigue: The Effect of Making
Previous Choices on Decision Making in
a Voting Context,” Haas School of Busi-
ness, University of California, Berkeley
(February 2011): 1–29,
144/743

145. http://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/ned/
Choice_Fatigue.pdf.
17.Marina Strauss, “In Store Aisles, Less
Is More but Customers Can Still Be Par-
ticular,”Globe and Mail,May 18, 2010,
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
report-on-business/in-store-aisles-less-
is-more-but-customers-can-still-be-par-
ticular/article1573518/.
145/743

146. SECTION TWO
Sensory
Brainfluence
Theconnectionbetweenoursensesandour
brainisdirect.Marketerswhobuildsensory
featuresintotheirproducts,services,and
marketingcanappealdirectlytotheemo-
tionsandstoredmemoriesoftheircustom-
ers.Marketingtoallfivesensescanchange
weak brands and products into powerhouses.

147. Chapter 11
UseAllthe Senses
Oneofthestrongestadvocatesforcreating
marketingthatappealstoallfiveofour
sensesisMartinLindstrom,authorofboth
BuyologyandBrandSense:BuildPowerful
BrandsThroughTouch,Taste,Smell,Sight,
andSound.Thelatterbookwasbasedinpart
onaglobalresearchprojectbyMillward
Brown,whichstudiedtherelationship
between branding and sensory awareness.
Lindstrom’sbasicpointinBrandSenseis
simple:brandsthatappealtomultiplesenses
willbemoresuccessfulthanbrandsthatfo-
cusononlyoneortwo.Theseappealscanbe
partofthebrand’sadvertising,likeusinga

148. distinctivecolorandlogoinaconsistent
manner,orbepartoftheproductitself,such
asaphoneringtoneorthefragranceofa
soap product.
SingaporeAirlines,accordingtoLind-
strom,isthepinnacleofsensorybranding.
Theynotonlyusetheconsistentvisual
themesonemightexpectfromanairlinebut
incorporatethesamescent,StefanFloridian
Waters,intheperfumewornbyflightat-
tendants,intheirhottowels,andinother
elementsoftheirservice.Flightattendants
mustmeetstringentappearancecriteria,and
theywearfinesilkuniformsthatmatchele-
ments of the cabin decor.
SingaporeAirlinesstrivestomakeevery
sensoryelementoftheircustomerinterac-
tionappealingand,equallyimportant,con-
sistentfromencountertoencounter.Lind-
stromcreditsthefirm’sperennialposition
atoptravelers’preferencerankingstothese
efforts.
148/743

149. Brand Fragments
OnekeyelementofLindstrom’smarketing
prescriptioniswhathecalls,“SmashYour
Brand.”Inessence,hethinksabrandshould
beidentifiableevenwhensomepartsofthe
marketingprogramaren’tthere.Ifyourlogo
isremovedfromyourproductoryourad-
vertisement,woulditstillbeinstantlyrecog-
nizableasyourbrand?Isjustacolorenough
tosignifyyourbrand?Ofcourse,fewbrands
havethepowertoclaimasinglecoloras
theirexclusivelook,butthepointisthat
marketersneedtothinkbeyondtheirlogoas
thesoleconsistentelementintheirbranding
efforts.
149/743

150. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Appeal to
All Five Senses
Tobetrulysuccessful,yourmarketing
shouldencompasseveryhumansense.This
isn’tanexhaustivelistofpossiblesensory
topics,butcheckthemoffandseewhichyou
areaddressingnowandwhicharesuccessful
enoughthatyourcustomerswouldrecognize
them on their own:
Sight—logo,productdesign,col-
or(s), typeface
Sound—music, product sounds
Taste—producttaste,ediblefavors/
gifts
Smell—environmental aroma,
product aroma
150/743

151. Touch—productsurfaceandshape,
marketingmaterials,environment
surfaces
Consistencyisthekeyinbuildingthesens-
oryaspectsofyourbrand.Theseelements
shouldbethesameacrosstime,inanyloca-
tion,andinanyuse.We’lllookatsomespe-
cificsensoryapproachesintheensuing
chapters.
151/743

152. Chapter 12
Does Your Marketing
Smell?
MartinLindstrom,whomwemetinthepre-
viouschapter,thinkssmellisparticularlypo-
tentinbypassingconsciousthoughtandcre-
atingassociationswithmemoriesandemo-
tions.Heestimatesthat75percentofour
emotionsaregeneratedbywhatwesmell,
andheisanenthusiasticadvocateofincor-
poratingthesenseofsmellintoasmanyas-
pects of a firm’s marketing as possible.
FrenchauthorMarcelProustreallydidget
itrightwithhisconceptof“involuntary
memory.”Proustfamouslydescribedan

153. avalancheofmemoriesbeingtriggeredby
thesmellofamadeleine,aFrenchcake.He
feltthattheseinducedmemoriesweremore
realisticandpowerfulthan“voluntary”
memorieswhichweintentionallytrytore-
call.Allthewaybackin1935,astudyby
DonaldLairdshowedthat80percentofmen
and90percentofwomenreportedhaving
vivid,emotion-triggeringmemoriesevoked
by odor.
1
Scentscanaffectperceptioninotherways,
too.Inoneexperiment,twopairsofidentical
Nikeshoeswereevaluatedbyconsumers:
oneinaroomwithafloralscentandone
withnoscent.Fully84percentofthesub-
jectsevaluatedthesneakersinthescented
room as superior.
MarcGobe,authorofEmotionalBrand-
ing,sayseverybrandshouldhaveadistinct-
ivesmellandthinksthatscentisakeysuc-
cessfactorinbuildingadeeperemotional
bondwiththeconsumer.GobecitesThomas
153/743

154. Pink,aLondon-basedshirtseller,which
scentsitsstoreswithline-driedlinenfra-
grance.Hethinksthatevenspecificspaces,
suchassectionsofadepartmentstoreorin-
dividualdisplays,maydeservetheirown
unique scent boost.
GeraldZaltman,anexpertinconsumer
psychologyandauthorofHowCustomers
Think,describeshowolfactoryandother
sensorycuesarehardwiredintothebrain’s
limbicsystem.That’stheseatofemotion,
andbyvirtueofthatconnection,smellscan
stimulate vivid recollections.
Onceascentisembeddedinanindividu-
al’sbrain,evenvisualcuescancauseittobe
resurrectedandeven“experienced,”accord-
ingtoZaltman.Forexample,atelevision
commercialshowingapizzabeingpulled
fromanovencantriggerolfactoryresponses
in the brain.
Zaltmanseesscentsasservinginseveral
ways.Theycanbememorymarkersthathelp
154/743

155. apersonrecallfamiliarbrandsmorethan
unfamiliarones.Theycanalsochangethe
wayweprocessinformation;alemonaroma,
forexample,canmakeusmorealert.Zalt-
manspeculatesthatscentsofthattypecould
be helpful when introducing a new product.
More Scent Effects
Scentscanaffectbehaviorandconsumer
perceptions.Oneexperimentshowedthat
nightclubpatronsdancedlongerwhenthe
venuewasscentedwithorange,peppermint,
andseawater.Whensurveyed,thepatronsof
thescentedclubsreportedtheyhadabetter
time and liked the music more.
2
Atestinacasinofoundthatpeople
gambled45percentmoremoneyinaslot
machinewhenapleasantscentwasintro-
ducedintothearea.Anothertestfoundthat
changingashampoo’sfragrancebutnoother
155/743

156. performancecharacteristicscausedtestersto
findthatitfoamedbetter,rinsedoutmore
easily, and left their hair glossier.
3
Thefactthatachangeinfragranceaf-
fectedcustomerperceptionsofhowthe
shampooperformedintotallyunrelated
areasisatellingpointformarketersand
product developers.
Sometimes,weprocessscentswithout
consciousawareness.Inoneuniqueexperi-
ment,researchersaskedfemalesubjectsto
smellshirtswornbymenwhowatched
eitheraneroticmovieoraneutralone.Vir-
tuallyallofthewomensaidtheydidn’tsmell
anything,butthefunctionalmagneticreson-
anceimaging(fMRI)scansofthebrainsof
thewomenwhosmelledtheshirtswornby
thearousedguyslitupinadifferentway.
4
(Thisisjustoneexampleofwhysurveys,
questionnaires,andsimilarmarketresearch
tools can yield unreliable results.)
156/743

157. Bad Smells
Allsensoryexperiencesaren’tpositive.Lind-
stromrecountstheresultsofasensorysur-
veyofU.S.McDonald’scustomersthatfound
thatonethirdofthepatronsthoughtthatthe
restaurantssmelledlikestaleoil.OfMcDon-
ald’scustomersinBritain,42percent
thoughtthesame,andbothgroupsindicated
thatthissmelldiminishedtheirenjoymentof
thefood.Thesurveyfoundthatothercus-
tomerslikedthesmellandthatitmadetheir
mouthswater.It’sinterestingthatalthough
usuallybadsmellsaresituationalandfleet-
ing—scorchedcoffee,burnedfood,andso
on—inthecaseofMcDonald’s,theconsist-
encyofthestaleoilsmellhadreachedthe
point of becoming a brand association.
157/743

158. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Own Your
Smell
Althoughonethinksofolfactorymarketing
astheprovinceofbigcompaniesthatcanaf-
fordcustomfragrancedevelopment,just
abouteverybusinesshassmellsassociated
withit.Theymightbeintendedoruninten-
ded,enticingorunpleasant,buttheyare
there.Gettingtheseundercontroliskeyfor
businesses of every size.
Olfactory Branding
Thefirst,andperhapsmostsignificant,use
ofscentisforbranding.Thekeystoolfactory
brandingareconsistencyanduniqueness.
OnereasonforSingaporeAirline’ssensory
brandingsuccessisthattheydevelopeda
memorablescentandthenusedit
158/743

159. everywhereforyears.Regularflyerslearned
whattheairlinesmelledlike;moreimport-
antly,theyunconsciouslyassociatedthis
scentwiththerestoftheSingaporeAirlines
experience:lovelyattendants,impeccable
service,andsoon.Abrand’sscentneednot
comeoutofaspraycanoranaromagenerat-
or;Barnes&Noblestoreshaveafairlycon-
sistentscentthatincludescrispnewbooks
andStarbuckscoffee.(Thenagain,perhaps
there’samachineinabackroompumping
out that smell!)
Hollisterandotherapparelretailersuse
environmentalscents.Reportedly,Hollister
usesitsownSoCalfragrance,bothspraying
itonclothingitemsandevenpumpingitout-
side to attract passersby.
Products
Olfactoryproductmarketingisabitmore
straightforwardbutisstillimportant.In
159/743

160. today’ssupermarkets,isthereanydoubtthat
morerotisseriechickensaresoldbecauseof
theenticingaromaofroastingchickenthat
waftsaroundthatareaofthestore?Inthat
sameenvironment,though,theremaybe
manyotheraromamarketingtechniquesin
use,eitherintentionallyornot.Thecoffee
sectionlikelyhasagrinderthatcirculatesa
coffeearomaasitcrushesthebeans.Some
foodstoresaren’trelyingonnaturalaroma
propagation—oneBrooklyngroceryrecently
deployedscentgeneratorstostimulatebuy-
ing.Theyintroducescentsthatareenticing
butmightbehardtocreateandmaintainby
normalmeans,likechocolateinthecandy
sectionandgrapefruitintheproducearea.
5
Nonfooditemscanbenefitfromaromas,
too—thinklinenscentsinabeddingstore,
leatherscentsinclothingandfurnitureen-
vironments, and so on.
Theproductitselfmayusematerialslike
rubber,plastic,wood,leather,oils,andso
160/743

161. forth,thatcarryascent.Thesecanbeen-
hancedifdesired,forimpactandconsist-
ency.Today,theevocative“newcarsmell”is
atleastinparttheproductofforethought,
testing, and even simulated scents.
Retail Environments
Inanyretailsetting,controllingtheolfactory
environmentisimportant.Peoplewillasso-
ciatesmellswiththestoreandproducts.Do
youwanttobeknownforstaleoilor
somethingelseunpleasant?Don’tforgetthe
Nikeshoestudyinwhichapleasantsmell
entirelyunrelatedtotheproduct(floral
scentsandrunningshoesseemquitediscon-
nected)dramaticallyincreasedconsumer
preference.
Olfactory Dangers
161/743

162. Inscents,alittlegoesalongway.We’ve
probablyallhadtheexperienceofsitting
nearanolfactorilychallengedseptuagenari-
anwhoappliedafewmoreshotsofperfume
thanwerenecessary—andit’snotapleasant
experience.
Similarly,afresh-smellinghotelroomisa
plus;onethatseemstohavebeendoused
withgallonsofairfreshenernotonlyisun-
pleasantbutbegsthequestion,“Whatare
theycoveringup?”Someindividualsare
quitesensitivetofragrancesandmayfind
strongscentsverydisturbing.Oneabortive
efforttosellmilkbyplacingcookie-scented
adsinbusshelterslastedonlyadaybefore
cityauthoritiesforcedtheirremoval.Theof-
ficialreasonwastheobjectionofthe“envir-
onmental illness community.”
Scentsshouldbesubtleandappropriateto
theirenvironment.Thesmelloffresh-baked
chocolatechipcookieswouldbewonderful
inabakeryorcoffeeshop;inanoutdoorbus
162/743

163. shelter,thesamearomaisrathersuspect.
Consumers’brainswillprocessthatsamein-
formationdifferently.Inthebakery,that
smellisprocessedasreal,butinthebus
shelter,it’speggedasartificial.Another
location-dependentexampleismustybooks;
thesmellofoldpaper,dust,andfoxedpages
wouldbequiteawfulforBarnes&Noble,but
mightbejustthethingtogetbookcollectors
andacademicssalivatingatanantiquarian
bookstore.
Summary: Think Smell
Smellmaybethemostpotentanddirect
sensorypathtothebrain.Checkoutyour
productsandsellingenvironments,bothby
directobservationandcustomerqueries.
Chancesareyouhaveatleastonedefault
smell,evenifyouaredoingnothinginten-
tionallyaromatic.Determinewhetherthat
163/743

164. scentissomethingtobuildonorsomething
toeliminate.Considerabrandingstrategy
thatincludesaroma—thatmaynotbeappro-
priateforeverysituation,butthinkoutside
thebox.Followthroughintoboththe
productandcustomercontactenvironment.
Whatdotheysmelllikenow,andcanyou
improvetheirappealand/orconsistency?
Finally,neveroverdoanykindofscent-based
marketing.Thecustomerbacklashwillout-
weigh any benefits.
Notes
1.Laird, D. (1935). What can you do
with your nose? Scientific Monthly. 41:
126-30
2.“Clubbers Can Smell a Good Night-
spot,”ScienceDaily,May 17, 2011,ht-
tp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2011/05/110517105141.htm.
164/743

165. 3.Kate Fox, “The Smell Report,” Social
Issues Research Centre,ht-
tp://www.sirc.org/publik/smell.pdf.
4.Nicholas Bakalar, “Varying Sweat
Scents Are Noted by Women,”New
York Times,February 16, 2009,ht-
tp://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/17/
health/17swea.html.
5.“N.Y. grocery turns to scent market-
ing.”CBSNews.com. 13 Aug. 2011. CBS
News. 18 July 2011;www.cbsnews.com/
stories/2011/07/18/earlyshow/
main20080320.shtml.
165/743

166. Chapter 13
Learn From Coffee
Coffeemaysharpenyourthinking,and
studyingcoffeesellersmaysharpenyour
sensorymarketing,too.Fewfirmshavede-
votedasmuchthoughttosensoryappealas
purveyors of coffee.
Oneofthekeystothelong-termsuccessof
Starbuckshasbeenthatitsstoresoffera
consistentandappealingsensoryexperience.
Themusic,colors,andlightingareallim-
portant,butthewonderfulcoffeearomais
whatdominatesone’ssensesonenteringa
Starbucksoutlet.(Starbucksbrieflydamaged
itsownsensoryappealbyintroducingbreak-
fastsandwichesthatsmelledlikeeggsand

167. overpoweredthetraditionalcoffeesmell.
ThesandwicheswereeliminateduntilStar-
bucksfoundpreparationmethodsthat
avoided the undesirable aroma.)
Nespresso’s Dilemma
IenjoybrewingStarbuckscoffeeathome,
butitneverseemsquitethesameaswhenI
consumeitintheactualshop.Itturnsout
thatI’mnotalone,andthatmycoffeemaker
isn’ttheentireproblem.Yes,coffeeinthe
coffeeshopdoestastebetter,butnotforthe
reasonsyoumightexpect.Researchfroman-
othercoffeeprovider,Nespresso,showsthat
60percentofthesensoryexperienceof
drinkingespressocomesfromtheretailen-
vironment!
6
Nespresso,asubsidiaryoffoodgiant
Nestlé,wasfacedwithadilemmacreatedby
thissensoryexperiencequirk.Ithadcreated
167/743

168. ahomeespresso-makingsystemthatpro-
ducedespressothattastedjustlikethebrew
youcouldfindinacoffeeshop.Unfortu-
nately, consumers didn’t recognize that.
It’snotabigshockthathome-brewedes-
pressomightnotseemastastyaswhatyou
getinacoffeeshop.Thissourcebias,along
withtheimprovedsensoryexperienceinthe
shopenvironment,stacksthedeckagainst
home-preparedespressonomatterhow
good it actually tastes.
Tobeattheseingrainedconsumerpercep-
tions,Nestléfirstlaunchedupscalecoffee
shopsinmajorcitiesfortheprimarypurpose
ofcreatingthehigh-intensitysensoryexperi-
encepeopleexpect,butalsowiththeinten-
tionofshowingcustomerstheycouldgetthe
same high-quality espresso at home.
Thesecondthingtheydidwasmodifythe
homeespresso-makingsystemtorelease
morearoma.Thisisabrilliantand,Ican
testify, often overlooked strategy.
168/743

169. IonceownedaMelittacoffeemakerthat
madesuperbcoffee.Inadditiontobrewingit
properly,itstoredtheproductinaninsu-
latedstainlesssteelpot(toavoidflavorde-
gradationfromsittingonaheatingelement).
Althoughthesystemwasnothermetically
sealed,thebrewedcoffeewasinjecteddir-
ectlyintothepotwithvirtuallynoexposure
toroomair.Thismaybegoodforpreserving
theflavor,butyoucanguesstheproblem:
verylittlearomaescapedintothe
environment.
MypreviousBrauncoffeemakerwasfar
lesssophisticated,butitcouldbecountedon
tofillthehousewiththeenticingaromaof
freshly brewing coffee.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Give Your
169/743

170. Product a Sensory
Tweak
Idoubtifmanyconsumerfirmshavetaken
asmanystepstoimprovethesensoryappeal
oftheirproductsasNespressohas.Notonly
didtheymodifytheproductitselftoimprove
thesensoryexperience,theylaunchedanen-
tirelynewchannel(theirbrandedcoffee
shops)justtoaddresstheperceivedsensory
gapinthehomeenvironment.Mostcompan-
ieswon’twanttoopenupachainofretail
shops,butjustabouteverycompanycould
benefitfromasensoryreviewoftheirkey
products.
If,likeNespresso,youfindthatyouare
missingasensoryopportunity(eventhough
itdoesn’trelatetothequalityorperform-
anceoftheproduct),don’tbeafraidtomake
changes.
170/743

171. Notes
6.Neuromarketing;“Sensory Market-
ing to Jolt Espresso Sales,” inNeur-
omarketing,a blog by Roger Dooley,
November 1, 2007,http://www.neuros-
ciencemarketing.com/blog/articles/
espresso-sensory-selling.htm.
171/743

172. Chapter 14
Sounds Like Changed
Behavior
Someyearsago,researchersintheUnited
Kingdomdecidedtoevaluatetheeffectsof
backgroundmusiconcustomerpurchasing
decisions.Theychoseawineshopforthisex-
periment,sincewineshaveidentifiableori-
gins,andproceededtoplayFrenchandGer-
manbackgroundmusiconalternatingdays.
Theresultswerestartling:theFrenchand
Germanwineseachoutsoldtheotherbysev-
eralmultiplesonthedaysthematchingmu-
sic was playing.
7

173. Theseintrepidmusicexplorersalsofound
thatenjoyableandappropriatebackground
musiccouldinducecustomerstoacceptlong
waitingtimes,bothonthetelephoneandin
person.
FirmslikeMuzakbuiltlargebusinesses
basedonplayingsubtlemusicthatisbarely
noticedbutthatchangestheaudioenviron-
ment and, in some cases, changes behavior.
Otherresearchhasdemonstratedtheef-
fectsofbackgroundmusiconavarietyofbe-
haviors.Onestudyfoundthatchildrenwith
emotionalorbehavioralproblemslearned
mathmorequicklyinthepresenceofcalm-
ingbackgroundmusic.
8Anotherstudymeas-
uredhowcustomerperceptionofabank
changedwhenbackgroundmusicwasadded
totheenvironment.Aclassicalsoundtrack
causeda233percentjumpinbankgoer’s
perceptionofthebankas“inspiring,”com-
paredwiththeirperceptionwhennomusic
was playing.
9
173/743

174. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Find Back-
ground Music That
Works!
There’snosingletypeofbackgroundmusic
thatworksbestineveryretailenvironment.
Ateenapparelstoremayfindboominghip-
hopbooststrafficandsales,whereasamer-
chantsellingorganicspaproductsmight
chooseNewAgetracks.Asshownbythe
wineexperiment,theproductsyouhopeto
sell should guide your choice of music.
Ifyousettleforsilence,though,orrandom
radiobroadcasting,youarelikelylosingcus-
tomers and sales.
Notes
174/743

175. 7.Adrian C. North, David J. Hargreaves,
and Jennifer Mckendrick, “Music and
On-hold Waiting Time,”British Journal
of Psychology90, no. 1 (February 1999):
161–164,ht-
tp://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
10.1348/000712699161215/abstract;
Adrian C. North and David J. Har-
greaves, “The Effects of Musical Com-
plexity and Silence on Waiting Time,”
Environment and Behavior31, no. 1
(January 1999): 136–149,ht-
tp://eab.sagepub.com/content/31/1/
136.
8.Susan Hallam and John Price, “Can
the Use of Background Music Improve
the Behavior and Academic Perform-
ance of Children with Emotional and
Behavioural Difficulties?”British Journ-
al of Special Education25, no. 2 (June
1998): 88–91,
175/743

176. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/
10.1111/1467-8527.t01-1-00063/
abstract.
9.Adrian C. North and David J. Har-
greaves, “The Effects of Music on Atmo-
sphere in a Bank and a Bar,”Journal of
Applied Social Psychology30, no. 7
(June 2000): 1504–1522,http://on-
linelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/
j.1559-1816.2000.tb02533.x/abstract.
176/743

177. Chapter 15
The Sound of Your
Brand
Marketingcampaignsoftenfocusprimarily
onthesenseofvision,whethertheyare
purelyvisual,suchasprintadsandbill-
boards,orhaveassociatedsound,suchas
televisioncommercialsorretailenviron-
ments.Howcanmarketersgobeyondusing
audiotocommunicatebenefits(or,even
worse,speed-readthroughthelegaleseofa
disclaimer)andincorporateapowerful
branding or other marketing message?
Mostmarketersdon’tignorethepossibilit-
iesofsoundwhenit’sanavailableoption.

178. They’lluseitproductivelyformood-setting
musicorapersuasivevoice-over.It’spos-
sible, though, to go beyond the obvious.
Muzakhasbeenexploitingtheneedfor
backgroundmusicfordecades,althoughfor
muchofthattime,theyseemedtobeprimar-
ilysuppliersofbland“elevatormusic”(relat-
ivelyneutralinstrumentalswithextremefre-
quenciesfilteredout).Thiswasmusicde-
signedprimarilynottooffend.Now,Muzak
considersitselfanaudiobrandingfirm,cap-
ableofcraftingamusicalbackgroundpartic-
ularlysuitedtoafirm’soverallbrandingand
positioning strategy.
Forexample,Muzakcraftedamixof
soothingandsereneinstrumentalstocreate
aspa-likeacousticenvironmentforJoiede
Vivre’sHotelVitale.Thiswasdesignedto
complementthehotel’svisual,tactile,and
olfactory emphases on natural luxury.
Doesaudiobrandingactuallywork?One
hastobelievethere’safairamountof
178/743

179. guessworkwhenyouareanaudioarchitect
tryingtocreatejusttherightbrandingmusic
forafirmorenvironment.Still,itseems
likelythatadiligentattempt,evenifimper-
fectanddifficulttoproveeffective,isbetter
than ignoring the concept.
The Musical Logo
UnitedAirlineshastakenafamiliarcompos-
ition,GeorgeGershwin’sRhapsodyinBlue,
andmadeittheirown(tothedismayofsome
musiclovers).Theairlinehascleverlyused
thethemeinmostofitsadsbuthasmodified
itinmanywaystovarythesoundandkeepit
relevanttotheadcontent.Forexample,fora
televisioncommercialpromotingAsiandes-
tinations,thefamiliarRhapsodythemewas
arranged in an appropriately Asian style.
Rhapsodyappearsinairportenviron-
mentscontrolledbyUnitedAirlines,too.
179/743

180. Althoughnobodywantstositforhours
listeningtobastardizedGershwin,it’sanin-
terestingadditiontopassengertransitareas,
whicharehightrafficbutwherenobody
stays very long.
Beyond Music
Musicmaybeapowerfulmoodsetter,but
otherauditoryinputscanhaveaprofound
impactaswell.We’veheardaboutthe
Mercedesdoor-slamteam—agroupproject
togetthemostappealingsoundfromaclos-
ing car door.
Oneofthemoreimpressiveauditory
brandingeffortsI’veseenisfromNextel,the
cellphonecompanythatisnowpartof
Sprint.Theyhavealwaysofferedaunique
walkie-talkiefeaturethatletsfellowNextel
usersinitiateaconversationinstantlyby
pushingonebutton.Althoughmostcell
180/743

181. featureslettheuserchoosefromarangeof
soundsorringtones,Nexteldidsomething
different—somethingsmart:everyNextel
phoneemitsadistinctivechirpwhenin
walkie-talkiemode.Thischirpisuniqueand
instantlyrecognizablebyanyotherNextel
user.Theyhaveincorporatedthechirpinto
theirTVcommercials,andonehearsitoften
inpublic.Thispowerfulauditorybranding
messagecostNextelnothingotherthanthe
couragetokeepthesoundconsistentacross
phonestylesandgenerations,andtonotlet
userseasilychangeit.(Unfortunatelyforthe
Nextelbrand,avarietyofbusinessissues
havemorethanoffsetthesebrandingbene-
fits.Intheyearssincethemergerbetween
NextelandSprint,useoftheNextelbrand
hasalmostvanishedinfavorofSprint
branding.)
181/743

182. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Find and
Keep Your Key Audio
Branding Elements
Consistentuseisthekeytoeffectiveaudio
branding.Constantrepetitionbreedsfamili-
arity,whetheritisacellphonechirpora
variationonRhapsodyinBlue.Although
Rhapsodyisindeedadistinctiveandmagical
pieceofmusicwhenperformedasGershwin
wroteit,that’snotwhyithasworkedforUn-
itedAirlines.Theycouldhavetakenanyone
ofmanymusicalthemesand,afteryearsof
repetition,madethatthemeinstantlyidenti-
fiable and synonymous with their brand.
Fewcompaniescanresistthetemptation
toswaptheirthememusicandbrandable
soundseveryfewyears,orwitheverymajor
newproduct.I’mnotsurewhy.Incontrast,
182/743

183. mostfirmswon’tchangetheircorporate
identitywillingly,andoftenlogoslastfor
decadeswithjustminortweaks.Ifcompan-
ieswereequallyreluctanttochangetheirau-
diobrandingelements,farmorewouldhave
sonicbrandingthatconsumersactually
recognize.
183/743

184. Chapter 16
Exploit the Brut Effect
JohnMedina,adevelopmentalmolecular
biologistandauthorofBrainRules,de-
scribesanamusing,albeitinformal,experi-
mentheconductedtoevaluatethepotency
ofscenttoenhancetheformationofmemor-
ies.
10Medinaranthetestwhileteachinga
complexmolecularbiologytopictotwo
classes.Inoneclass,beforeeachlessonhe
sprayedBrutcologneonthewall;theother
classreceivednosuchtreatment.(Medina
doesn’trelatewhatcomments,ifany,stu-
dentsenteringthecologne-scented
classroommade.)Whenitwastimeforthe
finalexam,hesprayedBrutforallstudents.

185. ThestudentswhohadreceivedtheBrut-
scentedlecturesperformedsignificantlybet-
ter on the test.
Althoughthisexperimentwasn’tscientific-
allyrigorous,itisconsistentwiththetheory
thatmemoriescanbestimulatedbysensory
inputssimilartothosepresentwhenthe
memory was formed. (Think Proust!)
Somemarketersaretryingthisapproach
intherealworld.OneSouthKoreanpoliti-
ciansprayedascentcalledGreatKoreaathis
campaigneventsandplannedtorepeatthe
process near polling places on election day.
11
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Scent
to Be Memorable
AlthoughMedina’stestwasdesignedtotest
simplerecall,marketerscanusethis
185/743

186. knowledgetohelpcustomersmakeapur-
chasedecision.StoressuchasStarbucksand
bakeriespracticethiskindofmarketing
everyday—merelypassingbyastorelets
customersinhalethearomaofcoffeeor
oven-freshbakedgoods,nodoubtcausinga
combinationofanunconsciousPavlovianre-
sponseandarecollectionofpastgoodexper-
iences in that environment.
WhatstudieslikeMedina’sshow,though,
isthatthescentandmemorydon’thaveto
berelatedtobeeffective;inthiscase,the
Brutsmellhadnothingtodowithmolecular
biology,butitstillenhancedrecallofthe
topic.Theconsistencyofthescentwasthe
keyfactorinstimulatingthememoryofthe
subjects.
(Idon’tthinkthatrepeatedexposuresto
Brutactuallymakesyousmarter,although
thedesignofMedina’sexperimentdoesn’t
rule out this possibility.)
186/743

187. Notes
10.John Medina,Brain Rules: 12 Prin-
ciples for Surviving and Thriving at
Work, Home, and School(Seattle: Pear
Press, 2008).
11.Reuters, “Candidate Secretly Sniffs
Out Voters,” December 13, 2007,ht-
tp://uk.reuters.com/article/2007/12/
13/oukoe-uk-korea-election-perfume-
idUKSEO1534820071213?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews .
187/743

188. Chapter 17
Smelly but Memorable
Wouldyoupreferascentedpencil?How
aboutatennisball?Tires?Youmightnot
care.Youmightevenprefertoavoidtheol-
factoryassaultaltogether,butresearch
showsyou’llremembertheproductbetterif
it has a scent.
Researchersfoundthatscentenhancesa
product’sdistinctiveness.Theyhadsubjects
evaluatepencilsthatwereunscented,hada
commonscent(pine),orhadanuncommon
scent(teatree).Theyfoundthatthesubjects
rememberedthescentedpencilstoamuch
higherdegreethantheunscentedpencils,
andthisdifferentialincreasedovertime.
12In

189. particular,theuncommonteatreescentpro-
duced the most durable memories.
Tagline Recall
Enhanced
Ofinteresttomarketers,itwasn’tjustthe
pencilsthemselvesthesubjectsremembered.
Theproductattributespresentedtothesub-
jectsincludedclaimssuchas,“Isendorsed
withtheGreenSealenvironmentstandard,”
“Containssuperiorgraphitelead,”and“Are
madefrompremiumoaktreesthathailfrom
California.”Thesubjectsrememberedthese
andothercharacteristicsbetterforthescen-
ted pencils.
Otherresearchhelpsexplainwhytheun-
usualscentworkedbetter.Ourbrains
processfirst-timesmellsinadifferentway
thanfamiliarones.Thespecialprocessing,
whichcanassociatethesmellwithapleasant
189/743

190. orunpleasantexperience,isuniquetoour
senseofsmell.Newsounds,forexample,
don’t form the same kinds of memory.
13
Inreadingthepencilstudy,Iwondered
aboutthenoveltyeffect.Imightremembera
pencilthatcarriedateatreearomasimply
becausesuchascentwouldbeunexpected
andunfamiliarinthecontextofawritingin-
strument.Ontheplusside,though,theim-
provedrecallwasachievedwithouttheaidof
scentcues.Addingascentduringthetesting
processwouldalmostcertainlyhaveboosted
recall even more.
Purchase Triggers
Onesmallbutinterestingstudymeasured
salesofaliquorproductinabar.Patrons
whohadthearomaofthatbeveragepumped
intothesurroundingairwhileavisualad
couldbeseenpurchasednearlytwiceas
190/743

191. muchoftheproductasthosewhosawthead
alone.
14
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Unique
Scents Boost
Memorability
Peoplewillremembermoreaboutaproduct,
evenitsadcopy,ifitisscented.Sincewe
don’tknowhoweffectivescentwouldbeif
manyorallproductsinacategorywerescen-
ted,itseemslikelythatthereisafirst-mover
advantageforthosewhoareearlyadopters
ofscentmarketing.Ifyourproductisunex-
pectedlyscentedandcompetitiveproducts
arenot,peoplewillremembernotjustthe
scentbutwhatyoutellthemaboutthe
product.
191/743

192. Anotherfirst-moverplusisthat,atleastin
theUnitedStates,scentscanbetrade-
marked.So,ifyouattachaparticularscent
toyourproduct,youcanstopcompetitors
from using the same scent.
Althoughanyscentmayhelp,onethatis
uniquewillfurtherenhancethememorabil-
ityoftheproductanditscharacteristics.This
isborneoutbothbythepencilstudyandby
researchshowingfirst-timescentsbeing
storeddifferentlyinthebrainthanfamiliar
ones.Ifpossible,chooseunusualscentsin
preference to common ones.
Notes
12.Journal of Consumer Research,
“Does Scent Enhance Product Memor-
ies?” news release, December 14, 2009,
https://www.jcr-admin.org/files/
192/743

193. pressreleases/121409105836Krishnare-
lease.pdf.
13.“Early Scents Really Do Get ‘Etched’
in the Brain,”ScienceDaily,November
6, 2009,http://www.sciencedaily.com/
releases/2009/11/091105132448.htm.
14.Ideair, “Sell Better with Scents,”ht-
tp://www.ideair.fi/sales.html.
193/743

194. Chapter 18
Learn From Yogurt
I’mnotabigyogurtfan.“Livecultures”
wouldbeunacceptable,orevenscary,in
mostfoods,butforsomereason,theyare
highlyprizedinyogurt.Nevertheless,wecan
alllearnsomethingfromaneuromarketing
study focused on the gooey dairy product.
First,aquestion:Ifyouweretoimagine
theprocessofeatingyogurt,startingwith
seeingthecontainer,pickingitup,opening
it,insertingthespoonandstirringupthe
fruit,smellingit,eatingthefirstspoonful,
theneatinganother,whichstepdoyouthink
would be most engaging to your brain?

195. Dr.A.K.Pradeep,authorofTheBuying
Brain,saysthatmostpeopleaskedthat
questionchooseinsertingthespoonandstir-
ring.Certainly,thefirstcreamyspoonful
wouldbeagoodsecondguess.When
Pradeep’scompany,NeuroFocus,testedthe
yogurtconsumptionprocessinitslabs,
however,theyreachedasurprisingconclu-
sion:thekeypartoftheprocess(asfarasthe
consumerbrainstheytestedareconcerned)
isgraspingandremovingthefoilcovering
over the top of the container.
15
NeuroFocuscallssuchcharacteristics
neurologicaliconicsignatures(NISs).Anoth-
erNIScouldbethecrunchofapotatochip.
Pradeepdoesn’tmentionit,butlongbefore
neuromarketing,oneadvertiserfoundand
promoteditsNIS:RiceKrispiesmadethe
sounditscerealmadewhencombinedwith
milkfamouswithits“Snap,Crackle,Pop”
slogan.
195/743

196. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Important
Product Characterist-
ics May Not Be
Obvious
Thefindingthatpullingoffthefoillidwas
themostsignificantsensoryelementineat-
ingyogurtwasimportanttotheyogurt-mak-
ingclientthatsponsoredthework,butit’san
importantlessonforallproductmarketers.
Don’tassumethattheobviousproductchar-
acteristicsaretheonlyimportantones.With
yogurt,onewouldlogicallyexpecttaste,tex-
ture,andaromatooutweighmerepackaging
considerations; in this case, they didn’t.
Thisfindingdoesn’tmeanthatflavorand
othercharacteristicsarenotstillveryim-
portanttothesuccessoftheproduct;ifthe
196/743

197. yogurtdidn’ttastegood,orhadafunny
smell, surely it wouldn’t sell.
Andalthoughneuromarketingstudiescan
revealsurpriseslikethis,costlyresearchisn’t
alwaysnecessary.TheRiceKrispiesmar-
keterswhodecidedtoletothercerealbrands
talkaboutflavorandfocustheiradsonthe
soundoftheircerealconductednobrain
studies,buttheyturnedtheirbrandintoa
decades-long success story.
Notes
15.Pradeep,The Buying Brain.
197/743

198. SECTION THREE
Brainfluence
Branding
Brains Love Brands
They Know
Marketershavealwaysunderstoodthe
powerofabrand,butit’sonlyrecentlythat
wehavepositiveproofofjusthowpotent
brandscanbe.AstudyinGermanyshowed
subjectsavarietyofbrandimageswhiletheir
brainactivitywasbeingscannedusingfunc-
tionalmagneticresonanceimaging(fMRI).
Theimagesincludedfamiliar,well-known
brandsaswellasotherlesser-knownbrands.
Theresultswerestartling:thestrongbrands
litupareasofthebrainassociatedwith

199. positiveemotions,rewards,andself-identi-
fication.Theweakbrands,meanwhile,litup
areasassociatedwithmemory(perhapstry-
ingtofigureoutiftheyhadeverseenit?)and
negative emotions.
1
Brands Trump Senses
Thepowerofstrongbrandsevenoverpowers
oursenses.RemembertheclassicPepsi
Challenge?Pepsididblindtastetestsoftheir
colaversusCokeandconsistentlycameout
ontop.PepsihammeredCokewiththose
resultsintheiradsforsolongthattheyfi-
nallygoadedthelargerfirmintodeveloping
NewCoke.ThereformulatedCokewascap-
ableofbeatingPepsiinblindtests,butitwas
suchamarketingdisasterthatitalmostdes-
troyed the brand.
ReadMontague,DirectoroftheHuman
NeuroimagingLabatBaylorCollegeof
199/743

200. Medicine,repeatedthePepsiChallengeina
newway:hehadthesubjectstastethe
productswhilebeingscannedbyanfMRI
machinethatlethimseehowtheirbrainsre-
actedtothecolas.Inablindtasting,
MontagueconfirmedtheoriginalPepsiChal-
lengeresults.Notonlydidthesubjectssay
theylikeditbetter,buttheirbrains
agreed—oneoftheirbrains’rewardcenters
showedfivetimesmoreactivitywithPepsi
than with Coke.
2
Whenthesubjectssawwhichbrandthey
weredrinking,though,nearlyallofthesub-
jectssaidtheypreferredtheCoke.Signific-
antly,thesubjects’brainactivitychangedas
well.Inthe“branded”test,forCokeanarea
ofthebrainassociatedwithself-identifica-
tionlituptoamuchhigherdegree.Even
swappingthecolaidentificationsdidn’t
changetheresults:theCokebrandreigned
supreme,regardlessofwhetherthesubject
was actually tasting Coke or Pepsi.
200/743

201. Giventhatbrandsexertexceptionally
powerfulinfluencesonourbrain,let’slookat
somewaysmarketerscanstrengthentheir
brandandusetheirbrandtogood
advantage.
Notes
1.Radiological Society of North Amer-
ica, “MRI Shows Brains Respond Better
to Name Brands,” news release, Novem-
ber 28, 2006,ht-
tp://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/
2006-11/rson-msb112106.php.
2.Edwin Colyer, “The Science of Brand-
ing,”BrandChannel,March 15, 2004,
http://www.brandchannel.com/fea-
tures_effect.asp?pf_id=20.1.
201/743

202. Chapter 19
Neurons That Fire
Together . . .
SigmundFreudwasthefirsttoproposethe
theory,thenCanadianpsychologistDonald
Hebbrefinedit,butittookneuroscientist
Carla Shatz to compact it into six words
3:
Neuronsthatfiretogetherwire
together.
Modernneurosciencehasconfirmed
Freud’soriginalspeculationbyprovingthat
ourbrainsactuallychangewithourexperi-
ences, a phenomenon calledneuroplasticity.

203. The Monkey’s Paw
Researchershavefoundthattrainingalters
brainmaps(thelocationsofthebrainthat
correspondtoindividualbodyparts).One
experimentattachedtwofingersofamonkey
togetherforaperiodofmonthssothatthey
acted,inessence,asasinglefinger;tests
showedthatthepreviouslyseparatebrain
mappingsforthetwofingershadindeedbe-
comeone.Althoughthisisanextremeex-
ample,manyotherexperimentsshowthat
training rewires the brain.
Anything for a Smoke
MartinLindstromgivesevidenceofhowas-
sociationscanbecomehardwiredovertime
inhispopularneuromarketingbookBuy-
ology.Lindstromnotesthattobaccowarning
labelswerefoundtostimulatecravingfor
203/743

204. tobaccowhensmokerswereobservedusing
fMRIbrainscans.Theverylabelsintended
tofrightensmokersbecame,afterrepeated
exposure,acuetosmoke.Bytheirpresence
oneverypackofcigarettes,thewarningla-
belsbecameassociatedwiththepleasurable
aspect of satisfying a tobacco craving.
I Like It, but Why?
ResearchersMelanieDempsey(Ryerson
University)andAndrewA.Mitchell
(UniversityofToronto)setouttotestthe
powerofbrandingmessagesbyconditioning
consumerstolikeordislikefictitiousbrand
names.Theyexposedconsumerstohun-
dredsofimages.Twentyoftheseimages
pairedafictitiousbrandwithpositivewords
orimages,andanother20imagespairedan-
other brand with negative sentiments.
204/743

205. Attheendoftheprocess,thesubjects
wereunabletorecallwhichbrandshadbeen
associatedwithpositiveornegativemes-
sages,buttheydidexpressapreferencefor
thepositivelymatchedbrand.Theresearch-
erscalledthisan“Ilikeit,butIdon’tknow
why” effect.
Tofurthertestthepotencyoftheseuncon-
sciousbrandpreferences,Dempseyand
Mitchellcarriedoutasecondexperimentin
whichtheypresentedsubjectswithfactual
productinformationthatcontradictedtheir
conditioning.Thesubjectsstillpreferredthe
productsthattheyknewtobeinferiorbutfor
whichtheyhadreceivedthepositivebrand-
ing messages.
Asubsequentexperimentfoundthateven
highlymotivatedsubjectswereunableto
overcometheirconditioning.Theauthors
concluded,“Choicedecisionsofconsumers
arenotonlydeterminedbyevaluationsofra-
tionalinformation(productattributes)but
205/743

206. arealsodrivenbyforcesthataregenerally
outside of rational control.”
Thisseriesofexperimentsdemonstrates
thatbrandingmessagescanberemarkably
powerful,evenwhentheexposurehasbeen
briefandthemessages(orevenbrandname)
can’t be consciously recalled.
Pavlovian Branding
RememberPavlov,whotraineddogstosaliv-
atewhentheyheardthefoodbellevenwhen
nofoodwaspresent?Brandstrainyourbrain
thesameway.AstudyatCaltechfoundthat
asymbolcouldbecomeassociatedwitha
tasteexperiencetothepointwheremerely
showingsubjectsthatsymbolcausedtheir
braintolightup.Themoresubjectslikedthe
tastereward,thestrongerthelearnedre-
sponsewasintheirbrains.Goldenarches,
anyone?
4
206/743

207. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Keep Your
Brand Associations
Consistent
Theneuromarketingmessagehereisthata
consistentexperiencewithyourbrandor
productwillbecomeinseparablyconnected
toit.Lindstromfoundthatembeddedbrand
messagesliketheCoca-ColaandMarlboro
redcolors,andevenredracecarssimilarto
theonesMarlborosponsoredforyearscould
stimulateadesirefortheproductwithno
overtbrandorproductreferences.Although
fewcompanieshavethescaletomarketlike
MarlboroorCoca-Cola,thatdoesn’tmean
thattheideaofaconsistentbrandingmes-
sage should be abandoned.
207/743

208. Beyondbrandcharacteristics,customer
experiencewillcausethesesamekindsofas-
sociations.Ifacustomerisconsistently
pleasedbyaproductorservice,thatpleasur-
ableexperiencewillbecomeattachedtothe
brand.Conversely,badexperienceswillalso
stick.Oncetheseassociationsareestab-
lished, they will be difficult to change.
Yourcustomers’brainsareconstantly
formingnewassociations.Toensurethat
yourbrandiswiringitselfthewayyouwant
itto,keepyourbrandexperienceconsistent
andexcellent!
Notes
3.Norman Doidge,The Brain That
Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Tri-
umph from the Frontiers of Brain
Science(New York: Penguin Group,
2007).
208/743

209. 4.Shaoni Bhattacharya, “How Brands
Get Wired Into the Brain,”NewScient-
ist,January 4, 2006,http://www.news-
cientist.com/article/dn8535.
209/743

210. Chapter 20
Who Needs Attention?
Acoupleofthekeyquestionsweoftenask
aboutadvertisingare,“Didtheadgetthe
customers’attention?”andthen,“Didthead
holdtheirattention?”Althoughtheseareex-
cellentandimportantquestions,alackofat-
tention doesnotmean an ad has no impact.
Attentionisagoodthing.Itmakessense
thatifwehaveaviewer’sattentionand
presentacompellingad,westandachance
ofimprovingtheperceptionofourbrand.
Butwhataboutthosetimeswhenwedon’t
havetheviewer’sattention,andtheperson
doesn’t even recall seeing the ad?

211. Low Attention, No
Attention
Theideathatconsumerscanbeswayed
withouttheirconsciousknowledgeisn’t
new—subliminalmessageswereakey
premiseofVancePackard’sTheHiddenPer-
suadersdecadesago.Therearemanycon-
temporaryexamplesofhowexternalstimuli
canbypassourconsciousmind.Theideaof
low-involvementprocessingorlow-attention
processinggainedgroundabout10yearsago
whenDr.RobertHeathwroteakeyarticle
forAdmap.
Heathsummeduptheprevailingbelief
about ad effectiveness
5:
Traditionaltheoriesofhowadvertising
workswerebasedonthehypothesis
thatitmustbeprocessedcognitivelyby
consumerstobeeffective—inother
words,itmustcaptureyourattention
211/743

212. andinterest,andmakeyou“think”
aboutandremembertheadandthe
messagewithinit.Advertisingthat
doesnot“cutthrough”inthiswayis
deemed to be largely wasted.
Heaththenproposedthatwedo,infact,
processadswithoutconsciousawareness,
thatsensoryassociationsareparticularly
strong,andthatwhenwemakeapurchase
decision,thesestoredbrandassociationscan
indeed influence us.
“Ignored” TV
Commercials
Researchusingtelevisioncommercialssup-
portsHeath’stheory.InBrandImmortality,
authorsHamishPringleandPeterFieldde-
scribeaseriesofexperimentsconductedby
Ipsosthatexposedsubjectstocommercials
212/743

213. whiletheyweresupposedlyreviewinganew
TVdrama.Afterward,thesubjectswere
testedforrecalloftheadsandforany
changeinbrandperception.Thisisatruly
massivesetofdata;theexperimentsin-
volved97,000subjects,512commercials,
and 47 different companies.
Theresultsshowedanaveragebrandshift
of7.3percentforthosesubjectswhopaidat-
tentiontotheadandcoulddescribeit(high-
attentionprocessors).Moreinterestingly,
though,eventhosesubjectswhopaidlittleor
noattentiontotheadssawapositivebrand
shift.Low-attentionprocessorswhocould
recalltheadonlywhenitwasdescribedby
theresearcherssawa2.7percentshift,and
evenultra-low-attentionprocessorswho
couldn’trecalltheadatallsawa1.2percent
lift.Notstunning,perhaps,butstatistically
significantandreallynotbadforasingleun-
consciousexposure.Thesenumberslook
evenbetterwhencomparedwiththebrand
213/743

214. shiftinthehighlyattentivegroup,amere7.3
percent.
Fast-Forward
Branding
Soifcommercialsthatwedon’tevenrecall
seeinghaveanimpact,whataboutcommer-
cialsweskipoverbyfast-forwardingpast
them?Surprisingly,researchshowsthat
eventhesebypassedcommercialshavean
impact.Onestudybyneuromarketingfirm
InnerscopeResearchcomparedsubjectswho
viewedadsnormallytoviewerswhofast-for-
wardedthroughthesamecommercials.As
expected,thegroupwhoviewedtheadslive
hadthebestrecall.But,despitethelossof
soundandmostvisualcontent,thefast-for-
wardgroupstillrecalledadsandrecognized
brandsattwicethelevelexpectedhadthey
not been exposed to the ad at all.
6
214/743

215. InTheBrandedMind,ErikduPlessisde-
votesanentirechaptertoattentionand
makesastrongcasefortheeffectivenessof
fast-forwardedcommercials.Hebacksthis
upwithmassivedatacollectedinSouth
Africaovermanyyearsofmonitoringadex-
posures and effectiveness.
Oneinterestingfindingreportedbydu
Plessisisthattheimpactoffast-forwarded
commercialsishighestwhentheviewerhas
seenthewholeadatregularspeedatleast
once.Afteroneregularviewing,apparently
there’senoughinformationinthefast-for-
wardedvisualstostimulaterecall;this
makessubsequent“skipped”adsnearlyas
effective as those seen at regular speed.
Branding Without
Seeing
215/743

216. It’snotcommonlyknownthatinadditionto
ourmainvisualprocessingsystem,wehavea
secondary,moreprimitivesystemthatfeeds
directlyintooursubconscious.Themost
amazingdemonstrationofthisisthephe-
nomenonofblindsight.Studiesofindividu-
alsblindedbybraindamageshowhow
blindsightworks.Controlledlabexperiments
showthatsomeindividualswhoaretruly
blindfromdamagetotheirvisualcortexcan
navigatearoundobstaclesinahallway
withoutconsciouslyknowinghowtheyare
doing it.
Butisblindsightjustrudimentarylight/
darkoroutlineperception?Surprisingly,the
answerisno;“emotionalblindsight”existsas
well.Somesubjectsareabletoreacttoim-
agesoffearfulfaces,eventhoughtheyare
notconsciouslyawareofseeingthem.From
that,weknowthatthisprimitivevisualsys-
temisapparentlycapableofregisteringnot
just objects, but social signals as well.
7
216/743

217. Sincemostofyourcustomersdon’tsuffer
fromrarebrainafflictions,isthisknowledge
ofanyuse?It’simpossibletosayhowthis
primitivesystemmightprocessbrandim-
agery,ifatall.But,wedoknowthatcon-
sumersprocessbrandinformationwithout
beingconsciouslyawareofit.There’smore
thanonepathwayintothebrainforvisual
information.
Familiarity Breeds
Likeability (in
Milliseconds!)
Decadesago,psychologistRobertZajonc
demonstratedwhatisknownasthemereex-
posureeffectbyshowingtwogroupsofnon-
Chinese-speakingsubjectsaseriesoffive
Chineseideographs;onegroupreceivedfive
exposurestothesymbols,andtheother
217/743

218. groupjustgotone.Inallcases,theexposures
lastedonlyfivemillisecondsorless,toofast
forconsciousprocessing.Then,Zajonc
showedthesubjectsalargergroupofimages
thatincludedtheoriginalsetaswellasnew
ideographsandothersymbols.Thesubjects
viewedtheimagesforafullsecond,more
thanenoughtimetobeconsciousofseeing
them.Zajoncthenaskedhowmuchthey
liked each one.
Thesubjectswhoreceivedfivesubliminal
exposurestoanideographlikeditmuchbet-
terthanthesubjectswhohadseenitonly
once.
8
Theconclusionwasthatthepresenceof
familiarthings,evenwhenweareunawareof
theexposure,makesusfeelbetter.Later
workhassuggestedthatthiseffectisrelated
tofluency,theeasewithwhichourbrains
processthingsthataremorefamiliar.And
althoughtheexperimentusedideographs,
it’snotabigleaptosuggestthatunconscious
218/743

219. exposuretobrandsymbolsmightworkthe
same way.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: “No Atten-
tion” Doesn’t Mean
“No Results”
Inshort,reamsofdatashowthatevenwhen
youradsaren’tconsciouslynoticed,your
brandingmessageisstillhavinganimpact.
Thekeypointformarketersistokeepyour
brandvisibleevenwhenpeopledon’tseem
to be paying attention.
Positiveassociationstogowiththatvisib-
ilityarebetter.Doyouwantyourbrandre-
memberedinthecontextofafrustrating
waitorarudeassociate?Wouldn’tawelcom-
ing smile or a pleasing scent be better?
219/743

220. Havingsaidthat,thesubliminalimagere-
searchsuggeststhatanyexposureisbetter
thannoneandcancauseapositiveassoci-
ationlater.Labelingyourproductsinaway
thatkeepsthebrandconstantlyvisibleisone
approach.Everytimetheproductisused,or
carriedinpublic,thebrandisexposed.
Sponsorshipsareanother.Howmanypeople
consciouslynoticewhohasbrandedtheir
luggagecartattheairport?Probablyvery
few,butthoselabelsadduptobillionsofim-
pressions per year.
Samsungisamasterofsubtlebrandingvia
sponsorships.Lately,thefirmhasbeen
brandingairportelectricalchargingstations.
Canyouimagineabetterwaytolinkanelec-
tronicsbrandwithapositiveassociation?
Imaginetherelieffeltbytheownerofa
smartphonewithadyingbattery,who,stuck
intheairportwithoutacharger,findsthis
electrical oasis!
220/743

221. YoumaynothaveSamsung’smarketing
budget,butifyoucontrolanenvironment,
keepyourbrandvisible.Ifyousponsoraloc-
alevent,usebrandsymbolsconsistentwith
therestofyourmarketing.Lookforcreative
waystomakemanyinexpensivebrand
impressions.
Clothingandpromotionalitemscanbein-
expensiveandprovideongoingbrandexpos-
ureatnoincrementalcost.(Ifyouaregoing
toputyourlabelonapromoitem,besure
it’ssomethingthatcustomerswilluseorat
least keep visible!)
Notes
5.Heath, R. (1999) “The Low-Involve-
ment Processing Theory,” Admap 34
(March): 14–17]
6.Jeremy Hsu, “TV Ads Grab Attention
in Fast-Forward,”Live Science,October
221/743

222. 2, 2008,http://www.livescience.com/
2931-tv-ads-grab-attention-fast.html.
7.Benedict Carey, “Blind, Yet Seeing:
The Brain’s Subconscious Visual Sense,”
New York Times,December 22, 2008,
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/23/
health/23blin.html?_r=2.
8.Robert B. Zajonc, “Attitudinal Effects
of Mere Exposure,”Journal of Person-
ality and Social Psychology9, no. 2, pt.
2 (June 1968): 1–27,ht-
tp://psycnet.apa.org/
?&fa=main.doiLanding&doi=10.1037/
h0025848.
222/743

223. Chapter 21
Passion for Hire
Brandsdon’tbuildthemselves.Ittakes
people.
KateNewlin,authorofPassionBrands:
WhySomeBrandsAreJustGottaHave,
DriveAllNightFor,andTellAllYour
FriendsAbout,thinksthemostdesirable
brandiswhatshecallsapassionbrand.Pas-
sionbrandsarethosewithwhichconsumers
formanemotionalattachmentandrecom-
mendenthusiasticallytotheirfriends.
Indeed,passionatebrandsinspireevangel-
ism,andtheirloyalistsaredisappointedif
friends fail to follow their advice.

224. Newlinthinksthattocreateapassion
brand,youmusthire“passionistas.”These
employeesbringtheirownpassionforthe
categoryandthebrand.Thepeopletheyin-
teractwithwillseetheirgenuineenthusi-
asm,andsomewillbecomeinfectedthem-
selves.Newlinwrites,“Passionbrandsbreed
passionatefollowings,veryoftenthrough
impassionedemployees.Irememberthe
earlystoriesofRedBull,whendoggedsales
guyswouldbringemptycanstobarsand
leavethemcrunchedupandstrewnaround
tomakeitlooklikethebrandwaspopular,
well before it actually was.”
9
Inthehiringprocess,weoftenfocuson
theobjectivefacts:education,experience,ac-
complishments,andsoon.Ifwereallywant
tomaintainpassionwithinthegroupandex-
tendthattocustomers,weneedtobesure
weaddpassiontothesubjective
requirements.
224/743

225. Tech Passion
Foraperiodofyears,Irananinformation
technology(IT)businessandhadtohirenet-
workengineersandothertechnicalstaffers.
OneofthemosttellingquestionsIaskedjob
applicantswas,“Whatkindofcomputer
setupdoyouhaveathome?”Itendedtohire
theoneswhosefaceslitupastheydescribed
complexnetworkstheyhadbuiltwith
salvagedhardwareandbeta-versionsoft-
ware.Iknewtheseapplicantsdidn’tgetinto
theITfieldbecausetheysawatechschoolad
promisinghighsalaries;theseguys(they
weremostlyguys)reinstalledoperatingsys-
temsforfun!Invariably,thesepassionate
techieswerethemostuptodateonbreaking
technologynews,werethequickestproblem
solvers,andwererespectedthemostbytheir
customers.
225/743

226. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Feel the
Passion
Yourcustomerscansensethepassionof
yourpeople,eveniftheydon’tprocessitcon-
sciously.Thebodylanguage,thespeechpat-
terns,andothercueswillgiveyourcustom-
erstheconfidencethatthepersontheyare
dealing with truly believes in your product.
Ifyouwantyourcustomerstoloveyour
brand,whenyouarelookingatresumes,go
beyond the facts and look for passion!
Notes
9.Kate Newlin,Passion Brands: Why
Some Brands Are Just Gotta Have,
Drive All Night For, and Tell All Your
226/743

227. Friends About(Amherst, NY: Prometh-
eus Books, 2009).
227/743

228. Chapter 22
Create an Enemy
Sometimesthebestthingforabrandisan
enemy:arivalbrandthatcanbethefocusof
advertising and customer loathing.
TakeApple,forinstance;theyareabrand
enviedbyall.Thefirmthatbeganbybuild-
ingsomeofthefirsthomecomputersturned
theircustomersintolegionsoffanatical
evangelists.Indeed,brainscansshowthat
whenyouputApple“truebelievers”inan
fMRImachine,theirbrainslightupinthe
same areas normally triggered by religion.
10
But,withoutaSteveJobsatthehelm,or
withfewerresourcesthanApple,isbuilding

229. thatkindofloyaltypossible?I’vegotgood
news:althoughhavingavisionaryandcha-
rismaticchiefexecutiveofficer(CEO)isabig
plus,aniconicleaderisn’tnecessarytobuild
afanbase,orevenafanaticbase.Onesecret
ofApple’ssuccessliesinanexperimentcon-
ducted 40 years ago.
The Tajfel Experiment
PsychologistHenriTajfelwantedtoknow
howseeminglynormalpeoplecouldcommit
genocide,andheexploredhoweasyordiffi-
cultitwastogetsubjectstoidentifywithone
groupanddiscriminateagainstothers.What
hefoundwasstartling:withthemosttrivial
ofdistinctions,hecouldcreateartificialloy-
altiestoonegroup,whowouldthendiscrim-
inate against those not in that group.
11
Tajfeltestedsubjectsbyhavingthemper-
formamoreorlessmeaninglesstask,like
229/743

230. choosingbetweenoneoftwopaintersor
guessinganumberofdotsshownona
screen.Then,heassignedeachsubjecttoa
group,ostensiblybasedontheiranswer.
Whenthegroupswereaskedtodistribute
realrewards,theybecameloyaltotheirown
groupandwerestingywiththeothergroup.
Manyvariationsonthisexperimenthave
beenperformedsubsequently,andtheyhave
shownthatpeoplecandevelopgrouployalty
veryquickly,evenintheabsenceofrealdif-
ferences.Subjectsevenbecameemotionally
investedintheirmeaninglessgroups,cheer-
ingfortheirowngroup’srewardsandmock-
ing the other group.
Tajfel’sexperimentledtothetheoryofso-
cialidentity,whichstatesthatpeoplehave
aninherenttendencytocategorizethem-
selvesintogroups.Theythenbasetheir
identity,atleastinpart,ontheirgroupaffili-
ations,andbuildboundariestokeepother
groups separate.
230/743

231. Us Versus Them
Inneuromarketingterms,ourbrainsare
hardwiredtowanttobeinoneormore
groups.Brandsthatcanbepositionedtoput
theircustomersintoagroupwillfindthat
theireffortswillbeenhancedbytheircus-
tomers’ownneedtobelong.Inaddition,the
brand’scustomerswilllikelycultivateadis-
like for other brand groups.
JumpingbacktoApple,lookhowthey
haveleveragedan“usversusthem”approach
fordecades.Their“1984”commercialcer-
tainlydrewasharpdistinctionbetweenthe
lone,attractive,athleticyoungwomanand
the lines of brainwashed drones.
Ayearlater,Apple’screepyandsomewhat
depressing“Lemmings”commercialcontin-
uedtopushpeopleintooneoftwocamps;
theyagainportrayedWindows(PC)usersas
231/743

232. mindless,inthiscaseasblindfoldedbusi-
nesspeoplefunctioninglikesuicidalrodents
followingeachotheroffacliff.(Lemmings,
bytheway,aren’tactuallysuicidal;theydo
engageinmassmigration,though,andocca-
sionallyenterabodyofwaterthatprovestoo
challenging to swim across.)
Fast-forwardingtorecenttimes,wehave
thewildlypopular“I’maMacversusI’ma
PC”ads.Theseadsdrawasharpdistinction:
Doyouwanttobeoneofthecoolkids,ora
dork?
Compare People, Not
Products
Notethecommoncharacteristicoftheseand
manyotherApplecommercials:theyfocus
onthepeoplewhouseeachproduct.These
adsconveylittleornoactualproduct
232/743

233. information,andinsteadmockPCusers
whileportrayingAppleusersinafavorable
way.
Certainly,otherbrandshavesuccessfully
exploitedthisconcept,bothdirectlyandin-
directly.Couldthesurprisingresultsthat
showedCoke-brandedcolalituppeople’s
brainsmorethanPepsi(whetherornotthe
beveragetastedwasCokeorPepsi)beares-
ultofmorepeoplethinkingofthemselvesas
“aCokeperson”versus“aPepsiperson”?
Thefamous“PepsiGeneration”campaign
wasallaboutestablishingPepsidrinkersasa
desirablegroup(young,attractive,fun),al-
thoughinthelongrun,Cokehasheldits
leading position.
Carandtruckmakershaven’tworkedthe
“usversusthem”angleverymuchintheir
ads,buttheirownerbasehascertainly
pickeduponthetheme.Truckownersin
particularseemtoconsiderthemselvespart
ofgroups,asshownbytheongoing
233/743

234. animositybetweenChevydriversandFord
drivers.
Our Customers Are
Different/Better
Althoughthe“usversusthem”strategy
worksbetterwhenproductsarevisibleto
others(cars,apparel,cigarettes,etc.),there
isnoreasonwhyitcan’tbeusedbyany
brandthatpeoplefeelatleastalittleat-
tachedto.It’scriticaltomakeyourcustom-
ersfeeldifferentandtointeractwiththemin
awaythatmakesthatmorecrediblethana
passing ad slogan.
The Etsy Approach
AlthoughEtsy,thephenomenalwebsuccess
storyintheartsandcraftsmarket,wouldn’t
234/743

235. seemtohavemuchincommonwithamega-
brandlikeApple,founderRobKalinhas
emulatedSteveJobsinatleastoneway.
Etsy’skey“customers”areactuallythethou-
sandsofartistswhochoosetoselltheir
waresonEtsy,andKalinhasappealedtothis
groupbypositioninghimselfontheirside
against big business.
EvenasEtsyitselfturnsintoahugeenter-
prise,KalincallshimselfnotCEObutcrafter
inchiefandtalksabout“thebigcompanies
thatallussmallbusinessesareteamingup
against.”Thisrhetoricseemslaughablefora
companythathasraisedtensofmillionsof
dollarsinventurecapital,butsofaritseems
tobeworking.It’sus(Etsyandtheartists)
against them (the suits and big business).
Godin and Tribes
235/743

236. AuthorSethGodinechoesthisthought,but
states it in his own terms
12:
Brand management is so 1999.
Brandmanagementwastop-down,in-
ternallyfocused,politicalandmoney-
based.ItinvolvedanMBAmanaging
thebrand,theads,theshelfspace,etc..
.Tribemanagementisawholedifferent
way of looking at the world . . .
Whatpeoplereallywantistheabilityto
connecttoeachother,nottocompanies.
Sothepermissionisusedtobuilda
tribe,tobuildpeoplewhowanttohear
fromthecompanybecauseithelps
themconnect,ithelpsthemfindeach
other,itgivesthemastorytotelland
something to talk about . . .
Peopleformtribeswithorwithoutus.
Thechallengeistoworkforthetribe
and make it something even better.
236/743

237. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Make Your
Customers Feel Like
Members of a Group
Haveyoubeenabletomakeyourcustomers
feeldifferentfromthoseofyourcompeti-
tion?Doesyourbrandhaveatribe?Have
youbeenabletodefineanenemygroupthat
strengthensthecohesivenessofyourown?If
youcanaccomplishthisandfantheflames
ofrivalry,you’llcreatenotonlymoreloyal
customersbutalsobrandadvocatesand
evangelists.
Subtle Cues Help
237/743

238. Ifthereissomekindofdemographicdivide
betweenyouandyourcompetition(e.g.,your
targetcustomerisyounger),incorporating
evensubtlecuescanhighlightthegroup
distinctions.
Atestinvolvingthebelievabilityofpolitic-
alfalsehoodsfoundthataskingundecided
voterstowritetheirageonacardnearly
doubledthepercentagewhothoughtJohn
McCainwassenile.Similarly,voterswhoin-
dicatedtheirraceonacardweremorethan
twiceaslikelytobelievethatBarackObama
was a socialist.
13
Undecidedsubjectsgavethe“Obamaisa
socialist”amere25percentprobabilityof
beingtrue,anumberthatjumpedto62per-
centwhentheywereaskedtorecordtheir
race.
LetmemakeitclearthatI’mnotadvocat-
inganybrandtomakefalsestatements
abouteithertheircompetitorsortheirown
products.Thisresearchis,Ibelieve,equally
238/743

239. relevanttotruestatements.Ifyoucanprime
yourtargetaudiencewithcuesthatseparate
themfromothercustomergroupsthatfavor
yourcompetition,theywillbemorelikelyto
believe your message.
Ifyoucansegmentyourtargetcustomers
inawaythatseparatesthemfromother
groups,remindthemofthatdifference,even
inaverysubtleway.Doingsowillamplify
thecredibilityofyourmessageandfurther
their status as a member of your group.
Notes
10.Alex Riley and Adam Boome, “Su-
perbrands’ Success Fuelled by Sex, Reli-
gion and Gossip,” BBC News, May 16,
2011,http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
business-13416598.
11.Henri Tajfel et al., “Social Categoriza-
tion and Intergroup Behaviour,”
239/743

240. European Journal of Social Psychology
1, no. 2 (April–June 1971): 149–178,ht-
tp://sozpsy.sowi.uni-mannheim.de/in-
tranet/php/lecture/files/Ta-
jfel_Bil-
lig_Bundy_Flament_1971_EJSP.pdf.
12.Seth Godin’s Blog;“Tribe Manage-
ment,” inSeth Godin’s Blog,January 30,
2008,http://sethgodin.typepad.com/
seths_blog/2008/01/tribal-man-
ageme.html.
13.“Why Some Americans Believe
Obama Is a Muslim,”ScienceDaily,
August 31, 2010,http://www.scien-
cedaily.com/releases/2010/08/
100831102828.htm.
240/743

241. SECTION FOUR
Brainfluence in
Print
Who Needs Print?
Manyformsoftraditionalprintmediaare
underheavypressurefromdigitalcompeti-
tion.I’veworkedwithafewfirmswhose
mainbusinesshadbeentheprintingofpaper
directories.Theadvantagesofdigitalmedia
foreaseofsearchandinstantupdating
largelykilledtheprintvehicles,andthefirms
wereforcedtodeveloponlinedirectoriesand
otherdigitalmediaproducts.Newspapers,
magazines,andbooksareallfeelingtheheat
from digital.

242. Despiteallthis,itseemslikelythatwe’ll
haveprintmediaaroundformanyyears.In
thissection,we’lllookathowprintdiffers
fromothermediaandsomespecificwaysto
maximize the effectiveness of print pieces.
Digital Applications
Eventhoughthesetopicsaredirected
primarilyatprintuse,atleastsomearerel-
evanttoelectronicmedia.Fonteffects,for
example,applyequallywelltoprintand
digital.
242/743

243. Chapter 23
Use Paper for Emotion
Directmailissolastmillennium,right?Ul-
traefficient(andcomparativelylow-cost)di-
gitalmarketingseemsallbutcertaintosup-
plantphysicalpaperandinkmarketingde-
liveredbyactualhumans.Holdon,though.
Itmaybealittletoosoontoshutdownthe
papermills,accordingtoastudybybranding
agencyMillwardBrown.Theirresearchpro-
jectusedfunctionalmagneticresonanceima-
ging(fMRI)brainscanstoshowthatour
brainsprocesspaper-basedanddigitalmar-
ketingindifferentwaysand,inparticular,
thatpaperadscausedmoreemotional
processing.

244. Accordingtothestudy,physicalmedialeft
a“deeperfootprint”onthebrain,evenafter
forcontrollingfortheincreaseinsensory
processingfortangibleitems.
1Fromthe
brainareasactivatedbythepaperads,the
researchersconcludedthatphysicalmateri-
al(likepaper)ismore“real”tothebrain.
Sinceithasaphysicalplace,itengageswith
the brain’s spatial memory networks.
Thestudyalsofoundthatthetangiblema-
terialsinvolvedmoreemotionalprocessing
inthesubjects.Thememoriesofthepaper-
basedadswerelikelytobemorevividand
associated with emotions.
A Cautionary Note
Beforewegetcarriedawayandcrankupthe
printingpresses,afewlimitationsofthe
findingsshouldbenoted.Thebiggestisthat
ahead-to-headcomparisonofsimilardigital
244/743

245. andprintadsmaynotrepresentmostreal-
worldmarketingsituations.Digitaladscan
dothingsthatprintadscan’tmatch,likein-
corporatevideo,audio,andinteractivity.
Furthermore,digitaladscanbetargetedfar
moreeffectivelybasedonuserinterests(e.g.,
searchterms,adjacentcontent),pastbehavi-
or,andothercharacteristicsthatprintcan’t
match.
Optimizing Paper-
Based Marketing
Asalongtimedirectmarketingguy,I’m
happytoseethathigh-techbrainscansshow
thatold-fashionedpaperstillhassomead-
vantagesthatintangiblebitscan’tmatch.
TheMillwardBrownstudydidn’tlookathow
tooptimizeaprintpiece,buthereareafew
quick ideas:
245/743

246. •Thinkaboutthetactilenatureofthe
piece.Heavierstockandatextured
finishcouldemphasizethetangibility
ofthemaileditem,ascoulddiecuts,
torn edges, embossing, and so on.
•Takeadvantageofthebrain’semo-
tionalengagementwithtangibleme-
diaandcreateamessagethathasan
emotional impact.
•Buildinyourbrandimagery;brand
recallmaybeenhancedbythepaper
medium.
Digital Lesson
Digitalmarketers,ontheotherhand,needto
lookbeyondstaticbannersthatarelittle
morethanconvertedprintads.(Theubiquity
ofthetermbannerblindnessisoneclue
abouthowineffectivemanydigitaladsare!)I
246/743

247. havelittledoubtthatacomparisonbetween
apaperadandawell-targeted,engaging,
rich-mediaadwouldatleasteventhingsup,
if not tilt in the favor of digital.
Digitaladshavethepotentialtostimulate
multiplesenses,bothsurpriseandinteract
withtheviewer,andoverallengagetheuser’s
brain.I’mconfidentthatthesestrengthscan
offsetthetangibleadvantagesofpaperin
many applications.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Paper
Means Emotion
Particularlyinthecontextofamailingpiece
thatyoucontrolallaspectsof,orinaglossy
magazinesurroundedbyotherupscaleads
andcontent,papercanpackabiggerpunch
thanasimilardigitalad.Don’tgiveupon
247/743

248. paper,andbesuretotakefulladvantageof
paper’s benefits.
Digitalmarketersalsoneedtotakefullad-
vantageoftheirmedium—simpleadsaren’t
thatengaging.Animation,sound,interac-
tion,andprecisetargetingcanboostdigital
out of the less-engaging-than-paper range.
Notes
1.“Using Neuroscience to Understand
the Role of Direct Mail,” Millward
Brown Case Study, 2009,ht-
tp://www.millwardbrown.com/
Insights/CaseStudies/NeuroscienceDir-
ectMail.aspx.
248/743

249. Chapter 24
Vivid Print Images
Change Memory
Rememberthatfresh,butterypopcornyou
hadafewweeksago?Maybeyoudidn’t
reallyhaveitatall,andthememorywascre-
atedbyamagazinead.Youmightthinkthat
impossible,butresearchshowsthatsome
printadscanbeimpactfulenoughtocreatea
falsememoryofhavingtriedaproductthat
doesn’t even exist!
ResearchersPriyaliRajagopal(Southern
MethodistUniversity)andNicoleMont-
gomery(CollegeofWilliamandMary)
showedsubjectseitherhigh-imageryorlow-

250. imageryversionsofprintadsforafictitious
popcornproduct,OrvilleRedenbacherGour-
metFresh,butgavethemnoproductto
taste.Athirdgroupofsubjectswasallowed
toconsumesamplesoftheinventedproduct,
whichwereactuallyadifferentRedenbacher
popcorn.
2
Aweeklater,alloftheparticipantswere
surveyedtodeterminetheirattitudestoward
theproductandhowconfidenttheywere
abouttheiropinions.Amazingly,membersof
thegroupthatviewedthemorevividadwere
aslikelytoreportthattheyhadtriedthe
productasthegroupthatactuallyconsumed
thesamples.Thegroupthatsawthelow-im-
ageryadswerelesslikelytoreporttheyhad
triedtheproductandhadweaker,lessfavor-
able opinions about it.
Changingthebrandtoanunknownname,
thefictitiousPopJoy’sGourmetFresh,re-
ducedthefalsememoryeffect.Ipresume
thatthemoreubiquitoustheproductand
250/743

251. brand,themorelikelythesefalserecollec-
tionsaretooccur.AdsforMaseratisand
25-yearoldMacallanScotchareunlikelyto
confuseconsumersenoughthattheybelieve
they drove or drank them.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Vivid
Images in Print
Therealstoryhereisn’tthatadvertiserscan
createfalsememories,whichseemsunlikely
inmostcircumstances.Rather,thisstudy
showsthepowerofprintadsthatincorpor-
atevividimagerytoleavealastingimpres-
sion.Clearly,paperhasonceagainshownit-
selftobeaneffectivemedium.Theseads,
eventhoughstaticandtwo-dimensional,can
createtheimpressionofexperiencingthe
251/743

252. productinconsumerbrainsandcanincrease
positive feelings about the product.
Theresearchsuggeststhatit’sworthtak-
ingthetimetocreatesuperbim-
ages—mouthwatering,well-styledclose-ups
forfoodproducts,forexample.Forother
products,imagesthatemphasizethe
products’sensualaspects,suchastextures
andscents,wouldlikelyworkbest,even
thoughthesensoryexperiencewillbeinthe
mindoftheviewer.Sinceweexperiencethe
worldincolor,Ipredictthatcoloradswill
beatblack-and-whiteonesforcreatingthe
sense of having experienced the product.
Thesefindingsaregoodnewsformagazine
publishers,whocanofferexcellentquality
and realistic reproduction of vivid ads.
Notes
252/743

253. 2.Journal of Consumer Research,“Fak-
ing It: Can Ads Create False Memories
About Products?” news release, May 9,
2011,http://www.jcr-admin.org/files/
pressreleases/050811130432_Rajago-
palrelease.pdf.
253/743

254. Chapter 25
Paper Outweighs
Digital
Earlierwesawthatviewinginformationon
papercausesmoreemotionalprocessingin
thebrainthanviewingthesameinformation
onascreen.There’syetanotherwaythatpa-
per might be better: itsweight.
Researchersaskedpeopletostudyajob
candidatebylookingataresumeplacedona
clipboard.Eachsubjectreceivedeithera
lightclipboardoraheavyone.Thepeople
giventheheavyclipboardsjudgedtheapplic-
antstohaveamoreseriousinterestinthe

255. positionthandidthegroupthatreceivedthe
light clipboard.
3
Weighty Words
Asbizarreasthiseffectsounds,ourlanguage
echoesit.Heavyisanear-synonymforseri-
ousinsomecontexts(say,literatureormu-
sic).Theconceptofgravitasneatlycom-
binesbothelements.Andourprintpractices
reflectitaswell.Documentsthatarede-
signedtoimpresstherecipientarealmostal-
waysprintedonheavierstockandmayin-
cludefeaturessuchasaheavyvarnishcoat-
ingthatfurtheraddstotheperceptionof
weight.
Theweighteffectcouldplayaroleinthe
paperversusdigitalquestion,too.Itseems
likelythatviewingaheavyprintdocument
versusreadingthesame“weightless”texton
ascreenwouldshowthesameeffect.Ifthat’s
255/743

256. true,thentheprintdocumentwouldconvey
more serious impact than the digital version.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Bulk Up for
Impact
Untilsomeoneactuallyteststhepaperversus
digitalweightcomparison,therearestill
someneuromarketingtakeawaysfromthe
clipboard tests:
•Aheavierdocumentwillcreatea
moreseriousimpressionthanalight-
er one.
•Sincetactilesensationssoclearlyin-
fluenceoursubconsciouspercep-
tions,othercharacteristicsofaprin-
tedpiece,suchasrigidity,texture,
256/743

257. embossing,diecuts,andsoon,can
all have an effect.
•Ifyoucan’taffordaheavyprinted
piece,havethereaderholdabrick
whileviewingyourinformation.I’m
joking,butonlybecausehandinga
salesprospectabrickmightseema
bitstrange.Theexperimentsshow
thatevenanunrelatedtactilesensa-
tioncaninfluencebehavior,sothe
brick trick could actually work.
Notes
3.Joshua M. Ackerman, Christopher C.
Nocera, and John A. Bargh, “Incidental
Haptic Sensations Influence Social
Judgments and Decisions,”Science328,
no. 5986 (June 25, 2010): 1712–1715,
257/743

258. http://www.sciencemag.org/content/
328/5986/1712.
258/743

259. Chapter 26
Use Simple Fonts
Doyouneedtoconvinceacustomertocom-
pleteanapplicationform?Or,foranon-
profit,doyouneedvolunteersforacharity
event?Inbothcases,youwillbemoresuc-
cessfulifyoudescribethetaskinasimple,
easy-to-read typeface.
ResearchbyHyunjinSongandNorbert
Schwarzshowsthatthewayweperceivein-
formationcanbeaffecteddramaticallyby
howsimpleorcomplexthefontis.Inpartic-
ular,theirworkfoundthatreadersofa
simplefontweremorelikelytomakeacom-
mitment.
4

260. Theresearchersexpectedthatgetting
peopletocommittoanexerciseregimen
woulddependonhowlongtheythoughtthe
workoutwouldtake.Alongerestimatedtime
wouldbeabiggercommitment,andpeople
wouldbelesslikelytosignup.That’sall
simplelogic,butSongandSchwarzdecided
totesttwogroupsofsubjects.Thefirstgroup
sawtheexercisesdescribedinasimplefont
,andthesecondgroupsawtheexact
sametextpresentedinaharder-to-readfont,
.
Theresultswereastounding.Asshownin
Table26.1,thesubjectswhoreadthesame
instructionsintheharder-to-readfontes-
timatedthattheregimenwouldtakenearly
twiceaslong,15.1minutesversus8.2
minutes.
Table 26.1Estimated Time to Com-
plete Exercises Printed in Two Type
Fonts
260/743

261. It’snosurpriseatallthatthegroupwho
thoughttheexercisewouldtakeonly8
minuteswassignificantlymorelikelytocom-
mit to the regimen.
SongandSchwarzattributethedifference
tocognitivefluency—inessence,howeasyit
is for us to process and digest information.
Theyperformedasimilarexperimentin-
volvingasushirecipe.Subjectswhosawthe
instructionsin estimatedthatprepara-
tionwouldtake5.6minutes,whilethosewho
readthedirectionsin ,amore
261/743

262. complicatedfont,expectedittotake9.3
minutes.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Simple
Fonts Spur Action
Foryears,we’vebeenhearingaboutKISS:
Keepitsimple,stupid!ItturnsouttheKISS
proponentswereright.Ifyouneedtocon-
vinceacustomer,client,ordonortoperform
somekindoftask,youshoulddescribethat
task in asimple, easy-to-read font.
Sincetheperceptionoflowereffortisre-
latedtotheconceptofcognitivefluency,you
shouldalsomakethetypesizeeasytoread
andusesimplerwordsandsentencestruc-
ture.Thesestepswillminimizetheperceived
effortneededtoaccomplishthetask,and
your success rate will increase.
262/743

263. There’snoreasonwhythesameapproach
won’tworkonline,too.Needsomeoneto
completeaform?Inadditiontotheobvious
stepofmakingtheformitselflessdaunting,
besureyourinstructionsareshortanddis-
played in a simple font.
Notes
4.Hyunjin Song and Norbert Schwarz,
“If It’s Hard to Read, It’s Hard to Do:
Processing Fluency Affects Effort Pre-
diction and Motivation,”Psychological
Science19, no. 10 (October 2008):
986–988,http://sitemaker.umich.edu/
norbert.schwarz/files/
08_ps_song___schwarz_effort.pdf.
263/743

264. Chapter 27
When to Get
Complicated
Thelastchaptersuggestedthatusinga
simplefontisalmostalwaysthebestap-
proach,butthereisatleastonesituation
wherefancy,harder-to-readfontscanactu-
ally work better than simple ones.
Ifyouaresellingacostlyproduct,describ-
ingitusingahard-to-readfontwillsuggest
totheviewerthatmoreeffortwentintocre-
atingthatproduct.Aspartoftheirongoing
cognitivefluencyresearch,HyunjinSong
andNorbertSchwarzoftheUniversityof

265. Michiganfoundthatrestaurantmenusare
one such case.
5
Theresearcherspresentedtestsubjects
withadescriptionofamenuitemprintedin
eitherasimplefontoraharder-to-readfont.
Thesubjectswhosawthedifficultfontrated
theskillsneededbythechefsignificantly
higherthanthesubjectswhosawthesimple
font.
Hence,arestaurantwantingtojustify
higherpricesshouldprintthemenudescrip-
tionsinamorecomplexfont.Othersteps
thataffectthecognitivefluencycharacterist-
icsofthedescriptioncouldamplifytheeffect
ofthefancyfont.Longdescriptionswithbig
wordswillalsoslowdownthereaderandim-
plythatmoreeffortandskillgointoprepar-
ing the dish.
Ofcourse,itislogicalthattheactualcopy
shouldalsodescribe,oratleastsuggest,the
skillandtimeneededtopreparethedish.As
265/743

266. withmostmarketingefforts,bestresultsoc-
cur when all the elements are coordinated.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Com-
plex Fonts and Big
Words to Enhance
Your Product
There’salessonhereforallkindsofbusi-
nesses:complicatedfontsanddifficulttext
makethingsseemharder.Ifyouwanttocon-
vincecustomersthatyourproductinvolves
tediousstepstomakeorthatgreatskillisre-
quiredtodelivertheserviceyouprovide,
slowthereaderdownwithaharder-to-read
font and big words.
266/743

267. Complexify With Caution
Onedangerintryingtoexploitcognitiveflu-
encyusingfancyfontsandcomplicatedtext
isthatthereadermayattachthecomplexity
tothewrongproductattribute.So,you
mighthavespentthousandsofprogramming
andtestinghoursmakingyoursoftware
exceptionallyuser-friendly,butifyougointo
along,fancy-fontdescriptionofthateffort,
the customer takeaway may be “hard to use.”
Theotherdangeristhatyourpotential
customerswon’tbemotivatedenoughto
strugglethroughhard-to-readtext.Restaur-
antcustomersarelikelytoreadthedescrip-
tionsbecausetheyhavenochoiceifthey
wanttoorderfoodandknowwhattheywill
get.Ontheotherhand,customerslookingat
aproductbrochureoraprintadmight
simplyskipthetextaltogether.Coulda
lingeringsenseofcomplexitystillremain,
evenfromabriefglance?Perhaps,butI’d
267/743

268. recommendusingthisapproachsparingly;
overdoitandyoumightlosethecustomer’s
attention completely.
Notes
5.Ibid.
268/743

269. Chapter 28
Memorable
Complexity
Ifyouwantsomeonetorememberyourin-
formation,shouldyouuseasimple,easy-to-
readfontoronethatismorecomplicated
anddifficulttoread?Mostpeoplewould
guessthatsimplicityisbest.Surprisingly,
though,thosewhooptedforsimplicitywould
be wrong.
APrincetonstudycomparedstudentre-
tentionofcoursematerialpresentedinboth
simplefontsandmorecomplexfontsand
foundthatretentionwassignificantlybetter
for the complex font.
6

270. Whyisthis?Itappearsthattheadditional
effortrequiredtoreadthecomplexfonts
(alsocalleddisfluentfonts)leadstodeeper
processing,andultimatelybetterrecall.The
simplefonttestedwas;thecomplicated
oneswere , ,and
.
Thisstudywasconductedwiththeideaof
enhancingrecallineducationenvironments,
butthesameconcepthasmarketingapplica-
tions.Ifyouwantareadertoremember
something—aphonenumber,forexample,
orthekeyadvantageofyourproductversus
itscompetition—makingthereader’sbrain
workalittlehardertoreaditcanproducea
more persistent memory.
Idon’tthinkI’dstartsettinglongpara-
graphsofadcopyinMonotypeCorsivajust
yet,though.Weknowthatpeopleassociate
muchgreatereffortwithdisfluentfonts,and
seeingadenseblockoftextinahard-to-read
fontmightdissuadetheviewerfromeven
270/743

271. attemptingtoreadit.Orthereadermight
startthetextbutgiveupsoonerthanifithad
been in a simpler font.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Boost
Recall With Complex
Fonts
Useadifficultfonttoboostrecallofimport-
antmarketinginformation.But,don’toverdo
it;useitforataglineoraphonenumber,but
notforlengthyadcopy.Toomuchcomplex-
ity,andyourbrilliantcopywon’tgetreadat
all!
Notes
271/743

272. 6.Connor Diemand-Yauman, Daniel M.
Oppenheimer, and Erikka B. Vaughan,
“Fortune Favors the Bold (and the
Italicized): Effects of Disfluency on Edu-
cational Outcomes,Cognition188, no. 1
(January 2011): 111–115,ht-
tp://web.princeton.edu/sites/opplab/
papers/Diemand-Yauman_Oppen-
heimer_2010.pdf.
272/743

273. SECTION FIVE
Picture
Brainfluence
Humansarereadilyabletointerpretpictures
asrepresentationsofreality,andthatmakes
photosandillustrationspowerfulaccom-
paniments to other advertising content.

274. Chapter 29
Just Add Babies!
Sincetheearlydaysofadvertising,it’sbeen
axiomaticthatpicturesofbabiesgrabtheat-
tentionofreadersmoreeffectivelythanany
otherkindofimage.Thishasledadvertisers
tostickbabypicturesinadsforeverykindof
productorservice,whetherornotinfantsare
remotelyrelevant.Asitturnsout,allthose
advertiserswererightonthemoney:our
brainsarewiredtorespondtobabyfaces,
and even baby-like characteristics in adults.
1
Howwereacttobabypictureswasthetop-
icofstudyusinganeuroimagingtechnique
calledmagnetoencephalography(MEG),
whichallowsextremelyfastmeasurements

275. ofbrainactivity.Amazingly,inaslittleas150
millisecondsafterbeingshownaphotoofa
baby’sface,ahighlevelofactivitywasob-
servedintheviewers’medialorbitofrontal
cortex.Thisareaofthebrainisassociated
withemotion.Adultphotoshadlittleorno
effect on the same area.
There’sprobablyagoodevolutionaryreas-
onforthis.Humanbabiesarevulnerable
creatures,andtheirchancesforsurvivalare
greateriftheytugattheemotionsofnotjust
their parents but also of other adults.
Theappealofbabyphotosisaprimeex-
ampleofhowneuroscienceresearchwillof-
tenservetoconfirmwhatmarketershave
knowneitherintuitivelyorthroughtradi-
tionalresearchtechniques.Anintriguingas-
pectoftheresearchisthatthebabypro-
gramminginourbrainsalsoaffectshowwe
perceiveadultfaces.Studiesshowthatmen
preferfemalefaceswithbaby-likefeatures.
Women’spreferencesaremorecomplex,and
275/743

276. dependingontheirstageofovulation,may
preferfacesthatareeithermoremasculine
or more baby-like.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Baby Pic-
tures Draw the Eye
Ifyouwanttogetviewers’attention,show
themababypicture.Ofcourse,youthen
havetochannelthatattentionintoyour
productoryourbrandmessage,whichmight
bedifficultifbabiesaretotallyirrelevant.
Still,weknewbabieswereattentiongetters
beforebrainscans,andnowwehaveabetter
understandingofhowandwhytheyhave
that effect.
Notes
276/743

277. 1.Morten L. Kringelbach et al., “A Spe-
cific and Rapid Neural Signature for
Parental Instinct,”Plos One,February
27, 2008,http://www.plosone.org/art-
icle/
info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjourn-
al.pone.0001664.
277/743

278. Chapter 30
Focus, Baby!
Inthepreviouschapter,wesawthatbaby
picturesareapowerfulwaytoattractreaders
andengagetheirbrains.Now,let’slookata
techniqueprovedtoincreasetheattention
paidtonotjustthecutebaby,butalsoyour
message!
Employingeye-trackingtechnologyto
measurethedirectionanddurationofhis
subjects’eyemovements,Australianusabil-
ityspecialistJamesBreezestudiedhow
peopleviewadswithbabies.
2Whenthesub-
jectsviewedanadwiththebabylooking
straightoutofthepage,theheatmapshows
thatviewersfixatedonthebaby’sfaceand

279. gavequiteabitlessattentiontotheheadline
andadcopy.Thatthebaby’sfacewould
dominate the user’s attention is no surprise.
ButthenBreezetestedanalternativead
versionwithaside-facingbabyimagein
whichthebabyislookingtowardthead’s
headline.Inthisversion,thebaby’sfacewas
stillamajorhotspot,buttheadheadline
and copy get far more attention!
Breezeconcludes,“Inadvertisingwewill
lookatwhatthepersonweseeinanadis
lookingat.Iftheyarelookingoutatuswe
willsimplylookbackatthemandnotreally
anywhere else.”
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use the
279/743

280. Baby’s Gaze to Direct
Attention
Afaceinyouradwillattractattention,butbe
surethefaceislookingatwhatyouwantthe
viewertosee—yourheadline,aproductim-
age,orwhateveriskey.Viewerswillexamine
theface,andthensubconsciouslybedrawn
towhattheeyesappeartobelookingat.Try
itwithpicturesofadults,too.Insteadofa
smilingmodelstaringoutofthepage,posi-
tionhimsothatheislookingatyourmost
important content!
Notes
2.UsableWorld;“You Look Where They
Look,” inUsableWorld,a blog by James
Breeze, March 16, 2009,http://usable-
world.com.au/2009/03/16/you-look-
where-they-look/.
280/743

281. Chapter 31
Pretty Woman
First,aquickquestionforourmalereaders:
Howmanyadditionalpointsofinterestona
loanwouldyoupayiftheloanofferincluded
asmallpictureofanattractivewoman?I’m
sureallofyouguysaresaying,“Foralittle
picture?Notapennymore!”Aswithmany
attemptstopredictourownbehavior,you’d
be wrong.
Marketersareconstantlyfacingthechal-
lengeofhowtomakeanoffermoreattract-
ivetotheircustomers.Willfreeshipping
garnermoreordersthana$10coupon?
Whatabouta10percentdiscountorafree
totebag?Smartmarketersknowthereis

282. onlyonewaytodefinitivelyanswerthiskind
ofquestion:testtheoptionsinthe
marketplace.
OneSouthAfricanbanktryingtoboostits
loanbusinessdidjustthat.Theymailed
50,000customersaloanofferandusedsev-
eralvariationsinthedirectmailpackage.
First,theoffersincludedarangeofrandomly
selectedinterestrates.Logically,theinterest
rate(alongwithrepaymentterms)isbyfar
themostimportantfactorinwhetheraloan
offerisappealing.Inessence,theinterest
rate is the price of the loan.
3
Withsomeoftheoffers,thebankalsoin-
cludedseveralpsychologicalfeatures—de-
tailsofthemailedofferthathadnothingto
dowiththeloanitselfbutwereintendedto
frametheofferinsomewayorotherwiseal-
tercustomerbehavior.Theresearcherswere
surprisedthattheseirrelevantofferchanges
didn’tjustboosttheresponseofsomeoffers,
282/743

283. butactuallyoffsettheimpactofsignificantly
higher interest rates on loan sign-ups.
Theexperimentfeaturedaratherdramatic
rangeininterestrates—3.25percentto11.75
percent.Theyalsoincorporateddifferent
featuresintheoffer,includingdifferentde-
scriptionsoftheloan,acomparisontocom-
petitiveproducts,variedphotosofmalesand
females, and subtle suggestions.
Althoughtheinterestratewasindeedim-
portant,someofthepsychologicalfeatures
alsosignificantlyaffectedconversion.Oddly,
thepsychologicalfeaturesofferedthebiggest
benefit to the less attractive offers.
Theeducationlevelsandincomeofthe
customersdidnotaffecttheperformanceof
thepsychologicalfeatures.Theresearchers
concluded,“Eveninamarketsettingwith
largestakesandexperiencedcustomers,
subtlepsychologicalfeaturesappeartobe
powerful drivers of behavior.”
283/743

284. Forme,atleast,themoststartlingfinding
wasthatformalecustomers,includinga
photoofafemaleinsteadofamaleonthe
mailingpieceincreasedresponseratebythe
sameamountasa4.5percentdropinthe
loaninterestrate.Femalecustomers,mean-
while,weremostlyunaffectedbythegender
of the photo.
Ifinditamazingthattheeffectofamere
photoofawomanonaloanofferwasequi-
valenttonearlya5percentdifferenceinthe
loaninterestrate—anenormousdifferential
in the lending world.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Test People
Photos
Willslappingaphotoofaprettywomanon
yourdirectmailpieceboostresponserates?
284/743

285. Ifyouaremarketingtomen,maybe.Women
seemtobemuchlessaffectedbyirrelevant
photos,accordingtothistest.Thatmightbe
goodnews—womenshouldn’tbenegatively
affectedifafemalephotoisusedinanat-
tempt to boost male response.
Thesecondtakeawayfromthisresearchis
thatmarketersshouldneverassumethey
knowwhatisgoingtowork;testingdifferent
offers,differentpresentations,andevena
crazyideaortwoistheonlywaytoknow
what will really make an offer take off.
Notes
3.Marianne Bertrand et al., “What’s
Psychology Worth? A Field Experiment
in the Consumer Credit Market,” re-
search at Princeton, October 31, 2005,
http://www.princeton.edu/rpds/pa-
pers/pdfs/
Shafir_2006Whats%20Psych%20Worth_%20South%20Africa.pdf .
285/743

286. Chapter 32
Itsy, Bitsy, Teeny,
Weeny . . .
Ifapictureofanattractivewomanisworth
fourorfivepointsofinterestonaloan,what
if she was clad in a bikini?
Scantilycladwomenhavebeenusedtosell
productstomenfordecades,andlikelyfor
millenniainoneformoranother.There’s
littledoubtthatthetypicalmalebrainis
wiredtorespondtoattractivefemalesinre-
vealingattire.Butisthisacheapattention-
gettingtrickthathasnorealimpactonsales,
ordoesitactuallywork?Researchersshed
newlightonthistopicbyexposingsubjects

287. toeithervideosofwomeninbikinisormore
neutralvideos,andthenevaluatingtheir
decision-making ability.
Theresearchersfoundthatguysstudying
bikini-cladgirlsmakeworsedecisionswhen
presentedwithamonetaryoffer.Specifically,
themalesubjectswereofferedthechoiceofa
sumofmoneyimmediately(about$25)or
theabilitytonegotiateforabiggeramounta
weekoramonthlater.Ineachtest,themen
whoviewedthesexierimageschosedelayed
rewardamountslowerthantheothermen.
Forexample,thebikiniwatchersmightde-
mandjust$7forwaitingamonth,whilethe
control group held out for twice that.
Althoughtherewereindividualvariations,
andnoteverymanwasaffectedsimilarly,the
averagesconsistentlyshowedthatmen
primedbythesexyvideowerewillingto
strikeaquicker,lessbeneficialdeal.There-
searchersthoughtthatviewingthesexier
287/743

288. imagesmadethemenmoreimpulsiveand
interested in immediate gratification.
4
More Arousal, Worse
Decisions
Anearlierstudybyneuroeconomicsexpert
GeorgeLoewensteinofCarnegieMellon
UniversityandDanArielyofMITsurveyed
youngmenwhowerenotsexuallyaroused
andthenrepeatedthesamequestionswhen
theywere.Thearousedmalesgaveverydif-
ferentanswersabouttopicslikehavingun-
protectedsexorgettingtheirpartnerdrunk
tomakehermorepliable.Asinthebikini
study,beingsexuallyarousedcausedthe
malesubjectstobemorefocusedonshort-
termgratificationthanonlong-termlogic.In
the words of writer Brian Alexander
5:
288/743

289. Ingeneral,though,allourbrains,
Loewensteinbelieves,canbethoughtof
asbeingof“twominds,”thereistheaf-
fectivesystem,(“Dude!Whocareswhat
itcosts!She’shot!”)whichanswersto
ourbasicdrives,andthedeliberative
system(“That’syourIRAcontribu-
tion!”).Tothinkofthisanotherway,
pictureanangelononeshoulderand
thedevilontheother.Evenintheheat
ofthemoment,thereisstillthatlittle
voicethatsays“Youknowyouaremak-
ingamistake”—thetroubleisitgets
drownedoutbythevolumeoftheaf-
fective system.
Weareconstantlynegotiatingbetween
thesetwosystems,whichiswhyeco-
nomistsaresointerested;it’showwe
make purchasing decisions.
289/743

290. Bigger Is Better, and
It’sNotWhat You Are
Thinking!
Whenusingaphotoofawomantoattract
theattentionofamaleaudience,what
shouldyoumakebigger?Youmaythinkyou
knowtheanswertothis...andifyou
guessedherpupils,youwouldberight!Re-
searchersaskedmentorate8″×10″photos
ofwomenforattractivenessandusedphotos
inwhichhalfthewomenhaddilatedpupils,
anindicatorofarousal,andhalfdidn’t.Al-
thoughthemenweren’tconsciouslyawareof
thisdifference,theyratedthewomenwith
dilated pupils as more attractive.
6
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Sexy
290/743

291. Women Affect Male
Decisions
Whatdoesthismeanformarketers?Were
thetoolmakerswhosentoutpinupcalendars
ontherighttrackallalong?Dowomenin
bikinisreallysell?Theansweris,“Probably,
and under the right conditions.”
Tobeginwith,thiseffectseemstobea
short-termonethatwouldbemosteffective
atthepointofpurchase.Theidealselling
situation,nodoubt,wouldbetohavethe
bikini-cladbabesellingtotheguysinperson.
Thatwouldensurebothmaximumimpact
andtheabilitytodirectthepurchasingbeha-
vior to the desired product.
Mostproductsaren’tconducivetosucha
salesapproach,though,andasomewhatef-
fectivealternativemightbeposters,point-of-
purchasedisplays,andevenproductpack-
aging.Marketers,ofcourse,shouldbeaware
291/743

292. thatfemalebuyersmightfindthesame
imagesoff-putting.Inaddition,marketers
shouldensurethattheimagesareconsistent
withthebrandimage.Itwouldmakeno
sensetocheapenabrand’sperceptionfora
fleeting sex appeal boost.
Somethingthatmarketersneedtowatch
outfor,though,isthereverseneuromarket-
ingeffectofsexyadvertising.Otherresearch
showsthatsexualimagesandsituationscan
actuallyreducebrandrecall.(Thatresearch
comparedrecallofadsrunningonsexytele-
vision shows with those on tamer fare.)
Inshort,forproductswherebikini-clad
babesrepresentanappropriatemarketing
strategy(I’llletyoubethejudgeofwhat
thoseproductcategoriesare!),theplaceto
putthemisatthepointofsale.I’dusethem
inadsmoredistantfromthepointofpur-
chase,liketelevisioncommercialsorprint
ads,onlyiftheyareanintegralandlong-
running element of the brand strategy.
292/743

293. Asamoresubtlestrategyforadsthatyou
hopewillappealtomen,besurethemodel’s
eyes are visible and her pupils are dilated.
Notes
4.Brian Alexander, “Science Proves
That Bikinis Turn Men into Boobs,”
MSNBC, June 20, 2008,ht-
tp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/
25197962/.
5.Ibid.
6.David Eagleman,Incognito: The
Secret Lives of the Brain(New York:
Pantheon, 2011).
293/743

294. Chapter 33
Photos Increase
Empathy
Weknowpicturesgetourattention,butan
interestingexperimentshowedthatradiolo-
gistsaremoremeticulouswhenaphoto-
graphaccompaniedapatient’sfile.Thedoc-
torsalsosaidtheyfeltmoreconnectedtothe
patients;radiologistsrarelyseepatientsface-
to-face.
7
So,themereinclusionofapatientphoto
alteredthebehaviorofthesemedicalprofes-
sionals,withoutthemrealizingthatthey
weretreatingthepatientsdifferently.This
mighthaveimplicationsforhowmedical

295. recordsarekeptandtransmitted,buthow
can marketers use this knowledge?
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Include a
Photo If Empathy Will
Help Your Cause
Nonprofit Marketers
Mostorganizationslookingfordonations
alreadyunderstandthepowerofpersonal
photos.Savvynonprofitmarketersinclude
photos,names,andoftendetailedbiograph-
iesoftherecipientsoftheircharity.Rather
thanexhortingdonorsto“wipeouthunger”
ingeneralterms,amailermayshowaphoto
ofachildmadeevenmorespecificby
295/743

296. includinghernameandspecificcircum-
stances.Collegessolicitingdonationstakea
similarapproachbyincludingthephotos
andstoriesofindividualstudentswhobene-
fit from the funds.
Photo Business Cards?
Exceptinrealestateandafewotherfields,
photobusinesscardsandletterheadsaren’t
common—andmightevenseemabitunpro-
fessional.Youcertainlywouldn’texpectto
findthebusinesscardofaFortune500CEO
emblazoned with a grinning photo.
Nevertheless,marketersmightwellwant
tolookforwaystobuildphotosintotheiref-
forts.Notrandomstockphotos,ofcourse,
butphotosoftheindividualsinactualcon-
tactwiththecustomer.Forexample,ifa
companyroutinelysentoutprospectinglet-
terstoschedulesalesappointments,they
couldincludeaphotoofthesalespersonon
296/743

297. theletter.Whenshecallstoscheduleanap-
pointment,thatsmalleffortwillresultina
little extra attention.
Theevidencethatphotosofpeopledoal-
terbehaviorismounting.Thechallengefor
marketersistodeterminewhatworksin
their particular situation.
Notes
7.Radiological Society of North Amer-
ica, “Patient Photos Spur Radiologist
Empathy and Eye for Detail,” news re-
lease, December 2, 2008,ht-
tp://www.rsna.org/media/press-
releases/pr_target.cfm?ID=389.
297/743

298. SECTION SIX
Loyalty and Trust
Brainfluence
Loyaltyandtrustareusuallyassociatedwith
human-to-humanrelationships,buttheyare
equallyapplicabletobrands.Loyaltyisan
amazinglypotenttoolwhenitcanbeestab-
lishedinthatitreducesmarketingex-
pense—retainingaloyalcustomerisfar
cheaperthantryingtoconvertnewbuyers.
Evenmoreimportant,atrulyloyalcustomer
canturnintoastrongbrandadvocateand
further extend your marketing reach.

299. Chapter 34
Build Loyalty Like Ge-
orge Bailey
RememberGeorgeBailey?InthemovieIt’sa
WonderfulLife,he’sthefictionalbusiness-
manwhoshiftsfromdespairtointensemo-
tivationwhenanangelintervenestoshow
himhowmuchworseoffhistownwould
havebeenwithouthim.Mostofusdon’t
haveaguardianangelnamedClarenceto
showusalternativehistories,butimagining
what-ifscenariosisapowerfultoolinreal
life.

300. Instant Loyalty, Just
Add Imagination
Loyaltyisanimportantcommodity.Busi-
nesseswantloyalemployees.Marketers
wantloyalcustomers.Generally,loyaltyis
earnedovertime,butitturnsoutthatfeel-
ingsofloyaltycanbeincreasedinarather
simpleway.ResearchersatNorthwestern
UniversityandtheUniversityofCalifornia,
Berkeley,ledbyHalErsner-Hershfieldfound
thathavingsubjectsvisualizehistoricalal-
ternativesmadethemmorepatriotic.Simil-
arly,reflectingontheshakyoriginsofacom-
panymadeitsemployeesmorepositive
about the firm.
1,
2
Theresearchersranaseriesoftests.They
askedsubjectstoreflectonhowtheUnited
Statescameintobeing.Halfofthesubjects
wereaskedtoreflectonwhattheirworld
wouldbelikeifthecountryhadn’tcomeinto
being.(Thisiscalledcounterfactual
300/743

301. reflection.)Theotherhalfweretoldtothink
aboutwhattheirworldislikebecausethe
countrydidcomeintoexistence(factualre-
flection).Thesubjectstoldtoimaginethe
“whatifthecountryhadn’tcomeintoexist-
ence”scenariodemonstratedhigherlevelsof
patriotisminsubsequenttestingthanthose
who reflected on their actual situation.
Andit’snotjustpatriotismthatcanbe
stirredbyimaginingalternativescenarios—it
worksforbusinesses,too.Asimilartestthat
hadsubjectsreflectontheoriginsofacom-
panyshowedasignificantboostinpositive
feelingsamongthosewhothoughtaboutthe
counterfactualcondition,thatis,thediffer-
encesintheworldortheirownliveshadthe
companynotbeen created.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use
301/743

302. Counterfactual Scen-
arios to Boost Loyalty
Whatifthecompanyhadn’tsurvived?
Mostcompanieshavehadsometouch-and-
gomomentsintheirhistory.Theauthorsof
thestudyciteFedExasafamousexample.
Thecompanywasalmostoutofcashwhen
founderFredSmithflewtoaLasVegas
casinoinalast-ditchattempttogenerate
enoughfundstomakepayroll.(Yes,hewon
enoughhandsofblackjacktopayhisem-
ployees.Today,thefirmemploys275,000
peopleworldwide,andit’sdoubtfulthatany
casinohaslimitshighenoughtomakethat
payroll!)Justabouteverycompanyhassome
sortofstorylikethat(althoughperhapsnot
quiteasdramatic),andlettingemployees
thinkabouthowtheirsituationwouldhave
beenaffectedhadthingsnotturnedoutas
they did could boost feelings of loyalty.
302/743

303. Whatifyouhadn’tjoinedourcom-
pany?Theresearchersdidn’ttestthisap-
proach,butIthinkitlikelythat,particularly
foremployeeswhohavehadpositiveexperi-
encessincebeingemployed,suchaspromo-
tions,payincreases,homeorcarpurchases,
andsoon,reflectingonthecompany’srole
inthisand,moreimportant,thealternative
scenarios,couldamplifypositiveemotionto-
ward the company.
Whatifyoudidn’tbuyourproduct/
service?Hasacustomerhadapositiveex-
perienceorreceivedrealbenefitsfromthe
relationship?Hasthecustomerreducedhis
orhercostorimprovedhisorherefficiency?
Havetherebeenfewerdeliveryproblems
thanwithpastvendors?Helpingcustomers
visualizealternativescenarioswouldbeone
waytoenhancetheirpositivefeelingsabout
the relationship.
Usewithcaution.Therearealotof
waysapoorlyplannedapproachtothis
303/743

304. techniquecouldbackfire.Ifyoucallanem-
ployeeintoyourofficeandtellhim,“Think
aboutwhatyourlifewouldbelikeifyouwer-
en’temployedbyus,”theemotionsgener-
atedlikelywon’tbepositive.Similarly,
tellingacustomer,“Imaginehowscrewedup
yourmanufacturingschedulewouldbeifyou
werestilldealingwithyourold,unreliable
supplier,”won’tcomeacrossaspositiveand
professional.
But,ifyouavoidtheham-fistedapproach
andaresubtleinintroducingalternative
scenarios,youwillproducethedesiredposit-
iveboostinloyaltyandemotionwithoutali-
enatingtheotherperson.Ofcourse,ifyou
canhire an angel named Clarence, do it!
Notes
1.Hal Ersner-Hershfield et al., “Com-
pany, Country, Connections: Counter-
factual Origins Increase Organizational
304/743

305. Commitment, Patriotism, and Social In-
vestment,”Psychological Science21, no.
10 (October 2010): 1479–1486,ht-
tp://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/
?sc_itemid={CFCFA812-F244-4E6E-
BE1C-387FF7E5A04C}.
2.Minkyung Koo et al., “It’s a Wonder-
ful Life: Mentally Subtracting Positive
Events Improves People’s Affective
States, Contrary to Their Affective Fore-
casts,”Journal of Personality and So-
cial Psychology95, no. 5 (November
2008): 1217–1224,ht-
tp://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/art-
icles/PMC2746912/.
305/743

306. Chapter 35
Reward Loyalty
Itseemslikeeveryonehasaloyaltyprogram
thesedays.Buyacupofcoffee,andyougeta
punchcardthatpromisesafreecupafteryou
purchaseaspecifiednumberofadditional
cups.Shopatthegrocerystore,andyouget
pointstoreducethepriceofgas.Ourwallets
bulgewithpartiallypunchedcards,andour
keyringsarestuffedwithplasticbarcode
tags,allinthenameofloyalty.Dotheseac-
tually work?
Theshortansweris“yes.”Researchersin
Singaporefoundthatconsumerswerein-
deedmotivatedbyloyaltyprograms.They
usedcreditcards,whichtheyconsideredan

307. idealtestbecausecreditcardstendtobe
similarincharacteristicsandareeasyto
switchifacustomercarriesseveralatonce.
Creditcardswithattractiverewardprograms
wereindeedmoreeffectiveingainingalar-
ger“shareofwallet.”Thatis,peopleused
thosecardswhoserewardsprogramsthey
preferredmoreoftenthantheyusedother
cards.
3
Obviously,foraloyaltyprogramtowork,
several factors must be considered:
•Theunderlyingproductorservice
mustbeatleastcomparabletothe
competitionintheeyesofthe
consumer.
•Therewardsofferedmustbeat-
tractive to the consumer.
•Brandpreferencesandother
factors may trump loyalty programs.
•“Switchingcosts”(sacrificesthat
consumersmustmakeinorderto
307/743

308. changebrands)mayincreaseloyalty
tothecurrentbrandandreducethe
impactofcompetingloyalty
programs.
•Purchasefrequencymustbehigh
enoughtokeepcustomersengagedin
theprogram.Coffeeandgasoline,for
example,areperfect;appliancesand
autos are not.
Loyalty Point Power
Providingmoreevidenceofthepotentialof
loyaltyprograms,onestudyshowedthatir-
relevantinformation(inthiscase,largely
valuelessloyaltypoints)changedconsumer
buying decisions.
4
Whattheresearchersidentifiedintheir
experimentswentbeyondthelogicalandex-
pectedeffectofaloyaltyprogram:themere
308/743

309. presenceofpointvaluesinfluencedcustom-
erbuyingdecisions.Evenwhenthevalueof
loyaltypointswaslessthanthevalueofa
real-moneypricedifference,theconsumers
were swayed by the loyalty points.
Starbucks Versus Panera
Electronicprogramsareideal,becausethey
allowcustomerbuyingbehaviortobe
trackedandmakeiteasytoapplyspecialof-
fersorbonuses.Twocurrentexamplesare
bothfromthecoffeeshopgenre.Starbucks
combinestheirloyaltyprogramwiththeirre-
loadablegiftcards.Payingwiththegiftcard
updatestheloyaltyprogram,andthecus-
tomerneedshaveonlyonecard.Starbucks
furtherbuildsonthisbyissuingcustomersa
specialgoldcardafterasetnumberofpur-
chases.Thegoldcardhassometangiblebe-
nefits,likefreecoffeerefills,butalsoconfers
a higher status on its holder.
309/743

310. Anothercoffeepurveyor,PaneraBread,
doesn’tcombineitsmoneycardsandloyalty,
butitstoresbonuseswithintheloyaltypro-
gram.Acustomermaybeawardedafree
pastry,forexample,andisnotifiedbythe
baristawhenthecardisused.(Oddly,Star-
buckssendsitsrewardnotifications,likea
freecupofcoffee,byold-fashionedsnail
mail.Perhapstheydeterminedthatanactual
postcardhasgreaterimpactthananinvisible
electronic update?)
NeitherStarbucksnorPanerausesany
kindofpointsystemreadilyvisibletothe
customer,nordoeseithercreatetheillusion
ofprogress.Theold-fashionedpunchcard
beatsbothprogramsinthatrespect.Both
programsdoprovideextrarewardsearlyon
to engage their new plan members.
310/743

311. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Offer Loy-
alty Rewards
Assumingyourproductorserviceispur-
chasedfrequentlyenough,offeryourcus-
tomersaloyaltyprogram.Theydowork.In
addition,keepyourcustomersengagedby
lettingthemmonitortheirprogressand,if
possible,remindingthemabouttheprogram
if they haven’t bought in a while.
Beyondtheloyaltyeffect,merelyexposing
customerstopointvaluesatthetimeofpur-
chasecanamplifytheeffectivenessofthe
loyaltyprogram.Wanttoencourage
samplingofanewproductordriveup-
grades?Wantacustomertovisityouinstead
ofyourcompetitor?Trysomethingalongthe
linesof,“100extraRewardsPointswith
everypurchase!”Notethatbiggernumbers
311/743

312. mayseemmoreimportanttoconsumers,so
a little point inflation could be a good thing.
Mobile
There’slittledoubtthatmobilemarketing
technologyandpersonaltargetingwillcreate
evenmoreeffectiveloyaltyprograms.(And,
perhaps,thatannoyingpileofplasticloyalty
cardswillbeathingofthepast!)Ifyouhave
aloyaltyprogram,orareplanningone,be
suretoevaluatehowitwillfunctionwith
mobile targeting.
Notes
3.Jochen Wirtz, Anna S. Mattila, and
May Oo Lwin, “How Effective Are Loy-
alty Reward Programs in Driving Share
of Wallet?”Journal of Service Research
9, no. 4 (May 2007): 327–334,
312/743

313. http://www.sagepub.com/clow/study/
articles/PDFs/14_WIrtz.pdf.
4.Stijn M. J. Van Osselaer, Joseph W.
Alba, and Puneet Manchanda, “Irrelev-
ant Information and Mediated Inter-
temporal Choice,”Journal of Consumer
Psychology14, no. 3 (June 2004):
257–270,http://www-person-
al.umich.edu/~pmanchan/Pub-
lished_files/Van-osselaer_Alba_Man-
chanda_JCP_2004.pdf.
313/743

314. Chapter 36
Loyalty, Rats, and
Your Customers
Sowhatdoratshavetodowithloyaltypro-
grams?Well,backinthe1930s,researchers
madeaninterestingdiscovery:ratsrunning
amazetoreachfoodranfasterastheygot
closertothefood.Thisfindingledtothegoal
gradienthypothesis,whichstatesthatthe
tendencytoapproachagoalincreaseswith
proximitytothegoal.Simplyput,thecloser
thegoal,themoreeffortyouexpendtoget
there.
Afewyearsago,ColumbiaUniversityre-
searchersexaminedthegoalgradient

315. hypothesisusingunwittinghumansubjects
insteadoflabrats,andtheyfoundthat
peoplepursuerewardsmuchasrodentsdo.
Givepeopleacoffeepunchcardthatrewards
themwithafreecoffeewhenit’sfull,andlike
theratsinthehomestretchofthemaze,
they’lldrinkcoffeemorefrequentlyasthey
approach a fully stamped card.
Similarly,usersratingsongsonlineinre-
turnforrewardcertificatesvisittherating
sitemoreoften,ratemoresongs,andstay
longer as they get closer to earning a reward.
Oneofthemostinterestingfindingswas
thatthemereillusionofprogresscaused
peopletobuycoffeemorefrequently.Theex-
perimentersissuedtwodifferentcards:
emptycardswith10spotstostampand
cardswith12blanksofwhichtwowere
prestamped.Inbothcases,10stampswere
requiredtoearnthefreecoffee.Despitethe
identicalnumberofstampsneeded,the
groupthatstartedwithapparentprogresson
315/743

316. theircardboughtcoffeemorefrequently
than the empty-card group.
5
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Give a Head
Start
Weknowloyaltyprogramswork.But,rather
thanjustgivingpeopleacard(oronlineac-
count),givethemaheadstartontheirfirst
goal.Sinceweperceiveprogressasaper-
centageofcompletion,providingsomeone
withthegoalpartiallyachievedcanbeanef-
fectiveboosttoaloyaltyprogram.Aplane
ticketthatrequiresusing25,000frequent
flyermileswouldnotseemas“close”asone
thatrequires35,000milesbutinwhichthe
customerstartswith10,000miles.Coffee
shopsshouldaddacuportwototherequire-
mentforafreecoffee,butthenhavetheir
316/743

317. staffgiveanequivalentnumberofbonus
punchesuponfirstuse.Notonlywillthe
cardseemclosertocompletion,butthees-
tablishmentandpersonnelwillscorepoints
for being generous.
Althoughloyaltyprogramsmaynotbe
rightforeveryproduct,whentheyareappro-
priate,it’sclearthatquicklymovingpeople
towardarewardgoalwillkeepthemmotiv-
ated and loyal.
Notes
5.Ran Kivetz, Oleg Urminsky, and
Yuhuang Zheng, “The Goal-Gradient
Hypothesis Resurrected: Purchase Ac-
celeration, Illusionary Goal Progress,
and Customer Retention,”Journal of
Marketing Research43 (February
2006): 39–58,ht-
tp://www.columbia.edu/~rk566/
research/Goal-
317/743

318. Gradi-
ent_Illusionary_Goal_Progress.pdf.
318/743

319. Chapter 37
Time Builds Trust and
Loyalty
Todaymorethanever,itseems,thereisa
hugeemphasisonproductivityinsalesand
customerservice.Increasingly,businesses
givecustomerstoolstoplacetheirownor-
ders,checkontheirstatus,andsoon.In-
personsalescallscosthundredsofdollars
(someestimatesrunoverathousanddollars,
andtripstodistantplacescostevenmore),
soanemphasisonefficiencyisunderstand-
able.And,asacustomermyself,Iappreciate
beingabletoinitiateorders,checkonthem,
and so forth, at any time of the day or night.

320. Customer relationshipmanagement
(CRM)softwarefurtherstrivestoimprove
theproductivityofsalescontactsbyhelping
separatecustomersintoprioritygroups,with
themostimportantgettingthemostcontact.
AkeybenefitofCRMsystemsisthattime
“wasted”onlessvaluableaccountscanbe
minimized.
Inthisdriveforefficiency,though,com-
paniesneedtobeawareoftheimportanceof
contacttimetothecustomerrelationship.
Let’slookatthreewildlydifferentgroupsof
“customers”andseehowcontacttimeplayed
an important role in their satisfaction.
Convicted Felons
Howdoyouthinkthatfelons—convicted
felons,thatis—wouldratethefairnessof
theirlegalprocess?Onemightexpecta
ratherhighlevelofdissatisfaction(theirde-
fensewasunsuccessful,afterall),withthe
320/743

321. mainvariablesbeingobjectivemeasures
suchaslengthofsentence.Infact,according
toauthorsOriandRomBrafman,whenre-
searcherssurveyedhundredsofsuchfelons,
lengthofsentencewasamajorpredictorof
theirfairnessrating.Shortsentencesmade
thelegalprocessfairer;longersentences,
less so.
Thesurprisingfindingwasthatnearlyas
importantastheoutcomewasthetimetheir
lawyerspentwiththem.Thefelonswhohad
morefacetimewiththeirlawyersconsidered
theprocessfairerthanotherfelonswiththe
sameoutcome.TheBrafmansnotethat“al-
thoughtheoutcomemightbeexactlythe
same,whenwedon’tgettovoiceourcon-
cerns,weperceivetheoverallfairnessofthe
experience quite differently.”
6
Venture Capitalists
321/743

322. Despitetherapaciousbehaviorascribedto
thembyentrepreneurs,onewouldhaveto
admitthatSiliconValleyventurecapitalists
arequiteabitdifferentfromthedrugdealers
andarmedrobbersinthefelonstudy.Butit
turnsoutthattheventurecapitalistsand
felonshavemoreincommonthanadesire
for high returns on invested time and money.
Whensurveyedabouttheirinvestments
andrelationshipswiththemanagement
teamsatthosefirms,theresearchersexpec-
tedahard-headedfocusonthemonetaryre-
turnofeachinvestment.Afterall,theobject-
iveoftheactivityistoearnahighreturnon
capital,andventurecapitalistfirmssinkor
swim based on their numbers.
Surprisingly,accordingtotheBrafman
brothers,theresearchersfoundthatthe
amountandtimelinessoffeedbackfromthe
entrepreneurswasakeyfactorinthelevelof
trustextendedbytheventurecapitalistsand
theirlevelofsupportformanagement
322/743

323. strategies.TheBrafmansnotethatthewill-
ingnessofanentrepreneurtokeepinvestors
updatedhaslittletodowiththebottomline
andcouldswaytheventurecapitalistsinto
less-than-optimaldecisions.(It’spossible
thereisacorrelationbetweenhowgoodor
badthesituationisatthefirmandthewill-
ingnessoftheentrepreneurtotalktothe
venturecapitalists,makingthisbiasnoten-
tirelyirrational.Theresearchersattempted
to control for this in their analysis.)
Injured Patients
InBlink,MalcolmGladwellnotesthatmost
peoplewhosufferaninjuryduetodoctor
negligencedon’tsue.Basedonextensivein-
terviewsofinjuredpatients,itturnsoutthat
patientswhosuehaveoftenfeltlikethey
wererushed,ignored,orotherwisetreated
poorly by their physician.
7
323/743

324. Thinkaboutthat.Mostpeoplewhohave
sufferedapotentiallydevastatinginjurybe-
causeofamedicalerrordonotsuetheirdoc-
toriftheyfeelthattheyweretreatedfairly
andthatthedoctorwasdoinghisorherbest.
Thisbelief,inturn,isbasedonthequantity
oftimespentandthequalityofthat
interaction.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Quality
Contact Time Counts
Thesediversedatapointsshowthatallcus-
tomerrelationshipsneedtoincludetime
spentlisteningtothecustomer.Thismay
meanfacetimeforbigcustomers,perhaps
phonetimeorwebchatforsmallerones.
Andthesecontactscan’tbeone-waysales
324/743

325. pitches—thecustomerneedstobelievehisor
her concerns are being heard.
Isthisdifficult?Often,yes.Isitexpensive?
Perhapsnot.Justabouteverycustomerrela-
tionshipistestedatsomepoint—missedde-
liverydates,unexpectedpriceincreases,or
anaggressivecompetitor.Ifyouwantyour
companytobelikethedoctorswhosepa-
tientsdefendsthem,evenafteraninjurious
mistake,youmustinvestthetimeincultivat-
ingtherelationshipbeforethatrelationship
is put to the test. Time reallyisprecious.
Notes
6.Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman,
Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational
Behavior(New York: Doubleday, 2008).
7.Malcolm Gladwell,Blink: The Power
of Thinking Without Thinking(New
York: Little, Brown, 2005).
325/743

326. Chapter 38
Ten Words That Build
Trust
Doyouthinkoneshortsentenceattheend
ofyouradcouldcauseamajorincreasein
theleveloftrustcustomersplaceinyou?Be-
lieveitornot,it’strue.Researchersfound
thatplacingthefollowingstatementatthe
endofanadforanautoservicefirmcaused
theirtrustscorestojumpasmuchas33per-
cent!
8
“You can trust us to do the job for you.”
Doesthisseemlikesomethingthat
shouldn’tevenneedtobesaid?Clearly,the

327. implicationinanyadorrelationshipisthatif
yougivethefirmajobtodo,itwilldoit.In
thisshortsentence,there’snoclaimthatthe
jobwillbedoneright,donebetter,done
quickly, or even done with a smile.
Nevertheless,thatphrasecausedpeopleto
rate the firm higher in every category:
•Fair price—up 7 percent
•Caring—up 11 percent
•Fair treatment—up 20 percent
•Quality—up 30 percent
•Competency—up 33 percent
It’squitesurprisingthatasnebulousas
the“trustus”statementwas,itproduced
majorincreasesinveryspecificareasof
performance.
327/743

328. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Tell ’em to
Trust You
Ifyouwantyourcustomerstotrustyou,re-
mindthemthattheycantrustyou.Tryit.It
will work. You can trust me.
Notes
8.Fuan Li and Paul W. Miniard, “On the
Potential for Advertising to Facilitate
Trust in the Advertised Brand,”Journal
of Advertising35, no. 4 (Winter 2006):
101–112,ht-
tp://mesharpe.metapress.com/app/
home/contribu-
tion.asp?referrer=par-
ent&backto=is-
sue,8,12;journal,18,33;linkingpublicationresults,1:110658,1.
328/743

329. Chapter 39
Trust Your Customer
Wantyourcustomerstotrustyou?Showthat
youtrustthem!Thismayseemcounterintu-
itive,butthere’ssoundneuromarketingreas-
oningbehindit.Theconceptrevolvesaround
thatseeminglymagicalneurochemicaloxyto-
cin,whichisakeyfactorinformingtrustre-
lationships.PaulZak,directoroftheCenter
forNeuroeconomicsStudiesatClaremont
GraduateUniversityandunofficialoxytocin
evangelist,relatesastoryabouthowinhis
youngerdayshewasthevictimofasmall-
scaleswindle.Henowconcludesthatakey
factoringettinghimtofallfortheconwas

330. thattheswindlerdemonstratedthathetrus-
ted Zak.
9
Inparticular,Zaknotes,ourbrainsmake
usfeelgoodwhenwehelpothers.Thisisthe
reasonweattachourselvestofamilyand
friends,andevencooperatewithstrangers.
(That’susuallyagoodthing,unlessthat
stranger is a con artist!)
Zakexplainsthatthisbehaviorisallpart
ofwhathecallsTHOMAS—the human
oxytocin-mediatedattachmentsystem.
THOMASallowsustoempathizewithothers
andplaysanimportantroleinbuildingso-
cial relationships.
Howcanthisunderstandinghelpussell
moreeffectively?Buildingtrustisanessen-
tialpartofthesalesprocess,andanything
thatwecandotofosterthatwillpay
dividends.
330/743

331. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Show Trust
to Get Trust
BuildingonwhatZaksuggests,onekeyway
tobuildyourcustomers’trustisbydemon-
stratingthatyoutrustthem.(Obviously,be-
havinginatransparentandtrustworthy
manner yourself is important as well.)
Howcanyoudemonstratetrustinyour
customers? Here are a few ideas:
•Makealoaner/trialproductavail-
able with few restrictions.
•Establishcreditwithoutlengthy
formsandanonerousscreening
process.
•Shareconfidentialinformation
withoutmakingthecustomersigna
nondisclosure agreement.
331/743

332. Notethatshowingtrustdoesn’tmeanthat
youshouldtakeunnecessarybusiness
risks—justensureyourpracticesdemon-
stratethatyoutrustthecustomer,anddoas
muchoftheself-protectivework,likecheck-
ing credit, in the background.
Dependingontherelationshipwiththe
customer,youcanprobablythinkofany
numberofotherwaystoshowtrust.And,a
customerwhothinksyoutrusthimorher
will be far more likely to reciprocate.
Notes
9.The Moral Molecule;“How to Run a
Con,” inThe Moral Molecule,a blog by
Paul J. Zak, November 13, 2008,ht-
tp://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/
the-moral-molecule/200811/how-run-
con.
332/743

333. SECTION SEVEN
Brainfluence in
Person
Althoughmoreandmorebusinessisconduc-
tedremotelywitheverlesshuman-to-human
interaction,therearetimeswhenwegetto
interact with customers in person.
Inadvertising,wetalkaboutrichmedia
andimmersiveads.Whenyouthinkaboutit,
though,there’snothingricherormoreim-
mersivethanperson-to-personcontact.Mul-
tiplesensesareengaged,eyecontactoccurs,
bodylanguageisusedtosendmes-
sages—thesearethingsthehumanbrainwas
designedtoprocess.Inthissection,we’llsee
howtomaximizeoursuccesswhenwehave
theincreasinglyrareopportunitytomeet
face-to-face.

334. Chapter 40
It Pays to Schmooze
Oneofmyall-timefavoriteTVcommercials
istheclassic1990UnitedAirlinesspotthat
showsamanagerdistributingplanetickets
tothesalesstaffsothattheycanvisittheir
customersinperson.Thiswasfilmedinthe
daysbeforee-mailandtheInternet,buteven
thenphonesandfaxeswerelow-costcom-
petition for face-to-face meetings.
ThatUnitedAirlinesadworkedbecauseits
storyresonatedwithitsaudience.Italso
workedbecauseofitsactingandproduction
values;it’safull-blownbusinessdrama
packed into a 60-second commercial.

335. Infact,there’sresearchthatbacksupUn-
itedAirlines’simpliedclaimthatthere’sno
substituteforface-to-facecustomercontact.
Goodold-fashionedfacetimecanhaveasig-
nificant impact on trust and behavior.
Scientistslovetocreateartificialsituations
tomimictherealworld,andoneoftheclas-
sicsisasetupknownastheultimatumgame.
Init,oneparticipantdecideshowtosharea
sumofmoney(e.g.,$10)withanothersub-
ject.Thesecondsubjectcanacceptorreject
thesplit.Ifthesplitisrejected,nobodyre-
ceivesanymoney.Althoughclassiceconomic
theorysuggeststhatanynonzerooffer
shouldbeaccepted(sinceevenadollaris
betterthannothing),realpeopletendtore-
jectwhattheyperceiveasunfairoffersthat
are too skewed toward the first subject.
Inthestandardultimatumgame,about
halfofallsplitsarefair—within10pointsof
a50/50split.Althoughsomeplayerswillbe-
havelikerationaleconomistsandaccept
335/743

336. whatevernonzeroamountisoffered,one
third of the splits are rejected.
ResearcherAlRothtriedaninteresting
twistontheultimatumgame:hehadthe
subjectstalkface-to-facebeforeplaying.
Amazingly,evenwhenthesubjectsdidnot
discussthegameandchattedaboutrandom
topics,theywerefarmorelikelytoconclude
thegamewithasuccessfulsplit.Withthe
conversation,thepercentageoffairoffers
roseto83percentandamere5percentof
the games resulted in failure.
1
That’sastunningdifference,anditshows
thatestablishingrapportwithanotherper-
son really does alter behavior.
AlabexperimentatINSEADshowedsim-
ilarresultswhenwholesale/retailrelation-
shipsweresimulatedwithoneplayerfor
eachrole.Althougheachplayercouldat-
tempttomaximizehisorherownpriceand
profit,thehighesttotalrevenueandprofits
couldbeachievedwhenthetwoparties
336/743

337. cooperatedtoallowalowermarketprice.
Whenthetwopartiesestablishedasocialre-
lationshipbeforeparticipating,theybehaved
inamorecooperativeandfairermannerand
achievedhigherprofitsthanpairswithouta
relationship.
2
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Schmooze
First; Bargain Later
Don’tbeintoomuchofarushtogetdownto
business.Timespentchattingaboutkids,
golf,ortheupcomingweekendmayseem
likeawasteoftime,butit’slayingthe
groundworkformutualrespectandtrust.
Thelikelihoodofreachingadealthatsatis-
fies both parties will increase.
Aninterestingprobabilityisthatconnect-
ingelectronicallyviasocialmediacouldhave
337/743

338. asimilareffect;certainly,afullvideocon-
nectionlikeSkypeorwebconferencing
wouldallowsomelevelofface-to-facesocial-
izing.Ifyoucan’tbethereinperson,try
some electronic schmoozing to break the ice.
Notes
1.Kay-Yut Chen and Marina Krakovsky,
Secrets of the Moneylab: How Behavi-
oral Economics Can Improve Your
Business(New York: Portfolio Penguin,
2010).
2.C. H. Loch and Y. Wu, “Social Prefer-
ences and Supply Chain Performance:
An Experimental Study,”Management
Science54, no. 11 (2008), 1835–1849.
338/743

339. Chapter 41
Shake Hands Like a
Pro
Salesandbusinessexpertshavealways
talkedaboutthepowerofahandshaketo
makeagoodfirstimpressionandtostart
buildingarelationship.Researchbacksthis
up:astudyattheUniversityofIowashowed
thatstudentjobapplicantswithgoodhand-
shakes were scored higher on employability.
3
“Handshakeexperts”judgedthequalityof
theapplicants’handshakes,whilerecruiters
ratedtheiremployabilityandotheraspects
oftheapplicants.Thosestudentswhose
handshakesscoredthebestalsoranked

340. higherforemployability,extroversion,and
overallsocialskills.Applicantswithlimp
handshakeswereratedaslessemployable
and less outgoing.
Whatisitabouthandshakingthatseems
toengagetheemotionsofthetwoparti-
cipants?Neuroscientistandoxytocinguru
PaulZaksaysthattouchprimesthebrainto
release oxytocin.
How About a Nice
Massage?
InonestudyZakconducted,twogroupsof
subjectsparticipatedinagameinwhichthey
exchangedmoney.Onegroupreceiveda
15-minutemassagewhilemembersofthe
othergrouprestedalone.Thebrainsofthe
massagegroupreleasedmuchmoreoxyto-
cin.Moresignificantly,membersofthemas-
sagegroupreturnedtwoandahalftimesas
340/743

341. muchmoneytoatrustingstrangerthanthe
control group members.
4
Zakhypothesizesthatourbrainsuseoxy-
tocintounconsciouslyassesswhetheraper-
sonistrustworthy.Ourbraincombinesour
memoryofpastencountersandmultiple
sensoryinputsfromthecurrentencounter.If
thestrangerseemstomatchupwithpeople
wehavefoundtobetrustworthyinthepast,
thebrainreleasesoxytocin,flaggingthenew
contact as “safe to trust.”
Dopamineisreleasedinthebrain’sreward
centeratthesametime,associatingaperson
wetrustwithpleasure.Thisspeedsuppro-
cessingthenexttime.Overall,thisishow
oxytocincausesmostofustobeprosocial.
Compassion,generosity,love,andrelated
emotions are in part based on this cycle.
Zak’sresearchsuggeststhatifafirmhand-
shakeisgood,amassagemightbeevenbet-
ter.That’slikelytrue.Unfortunately,a
341/743

342. typicaljobintervieworsalescalldoesn’tusu-
ally permit that kind of activity.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Touch Is
Important
Oxytocinstudiesandotherresearchmakeit
clearthattouchisanimportanttoolinbuild-
ingtrust.Typically,thismeansagoodhand-
shake—theIowaresearchersreportthatthe
besthandshakesinclude“acomplete,firm
grip,eyecontactandavigorousup-and-
downmovement.”Don’tuseagripsofirm
that it causes pain.
Mostbusinessencountersallowtwohand-
shakes:oneatthebeginningofthemeeting
andoneattheend.Makethemostofboth
handshake opportunities.
342/743

343. More Touching?
Althoughadditionaltouching—say,guiding
anintervieweethroughadoorway—might
helpbuildthebondthatZaktalksabout,I’d
recommendcaution.Touchingastrangerisa
potentiallyriskystrategyandhighlydepend-
entonculturalandpersonalfactors.What
mightseemlikeanaturaltouchtosome
mightseemoddoroffensivetoothers.But,if
appropriate,acasualtouchmayhelpbuild
trust.
For Women Only
Anotherstudyshowedthatalighttouchona
person’sshouldermadethatpersonmore
willingtochooseariskieroptionwhende-
cidingbetweenacceptingasumofmoneyor
takingachanceongettingeitheralarger
sum or nothing.
5
343/743

344. Oddly,however,theshouldertoucheffect
workedonlyforfemaletouchers.Amale
touchhadnoeffect,whereasthefemale
touchworkedforbothmaleandfemale
subjects.
Becauseapurchasedecisionofteninvolves
somerisk,suchastryinganewproductor
changingsuppliers,womenmighttrythe
shouldertouchapproachifthesituational-
lows it.
A Final Caution
Noteveryonelikeshandshakes.Themost
famoushandshake-phobicpersonisreales-
tatemagnateDonaldTrump.Trumpsaidin
hisblog,“Ithinkthattheonlythingbetter
thanagoodhandshakeisnohandshakeat
all.I’velongsaidthathandshakesareabad
ideabecauseofallthegermspeoplespread
when they shake hands.”
344/743

345. Trumpwouldpreferthatweadoptthe
Japanesepracticeofbowing.Nogerms,but
no oxytocin, either.
Notes
3.Richard Alleyne, “Handshake Key to
Landing a Job, Scientists Claim,”The
Telegraph,September 26, 2008,ht-
tp://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/
3085731/Handshake-key-to-landing-a-
job-scientists-claim.html.
4.Paul J. Zak, “The Power of a Hand-
shake: How Touch Sustains Personal
and Business Relationships,”HuffPost
Business,September 29, 2008,ht-
tp://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-j-
zak/the-power-of-a-hand-
shake_b_129441.html.
5.Columbia Business School, “A Touch
of Risk,”Ideas@work, March 26, 2010,
http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/
345/743

346. ideasatwork/feature/7211685/
A+Touch+of+Risk.
346/743

347. Chapter 42
Right Ear Selling
Ifyouwanttogetsomeonetodosomething,
speakintotheperson’srightear.Research
byDr.LucaTommasiandDanieleMarzoli
fromtheUniversityGabrieled’Annunzioin
Chieti,Italy,showsnotonlythatwehavea
preferenceforprocessingspokeninforma-
tionviaourrightearbutthatrequestsmade
to that ear are more likely to be successful.
Inwhathastobeabrilliantchoiceofre-
searchvenues,TommasiandMarzolide-
cidedtostudyearpreferenceinnoisy
nightclubs.Inonestudy,theysimplyob-
servedclubpatronstalkingandfoundthat

348. almostthreequartersoftheinteractions
took place on the right side of the listener.
6
Then,theybecameparticipantsbyasking
otherclubbersforacigarettebyspeakingin-
tothetarget’srightorleftear.Surprisingly,
theyhadsignificantlymoresuccessin
cadgingasmokewhentheyspokeintothe
clubber’s right ear.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Favor Your
Prospect’s Right Ear
Naturally,mostsalesdon’thappenbyyelling
intooneear.Nevertheless,therearesome
practicalapplicationsforthisresearch.Here
are just a few:
•Dinnerseating:Ifmorethantwoare
dining,thekeysalescommunicator
348/743

349. shouldsittotherightofthedecision
maker.
•Salesofficelayout:Althoughmost
communicationsinatypicalsalesof-
ficewillbemoreorlessface-to-face
andbinaural,itwouldbewiseto
avoidanyseatinglayoutsinwhich
thesalespersonistalkingtotheleft
side of the prospect.
•Networkingevents:We’veallbeento
networkingreceptions,tradeshows,
andothereventswhereonehasto
talkintosomeone’seartobeheard
overloudmusicorotherbackground
noise.Althoughlistenerswillgener-
allyadjusttheirpositiontoonethat
iscomfortable,keepinmindthe
right-sidepreferencewheninitiating
aconversation.Thissituationisvery
similartotheonetestedbythere-
searchers,andtheyweresignificantly
349/743

350. moresuccessfulwheninitiatingcon-
tact via the right ear.
OnethingthatIlikeaboutthisresearchis
thatitwasn’tconductedinastructured,arti-
ficiallabsettingbutratherinareal-world
venuewithunsuspectingsubjects.Thereal-
isticnatureoftheresearchshouldincrease
theprobabilityofsuccesswhenputtingthese
findings into practice.
Notes
6.“Need Something? Talk To My Right
Ear,”ScienceDaily,June 23, 2009,ht-
tp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2009/06/090623090705.htm.
350/743

351. Chapter 43
Smile!
What’sthefirstthingamanagerteachesa
newretailorfoodserviceemployee?Maybe
“Don’tstealthecash!”isfirst,butrightafter
thatis,“Smileatthecustomer!”Itturnsout
thatthisisprobablyevenbetteradvicethan
onemightthink.Atrulyfascinatingstudy
showsthatexposuretobriefimagesofsmil-
ingorfrowningfaces—tooquicklyforthe
subjecttoconsciouslyprocess—actuallyaf-
fectedtheamountpeoplewerewillingtopay
for a drink!
7
It’snotdifficulttoimagineapositive,
smilingstaffmembersellingmore,onaver-
age,thanascowlingone.Butastudydonea

352. fewyearsagobyPiotrWinkielmanofthe
UniversityofCalifornia,SanDiego,andKent
C.BerridgeoftheUniversityofMichigan
showedthatevensubliminalsmileimages
couldhaveasignificanteffect.Theresearch-
ersshowedsubjectsapictureofaneutral
facethatwasneithersmilingorunsmiling
foralittlelessthanhalfasecond.That’slong
enoughtorecognizethefaceandidentifyits
gender,whichiswhatthesubjectsweresup-
posedtodo.Theresearchersalsoinserteda
verybriefimageofasmilingorscowling
face.Thisimagewasshownforonly16
milliseconds.
Thesubjectswereunawareofthesmile/
scowlimagetheyhadbeenexposedtoand
wereneithermorenorlesspositive.Despite
this,subjectswhowerethirstyservedthem-
selvesmoreofabeverageanddrankmoreif
they saw a happy face.
352/743

353. The Price of a Smile
Asecondphaseofthestudyshowedthat
thirstysubjectswouldpayabouttwiceas
muchforthesamebeverageiftheysawa
happy face instead of an angry one.
Theresearchersdeducedthattherole
playedbythirstshowedthattheemotional
reactionswerebiopsychologicalinnature
andwereunaffectedbyconsciousprocessing
ofthestimuli.Theauthorscallthisphe-
nomenonunconsciousemotion,referringto
thefactthatanapparentemotionalchange
hasoccurredwiththesubjectbeingawareof
neitherthestimulusthatcauseditnorthe
shift in his emotional state.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Smiles,
353/743

354. Even Smiling Images,
Help Sales
Flashingsmilingsubliminalimagesatcus-
tomerswaitingtobeservedataburgerres-
taurantdoesn’tseemverypractical,orvery
ethicalforthatmatter.Whatthestudydoes
showisthatevenatinyelevationofmood,so
smallthatitisimperceptibletothesubjects,
canaffectcustomerconsumptionandwill-
ingness to spend.
Inshort,themanagerwhotrainsemploy-
eestosmileisontherighttrack.Inaddition,
imageryinthepurchaseareashouldbepos-
itive,andanypicturedpeopleshouldbe
smiling.
Asecondarytakeawayisthatmarketre-
searchersshouldbeverycautiouswhenask-
ingpeopletodescribetheiremotionalstate.
Theresearchshowedsignificantbehavioral
effectsevenwhenthesubjectsdidnotnotice
354/743

355. anychangeintheiremotions.Simplyasking
peoplequestionsinevitablyfailstodisclose
what’s really happening in their brains.
Notes
7.Piotr Winkielman and Kent C. Ber-
ridge, “Unconscious Emotion,”Current
Directions in Psychological Science13,
no. 3 (June 2004): 120–123,ht-
tp://psy2.ucsd.edu/~pwinkiel/
winkielman-ber-
ridge_Uncon-
scious_Emotion_CDIPS-2004.pdf.
355/743

356. Chapter 44
Confidence Sells
Isitbettertoknowyourstuffortoactlike
youdo?Ifyouareinthebusinessofconvin-
cingotherpeople,whetherasaconsultant,
salesperson,teammember,oranyotherpos-
itionthatrequiresotherstobelieveyou,it
pays to be confident.
AstudybyDonMoorefromCarnegieMel-
lonUniversity’sCenterforBehavioralDe-
cisionResearchshowedthatconfidenceeven
trumpspastaccuracyinearningthetrustof
others.
8
Mooreaskedvolunteerstoguessthe
weightofpeoplefromphotos.The

357. volunteersweregivencashforcorrect
guessesandwereabletobuyadvicefrom
oneoffourothervolunteers.Thepeople
guessingcouldn’tseewhatweightstheother
volunteershadestimated,buttheycouldsee
a confidence rating for each one.
Unsurprisingly,fromtheverybeginning,
thosevolunteersintheadvisoryrolesold
moreadviceiftheywereconfidentintheir
estimate.Asthegameprogressedandthose
guessinggainedexperiencewiththeaccur-
acyoftheothervolunteers,theydidtendto
avoidthosewiththemostincorrectpastan-
swers.Thisbias,though,wasmorethanoff-
setbytheirconfidenceestimates.Inshort,
confidence trumped demonstrated accuracy.
Thisfindingmaynotbeahugesurprise,
sincepeoplenaturallyassociateconfidence
withexpertise.Astrategyoftrustingconfid-
encebreaksdown,though,whensomeone
soundsveryconfidentwithoutactuallybeing
right.Italsomeansthatsimplistic,but
357/743

358. confident,explanationsofcomplextopics
suchasclimatechangeandfutureeconomic
behaviormayfindmorebelieversthanthe
nuancedopinionofatrueexpert.Thelatter,
intheinterestofaccuracyandcompleteness,
mightdescribemultiplescenariosandthe
uncertaintyassociatedwitheach.Thismakes
theexpertlesscrediblethantheconfident
person with a simple explanation.
Confidence Man: Jim
Cramer
Foranexampleofover-the-topconfidence,
lookatMadMoney’sJimCramer(CNBC).
Likeanyfinancialadvisor,hehasamixedre-
cordofaccuracyinhisforecastsformarkets
andindividualstocks.Nevertheless,hehas
hisowntelevisionshowandahuge
following.
358/743

359. AbigkeytoCramer’ssuccessinbuilding
anaudienceishisconfidenceandappear-
anceofexpertise.Whenaphonecallcomes
inwithaquestionaboutarelativelyobscure
company,Cramerreelsoffthetickersymbol,
givesaquicksynopsisofwhatthecompany
doesandwhyhelikesordoesn’tlikeit,and
givesafirmbuyorsellrecommendation
(completewithsoundeffectsandflashing
lights).Nowaffling,noalternativescenarios,
noneutral“hold”recommendations—justa
quickdemonstrationofdeepknowledgeand
afirm,unambiguousopinion.That’sconfid-
ence, and it works for Cramer.
Natural Mind Readers
It’spossiblethatmirrorneuronsplayarole
inouraffinityforconfidentpeople.Studies
haveshownthatwhenweinteractwithan-
otherperson,ourmirrorneuronswillfire
359/743

360. sympatheticallynotjustinresponsetothe
physicalmotionsorgesturesoftheother
personbutalsoinresponsetohisorher
emotional state.
9
Thisobservationhasledscientiststosug-
gestthatweareallnaturalmindreaders.
Fromanearlyage,weobserveothersand
buildasortofdatabaseofemotionsthatlets
usinterpretthefeelingsofothers.Thisis
subconsciousandautomatic,anditinflu-
encesourbehavior.So,confidencebegets
confidence.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Demon-
strate Confidence
Shouldweallbecomeobnoxiouslyconfident
inourownopinionsandneveradmitthat
otherviewsmighthavemerit?Ofcoursenot.
360/743

361. Butifwewanttoclosesales,getprojectsap-
proved,andachieveotherobjectivesrequir-
ingpersuasion,weneedtocommunicateour
confidence to others.
I’mnotsuggestingthatweadoptfalse
bravadotomanipulateothers.Rather,we
shouldusetime-honoredstrategiestodevel-
opourconfidence.Salespeopleshouldtruly
believeintheirproduct.Everypersuader
shouldachievemasteryofthefacts.Confid-
ence will flow naturally from these.
Sometimesrealuncertaintyexists;forex-
ample,theproductmaynotworkinthepar-
ticularsituation,surgerymightmakethe
conditionworse,ortheresearchprojectmay
notproduceabreakthrough.Itwouldbe
foolishandunethicaltoignorepossibleneg-
ativeoutcomesinthenameofstayingcon-
fident.Whensuchuncertaintyispresent,de-
scribethealternativeoutcomesand,ifpos-
sible,assignaprobability.But,ifyouarere-
commendingwhatyoubelieveisthebest
361/743

362. courseofaction,don’twaffleorspendtoo
muchtimediscussingalternativepossibilit-
ies;thiswillleavetheaudienceconfusedand
doubtful.Behonest,transparent,andconfid-
ent in your recommendation.
Notes
8.Peter Aldhous, “Humans Prefer Cock-
iness to Expertise,”New Scientist202,
no. 2711 (June 3, 2009): 15,ht-
tp://www.newscientist.com/article/
mg20227115.500-humans-prefer-
cockiness-to-expertise.html.
9.Ker Than, “Scientists Say Everyone
Can Read Minds,”Live Science,April
27, 2005,http://www.livescience.com/
220-scientists-read-minds.html.
362/743

363. Chapter 45
Small Favors, Big
Results
Fromtimetotime,allofusneedtopersuade
peoplewedon’tknowpersonallytodo
things.Asalespersonwantstocloseadeal.
Anofficeworkerneedstopersuadethenew
computertechniciantofixhercomputer
first.Afund-raiserhopestogetapotential
donortomakeapledge.Ournaturalinstinct
insuchsituationsistoavoidaskingtheindi-
vidualwewanttopersuadeforanyfavors
otherthantheonethat’simportanttous.
Afterall,theonlythingworsethanbeing

364. askedforafavorisbeingaskedformultiple
favors, right?
Theexpectedandseeminglylogicalan-
swer,thataskingformorethanonefavoris
unwise,iswrong.Behavioralresearchshows
usthatsometimesaskingforonefavorfirst
cangreatlyincreasetheprobabilityofsuc-
cess with the second favor!
Got the Time, Buddy?
Myfirstencounterwiththecounterintuitive
conceptthataskingforonefavorimproves
thesuccessratewhenaskingforasecondfa-
vorwaswhenIreadaboutastudyconducted
onacitystreet.Aresearcheraskedpassersby
forcomplicateddirections.Notallsubjects
botheredtohelp.Somesubjectswereasked
firstforanextremelysmallfavor:there-
searcherinquiredastothetimeofday.
364/743

365. Virtuallyallofthepassersbycheckedtheir
watch and provided the time.
Here’stheinterestingpart:subjectsthat
compliedwiththeinitialsmallrequestwere
muchmorelikelytorespondtothemore
time-consumingone.Thepsychology
seemedtobeasortofsubconsciousfeeling
thathavinggrantedonerequest,itwouldbe
consistent to grant a somewhat bigger one.
Signs of Success
Amorerecentexperimentaskedhomeown-
erstodisplaya3′×6′“DriveCarefully”sign
intheirfrontyard.Only17percentof
homeownersinanupscaleneighborhood
agreedtodoso,despitebeingofferedthe
slightlyscaryassurancethatthesignin-
stallerswouldtakecareofalldiggingneeded
for the holes for the support posts.
10
365/743

366. Amazingly,thepositiveresponseratein-
creasedto76percentamongasimilargroup
ofhomeownerswho,twoweeksearlier,had
beenaskedtoputatiny“SafeDriver”signin
theirhousewindow.Thelatterrequestwasa
minorinconvenience,andvirtuallyall
homeowners agreed to it.
Ifindtheideathatthreequartersofthe
secondgroupwouldagreetohavingpeople
comeout,tearuptheirlawn,andinstallabig
signquitesurprising;infact,eventhe17per-
centnumberforthefirstgroupwasabitofa
surprise.Thatthesimplestepofmakingan
insignificantearlierrequestmorethanquad-
rupled the response rate is truly amazing.
Foot in the Door
Inanotherstudy,intrepidinvestigators
askedpeopleiftheywouldbewillingtoallow
fiveorsixresearcherstocomeinsidetheir
366/743

367. housefortwohourstorootthroughtheir
closetsandcupboardsandclassifythegoods
foundforastudy.Anastonishing22percent
ofthehouseholdscontactedagreedtothis
invasionofpersonalspace—clearly,onefifth
ofthepopulationiseitherunabletosay“no”
orsoboredthatthey’llagreetoanythingfor
a break in their routine.
11
Theresearcherscontactedasecondgroup
ofhouseholdswitharequesttoanswerafew
surveyquestionsbyphoneonthesametop-
ic,asimplefavortowhichalmostallagreed.
Threedayslater,theyaskedthephonesur-
veygrouptoparticipateintheinvasive,time-
consumingstudy,andthepositiveresponse
ratemorethandoubledto56percent!
Clearly,theinitialfoot-in-the-doorapproach
ofthesimplesurveycausedmanymore
householdstothrowtheirdoorscompletely
open for the nosy researchers.
367/743

368. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Ask for a
Small Favor First
Themessageinallthisisclear.Makinga
smallinitialrequestofyourtargetswon’t
turnthemoff.Rather,ifitissmallenoughto
begrantedbyalmosteveryone,itwillmake
themmuchmorelikelytorespondpositively
to your ultimate request.
Herearejustafewwaystogetthatsmall
initial favor:
•Askforacupofcoffeeorglassof
water.
•Askforatinytrialorder,nomatter
how small.
•Ifyouareraisingfunds,getthe
donortomakeatriviallysmalldona-
tion before you make your real pitch.
368/743

369. •Askaprospecttocompleteashort
survey.
Thevarietyofsmallsetupfavorsisend-
less.Regardlessofwhichapproachyouad-
opt,thatinitialfootinthedoorwillgreatly
increase the odds of success later.
Notes
10.Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldsten, and
Steve Martin,Yes! 50 Scientifically
Proven Ways to Be Persuasive(New
York: Free Press, 2008).
11.Ibid.
369/743

370. Chapter 46
Hire Articulate
Salespeople
Fewwouldarguethatoneofthemostim-
portantskillsasalespersoncanhaveistoun-
derstandwhatthecustomeristhinking,but
that’saskillthat’sdifficulttomeasure.In-
stead,hiringmanagersusuallyrelyonevid-
enceofpastsalessuccess(agoodpredictor
offutureperformance)andtheinterview(a
reasonablesimulationofanin-personsales
call).
Perhaps thosemanagers hiring
salespeopleshouldconsidercheckingthe
candidate’sSATVerbalscore,too.Astudyat

371. WellesleyCollegeshowsthatadvancedlan-
guageskillscorrelatewiththeabilitytopre-
dict what another person is thinking.
12
Theinvestigatorsconductedtheexperi-
mentusingdeafadultswithdifferingdegrees
ofsigningskills.Theyshowedthesubjectsa
seriesofpicturesthattoldpartofastory,
andthentheyaskedthesubjectstochoose
thenextpictureinthesequencefromtwo
choices.Correctpredictionswouldbebased
onwhatthecharacterinthestorywasthink-
ing.Thesubjectswhohadmoreadvanced
signingabilitywerebetterabletochoosethe
correct picture.
Onemightguessthattheadvancedsigners
weresmarterandhencebetterabletointer-
pretthestory,but,infact,individualswho
learnedbettersigningskillsoveraperiodof
timealsoimprovedtheirabilitytopredict
the story character’s thought process.
371/743

372. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Hire Articu-
late People
Theresearchersdeterminedthatadvanced
languageskillsarerequiredtofullyutilize
ourinnateabilitytounderstandwhatother
peoplearethinking.So,hiringanarticulate
salesperson(ormanager,customerservice
person,andsoon)mayhaveadualbenefit:
notonlywillthatindividualmakeabetter
impressiononcustomersandothers,buthe
orshemaybebetterabletoreadthecustom-
er’s state of mind.
Notes
12.Nicole Branan, “Ability to Guess
Others’ Thoughts Tied to Language Pro-
ficiency,”Scientific American Mind20,
372/743

373. no. 6 (November 2009): 8,ht-
tp://www.scientificamerican.com/art-
icle.cfm?id=language-skills-and-
reading-minds.
373/743

374. Chapter 47
You’re the Best!
Yourmotherprobablytoldyou,“Flatterywill
get you nowhere.”
Momwaswrong.Researchshowsthat
evenwhenpeopleperceivethatflatteryisin-
sincere,thatflatterycanstillleavealasting
and positive impression of the flatterer.
ElaineChanandJaideepSenguptaofthe
HongKongUniversityofScienceandTech-
nologyfoundthateveninsincereflatterycan
haveapersuasiveinfluenceonconsumers,
despitetheireffortstocorrectfortheflatter-
er’smotive.AccordingtoChanandSen-
gupta,evenwhenwerealizewearebeing

375. flattered,and“correct”forthatwhenwe
thinkabouttheflatterer,thereisstillanun-
derlyingpositiveimpressionthatcanbe
strongandlonglasting.Thissubconscious
positiveimpression—theresearcherscallit
implicit—wasfoundtoinfluencebehavior
evenwhenthesubjectsconsciouslyrealized
that the flattery was insincere.
It’sscarythatwecanbemanipulatedthis
easilyandthatourowndefensesagainst
suchmanipulationareineffectiveevenwhen
werealizewhatishappening.Butistherea
waythatethicalmarketerscanapplythis
knowledge? The answer is, “Yes!”
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Ethical
Flattery
375/743

376. Thekeytousingflatteryinanonmanipulat-
ivewayistobehonest.Particularlyinadir-
ectsalesenvironment,thesalespersoncan
praisesomeactionorcharacteristicofthe
customeranddosoinawaythatisnotdis-
honestatall.Indeed,flatterybasedontruth
islikelytobemorecredibletoandbetterre-
ceivedbythecustomerthanacompliment
that is blatantly false or overstated.
Mass Flattery
Inmarketingsituationsotherthanone-on-
oneinteractions,youcanstillstayhonestby
usingtargetedpitches.Forexample,“Asan
ownerofaPlatinumClasssuit,youshowed
youareanindividualwhocanrecognize
sophisticated styling and superb quality . . .”
Thesecustomizedapproachesaremore
honestandlikelyfarmoreeffectivethan,say,
amassmailingthatmakesagenericflatter-
ingstatementabouttherecipient.Even
376/743

377. thoughtheresearchsuggeststhatgeneric
flatterymightworkeveniftherecipientdis-
counteditasinsincere,statementsgrounded
intruthwillcauselesscognitivedissonance
andcreateamorefavorableimpressionof
the company and brand.
377/743

378. Chapter 48
Coffee, Anyone?
Ifyou’remeetingwithasalesprospectin
personforthefirsttime,thinktwicebefore
youofferthepersonanice,ice-coldbever-
age.Instead,tryasteamingmugofhotcof-
feetomakethebestimpression.Oneofmy
favoriteresearchers,JohnBarghofYale
University,foundthatthetemperatureofa
beveragemakesadifferenceinhowoneper-
son judges another person.
13
Anexperimentgavesubjectscupsofeither
icedorhotcoffeeandthentoldthemtorate
someoneelse’spersonalitysolelyfromafile
ofinformationaboutthatperson.Which
groupdoyouthinkscoredthepersonhigher

379. for“warmth”?Thehotcoffeegroup,of
course!
Theresearchersattributethiseffecttothe
factthatbrainimagingstudiesshowhotand
coldstimulilightupanareaofthebrainre-
lated to trust and cooperation.
Interestinglyenough,thewarmbeverages
affectnotjustourperceptionsofother
peoplebutourownbehavioraswell.Accord-
ingtoBargh,“Physicalwarmthcanmakeus
seeothersaswarmerpeople,butalsocause
ustobewarmer—moregenerousandtrust-
ing—as well.”
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Serve Hot
Beverages
Giventhechoice,youmightbebetteroff
meetingasalesprospectorpotential
379/743

380. businesspartnerforcoffeethanacolddrink.
Notonlywillyourcompanionjudgeyouto
beawarmerperson,heorshewillbemore
generous and trusting as well.
(Unfortunately,theresearchersdidnot
conductvariationsontheexperimentusing
alcoholicbeverages,which,Ihaveheard
fromreliablesources,havetheirownbehavi-
ormodificationpotential!Hottoddies,
anyone?)
Toreallycarrythestrategytoanextreme,
ahotbeverageinanoninsulatedmugthat
needstobeheldinone’shandwouldseemto
bethebestapproach.Perhapsthereason
Chineserestaurantsserveapotofteawith
littlehandle-freecupsistospreadwarmfeel-
ings around the table!
Memory Bonus
Asaplusforservingacaffeinatedbeverage,
caffeinehasbeenshowntoboostshort-term
380/743

381. memory.
14So,notonlywillyourpitchbe
betterreceived,itmaybemorememorable,
too.
Notes
13.John Tierney, “Heart-Warming
News on Hot Coffee,”New York Times,
October 23, 2008,ht-
tp://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/
2008/10/23/heart-warming-news-on-
coffee/.
14.“Caffeine Boosts Brain’s Short-Term
Memory Function,” Daily News Central,
December 1, 2005,ht-
tp://health.dailynewscentral.com/con-
tent/view/0001975/62/.
381/743

382. Chapter 49
Candy Is Dandy
Couldeatingachocolatetreatmakeyou
wanttobuyaTVorbookacruise?Thesur-
prising answer is, “YES!”
AtamallIusedtofrequent,therewasa
candykioskthatalwaysofferedasample
chocolatetoeachpasserby.Iwondered
abouttheeconomicsofthatpractice—it
seemedthatalmosteveryonegrabbedthe
treatandkeptonwalking—butIassumed
thatitmustbeprofitableortheywouldn’t
keep doing it.
Infact,temptinganindividualandgetting
himorhertoindulgewillactuallyincrease

383. theperson’sdesiretokeepindulging.Even
moresurprising,thedesiretoindulgegoes
farbeyondhavinganotherpieceofcandy
andextendstohigh-pricedconsumeritems
such as fancy computers and designer shirts!
ResearchersJulioLaranofMiami
UniversityandChrisJaniszewskiofthe
UniversityofFloridaofferedsubjectsa
chocolatetruffleandencouragedthemtoeat
it.Theyfoundthatthesubjectswhoindulged
wereeagertokeepindulging,notonlycon-
sumingmoretrufflesbutalsofattyfoods
such as ice cream, pizza, and chips.
15
Thatmightnotseemodd—there’scer-
tainlyagrainoftruthintheoldLay’sPotato
Chipslogan,“Betchacan’teatjustone!”But
thetrulystartlingfindingwasthatthedesire
toindulgeexpandedtomuchmorethan
tasty treats.
Anadditionalexperimentfoundthatsub-
jectswhoatethefirsttrufflealsoassigned
morevaluetoconsumergoodssuchasApple
383/743

384. computers,designershirts,high-endTVs,
andcruisescomparedwiththosesubjects
whosuccessfullyresistedthetruffle
temptation.
Therewereafewotherrelevantfindingsas
well.First,ifthesubjectscontinuedtocon-
sumetrufflesuntilsatisfied,thedesiretoin-
dulgeturnedoff.Second,thoseindividuals
whoresistedthetrufflealsoseemedtobe-
comemorevirtuousintheirattemptsto
avoid self-indulgence.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Try the
Truffle Strategy
Shouldyoutemptyourcustomerswithsome
kindofindulgenttreat?Ifyousellaproduct
thatmightbeconsideredanindulgence,
suchasapremiumorluxuryitemora
384/743

385. productthatpeoplewantbutdon’tneed,the
trufflestrategymightwork.Butdon’tkeep
feedingthemtreats,ortheirdesiretoin-
dulgethemselveswillfade.Also,beaware
thatthosecustomerswhoresistthetempta-
tion may actually become harder to sell to.
Thinkingbacktothechocolatekioskinthe
mall,Iwondernowifthemalloperatoror
surroundingmerchantsshouldhavesubsid-
izedthefreechocolates.Thedeliverymech-
anismwasjustaboutperfect:Theclerk
offeredeachpasserbyonesample,sothere
wasnoopportunityforasweet-toothedcus-
tomertograbahandful.Thesampleswere
smallenoughthatjustabouteveryonewho
acceptedonewantedmore.(Nodoubtthat
wasthechocolatier’sstrategy.)But,accord-
ingtothesefindings,eachcustomerwhoac-
ceptedandateoneofthetastymorselswas
primedtospendmoremoney—andnotjust
for a box of chocolates!
385/743

386. Notes
15.University of Miami School of Busi-
ness Administration, “School of Busi-
ness Research Shows One Tiny Chocol-
ate May Cause Overindulgent Eating &
Shopping,” news release, February 10,
2009,http://www.bus.miami.edu/
news-and-media/recent-news/truffles-
research.html.
386/743

387. Chapter 50
Selling Secrets of
Magicians
Ifyouthinkthatmagiciansandneuroscient-
istshavelittletotalkabout,you’dbewrong:
bothdealwithissueslikeattentionandcon-
sciousness,albeitindifferentways.Mar-
keterscanlearnfrombothprofessionsand,
inparticular,fromunderstandinghowmagi-
cianscanfoolusevenwhenwearetryingto
pay attention.
16
Hereareafewwaysthatmagiciansexploit
ourmentalprocessesthatcanbeusedby
marketers—nottotrickcustomers,butto
better engage them and hold their attention:

388. 1. People Focus on
Only One Thing
Iconsidermyselfamultitasker,andno
doubtmostbusinesspeoplewouldsaythe
sameaboutthemselves.Butthesuccessof
stagemagiciansshowsthatwecanonly
reallypayattentiontoonethingatatime.
Manyillusionsarebasedonthemagician
showingyousomethingwithonehandwhile
doingsomethingyoudon’tnoticewiththe
other hand.
Neuroscientistscompareourattentionfo-
custoshiningaspotlightonsomething:we
seewhatislit,andwelosefocuson
everythingelse.Thetermtunnelvisionis
particularlyapttodescribehowpeoplezero
in on one small area at a time.
388/743

389. Marketersneedtobesuretheyhavefo-
cusedtheirtarget’sattentionwherethey
wantit.Ifthecustomerisdistractedby
somethingexternal,orworse,bysomething
elsethesalespersonisdoing(orthatishap-
peninginanadvertisement),thekeypointof
the pitch will be missed.
MagicStrategy#1:Don’tlet(ormake)
yourcustomersmultitaskwhenyouneed
their attention on your message!
2. Motion Attracts Our
Attention
Everwonderwhydovesaresuchpopular
propswithmagicians?I’msuretheirdocile
natureandwillingnesstotoleratebeing
stuffedinapocketareimportant,buttheex-
plosiveburstofwhite,flappingwingsasthey
flyoffisguaranteedtodraweveryeyeballin
theaudience.Theabilityofthebirdsto
389/743

390. hijacktheviewers’attentiongivestheper-
formerawindowofopportunitytosetupthe
next stage of the illusion.
Ourbrainsarewiredtorespondtomo-
tion—afterall,inprehistorictimes,move-
mentmightbeathreat,orperhapsfood.Ma-
giciansexploitthatresponseinmanyways,
and you can too.
MagicStrategy#2:Whetheryouare
presentingtoagroup,sellingone-on-one,or
designingaTVcommercial,usemotionto
grabtheattentionofyouraudienceandfocus
itwhereyouwantit.Ifthere’sonething
that’smoving,that’swheretheaudiencewill
look.
3. Big Motions Beat
Little Motions
390/743

391. Ifyouwerewatchingamagicianstandingon
thestageandheorshemadeasmall,quick
movetohisorherpocket,youwouldlikely
noticeit.Magiciansknowthatandprevent
youfromseeingtheirsmallmovesbydis-
tractingyouwithabigmove,suchaspulling
acolorfulscarfoutofapocketinasweeping
gesturewiththeirotherhand.Theyknowthe
audiencewilltuneoutthesmallmoveinfa-
vor of paying attention to the big one.
MagicStrategy#3:Ifyouaredealing
withanaudiencewhoisdistractedorwho
maybelosingfocus,usebigmotionstosnap
them to attention.
4. The Unexpected At-
tracts Us
WhenIwatchamagician,Ialwaystrytopay
closeattentiontospotanyshadymoves.So
doestherestoftheaudience.It’sraretospot
391/743

392. askilledmagician’stricks,though—notjust
becauseofthedistractiontechniquesde-
scribedpreviously.Magicianshidesomeof
theirmovesbymakingthemlooklikeexpec-
ted actions.
Forexample,whenmagiciansscratchtheir
ears,shoottheircuffs,ormakeothermoves
wearefamiliarwith,ourbrainstuneitoutas
expectedanduninteresting.Thatmovemay
wellmaskatransferofaproporsomeother
preparationstep.Ontheotherhand,ifmagi-
ciansweretoplacetheirpalmsontopof
theirheadsorraisetheirleftarmfornoap-
parent reason, we’d all be watching carefully.
Novelty attracts us; the routine bores us.
MagicStrategy#4:Togetyourcustom-
ers’attention,surprisethemwithanunex-
pectedmove,anovelsound,oranunfamiliar
image.Thatwillcausethemtolookatand
analyzewhattheyareseeing.That’strue
evenwithtext—“New!”isoneofthemost
attention-getting words in advertising.
392/743

393. 5. Mirror Neurons En-
gage Us
Onereasonwedon’tnoticewhenmagicians
scratchtheirnoseswhileslylypalmingacoin
thatwashiddenintheirmouthisthatwe
knowwhatitfeelsliketoscratchournoses.
Whenmagiciansengageinthatactivity,ifwe
noticeatall,ourmirrorneuronsarelighting
upasifwewereperformingthataction
ourselves.
Magiciansexploitthisphenomenonwith
decoyactions—appearingtotakeadrink,for
example,butreallypassinganitemfrom
mouthtohandintheprocess.Ourbrainsaid
thedeceptionbyplayingalongwiththede-
coyactivityandinterpretingtheactionas
one we are already wired to understand.
393/743

394. MagicStrategy#5:Eventhoughmar-
ketersaren’tnormallytryingtodisguise
sneakyactions,thereisalessonhere.When
peopleseesomeoneperformingafamiliar
action,eitherinpersonoronvideo,their
brainswillengageastheirmirrorneurons
kickin.Sellingsoftdrinks?Letpeopleexper-
ienceopeningthebottle,raisingittotheir
lips,andtakingadrink.Magiciansknowhow
familiarphysicalactionsengageourbrain,
and you should too.
6. Cut the Chatter
Ifyou’veeverbeentoamagicshow,either
onastageorclose-up,youknowthatthe
magicianoftenkeepstalking.Goodmagi-
cianswilltalkaboutwhattheyaredoing,
whyitisdifficult,andsoon,whiletheir
handsarebusywiththetrick.Theirpurpose,
ofcourse,isnottogiveyourealinformation
394/743

395. abouttheirtechniquebutrathertodistract
you.Inessence,themagician’spatterisan-
otherstreamofinformationforyourbrainto
process,andtheoverloadmakesitlesslikely
that you will spot what is really happening.
MagicStrategy#6:Whileastreamof
chatterservesthemagician’spurposes,talk-
ingtoomuchcandistractyourcustomers
fromyoursellingpoints.Haveyoueveren-
counteredasalespersonwhowouldn’tshut
upwhileyouwereexaminingaproduct?It’s
hardtolookat,say,acar’scontrolpanel,
whileasalespersonisspoutingastreamof
inane babble.
Salespeopleshouldbetrainednotjust
whattosay,butwhentosayit—andwhen
nottosayanythingatall.Inothermedia,
suchascommercials,beawarethatthe
spokenaudiocontentshouldn’tconflictwith
important information on the screen.
EvenPowerPointjockeyscanlearnfrom
magicians’patter—lengthytextbulletsina
395/743

396. presentationareaperfectexampleofdis-
traction.Tryingtoreadthetextwhilethe
speakerismakingthesamepointverbally
causeslowcomprehensionandrecallbe-
causethebrainistoodistractedtodoagood
job with either task.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Learn From
Magicians
Magichaslikelybeenaroundinsomeform
atleastaslongasmarketing,andmarketers
woulddowelltolearnfromitspractitioners!
Skilledmagiciansareexpertsinholdingthe
attentionoftheiraudiencesandcandirect
thatattentionatwill.Inaddition,magicians
aremastersofdistractionandprovideanim-
portantlessoninwhatnottodoifyouwant
your audience focused.
396/743

397. Notes
16.Stephen L. Macknik, Susana
Martinez-Conde, and Sandra Blakeslee,
Sleights of Mind: What the Neuros-
cience of Magic Reveals About Our
Everyday Deceptions(New York: Henry
Holt, 2010).
397/743

398. Chapter 51
Soften Up Your
Prospects
Ifthelasttimeyouboughtacarthesalesper-
sonofferedyouasoft,comfortablechair,
there are two possible explanations:
1.Thesalespersonwasgenuinely
concernedaboutyourcomfortdur-
ing a stressful negotiation.
2.Thesalespersonknewyouwould
paymorethanifyousatinahard
chair.
Thesecondchoicesoundscrazy,right?I’m
sureallofuswouldswearthatthefirmness
ofourchairwouldhaveabsolutelynoeffect

399. onhowmuchwe’dpayforacar.Ifanything,
ahardseatmightmakeuseagertostrikea
dealmorequickly,perhapsleavingmoneyon
the table.
The opposite is true.
AstudybyJoshuaM.Ackerman(MIT),
ChristopherC.Nocera(Harvard),andJohn
Bargh(Yale),showedthat“hardobjectsin-
creasedrigidityinnegotiations.”Oneofa
seriesofexperimentsinvolvedasimulated
carpricenegotiationinwhichthesubject
hadtomakeapriceofferforacar,whichwas
rejected.Then,the“buyer”hadtomakea
secondoffer.Thesubjectswerealsoaskedto
evaluate their negotiating partner.
17
Theresearchersfoundthattherewasasig-
nificantdifferencebetweensubjectssitting
inhardandsoftchairs.Thoseseatedinhard
chairsjudgedtheirnegotiatingpartnertobe
lessemotional.Mostsignificantly,the“buy-
ers”insoftchairsincreasedtheirofferby
nearly40percentmorethanthoseinhard
399/743

400. chairs.Inshort,notonlydidahardchair
changethebuyers’perceptionoftheirnego-
tiatingpartners,itmadethemharder
bargainers.
Anotherexperimenthadsubjectsfeela
hardblockofwoodorasoftblanketbefore
ratingaboss-employeeinteraction.Thesub-
jectswhofeltthehardblockratedtheem-
ployeeasbeingmorerigidthanthosewho
felttheblanket.Willtheselaboratoryfind-
ingstranslateintoreal-worldresults?Study
authorJoshuaAckermansays,“Isuspect
thatthestressesofreal-worlddecision-mak-
ingenvironmentswillactasmentaldistrac-
ters,makingpeopleevenmoresusceptibleto
the effects of tactile cues.”
400/743

401. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Soften Up
Your Prospects
Ifyouwanttobeperceivedasmoreflexible
indealingwithprospectswhileatthesame
timeincreasingtheirflexibilityinreachinga
deal, take these steps:
•Seat them in a soft chair.
•Ifyouhandthemanything,avoid
hard objects.
•Offerthemawarmbeverage(see
Chapter 48).
Thecombinedeffectwillletyourelatebet-
teremotionallytoyourprospectandwillin-
creasethechanceofreachingadeal.Infact,
unlessyouwanttoencouragerigidityinthe
401/743

402. peopleyoumeetwith,youmightmakeall
your office seating soft.
Notes
17.Joshua M. Ackerman, Christopher C.
Nocera, and John A. Bargh, “Incidental
Haptic Sensations Influence Social
Judgments and Decisions,”Science328,
no. 5986 (June 25, 2010): 1712–1715,ht-
tp://www.sciencemag.org/content/328/
5986/1712.
402/743

403. SECTION EIGHT
Brainfluence for a
Cause
Wethinkofmarketingasbeingexclusivelya
businessactivity,butitextendstoeverytype
oforganization—nonprofitsandcharities,
government agencies, and education.
Theconceptsinthissectionallhavepar-
ticularapplicabilitytononprofitactivity,but
it’sstillworthareadforyoufor-profitmar-
keters.Everybusinesshastimeswhenit
needstocultivateemotionssuchasgeneros-
ity,altruism,andsociallyappropriate
behavior.

404. Chapter 52
Mirror, Mirror on the
Wall
Here’saprediction:inthecomingyears,
we’llseemirrorspoppingupintheentry-
waysofchurchesandotherplacesofwor-
ship—andthereasonwon’tbetoletthose
entering fix their hair.
Themirrorhasarathermagicaleffecton
us.
Motivationexpertshaveoftentoldtheir
audiencestolookinthemirrorastheyfor-
mulatedtheirgoalsorimaginedthefuture
theywanted.Asitturnsout,thisadvice
wasn’tallmotivationalhokum.Whenwe

405. lookinamirror,ourbehaviorisactually
altered—at least for a short period of time.
1
Themostvenerablepieceofmirror-beha-
viorresearchdatesallthewaybacktothe
1970s.Likemanyexperimentsinsocialpsy-
chology,thesetupwassimple:childrenmak-
ingtheirHalloweenroundsweretoldthey
couldtakeonepieceofcandyfromalarge
bowlofcandyandwerethenleftalone.
About34percenthelpedthemselvestomore
thanonepiece.Whenamirrorwasplaced
behindthebowlsothatthechildrencould
seethemselvesastheytookthecandy,only9
percentdisobeyedtheirinstructions.The
simpleadditionofthemirrorcuttherateof
bad behavior by almost three-fourths!
Andit’snotjustkidswhorespondtosee-
ingthemselves.Anotherexperimentshowed
subjectseitheralivevideoofthemselves
(ratherlikelookinginamirrorexceptforthe
imagereversalpart)orneutralgeometric
shapes.Theywerethengivenasmalltask
405/743

406. thatrequiredthemtoexittheroomwitha
usedpapertowel.Almosthalfofthesubjects
whosawtheneutralimageslitteredbydrop-
pingtheusedtowelinanemptystairwell,
whereasonlyonequarterofthosewhosaw
themselves did so.
Itseemsthatseeingone’simagecauses
onetothinkaboutone’sbehaviorandulti-
matelybehaveinamoresociallydesirable
way.Accordingtoinfluenceandpersuasion
expertRobertCialdini,otheractions,suchas
askingpeopletheirnames,canhaveasimil-
areffect.Anotherexperimentshowedthata
pictureofeyesdramaticallyreduced“theft”
inabreakareawhereemployeesweresup-
posedtodropmoneyinajarwhentheyhad
a cup of coffee or tea.
Cialdininotesthatmirrorscouldbeanin-
expensivewaytocutshopliftingandemploy-
eetheftinareasthatcan’treadilybemon-
itored.(Nodoubttheywouldbeparticularly
406/743

407. effectiveiftheywereaccompaniedbyasign
that said “Two-way mirrors in use.”)
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Let Donors
See Themselves
Ithinktherecouldbesomeinterestingnon-
profitmarketingapplicationsforthisself-
awarenessstrategy.Generally,charitiesare
seekingcommitmentsofmoneyortimefora
causethatmostpeoplewouldconsiderso-
ciallybeneficial.Whatbetterwaytoboost
theirsuccessratethanlettingpotential
donors see themselves?
Ifasolicitationistakingplaceinanenvir-
onmentcontrolledbythenonprofit,oneor
morestrategicallyplacedmirrors(suchasin
thewaitingroomorbehindthesolicitor’s
desk)couldworktoincreasethecloserate
407/743

408. andperhapsboosttheaveragecommitment.
Ofcourse,relativelyfewnonprofitshavethe
luxuryofbringingdonorsintotheir
environment.
Ithinkthereareapplicationsforthisre-
searchinthemostcommonwayofsoliciting
contributions:directmail.Onewouldbeto
includeaninexpensivereflectiveareaonpart
ofthesolicitation,perhapsaccompaniedby
wordingthaturgedthereaderto“imagine
thegoodyoucoulddo...”Althoughtheim-
agequalitymightnotbeasgoodasareal
mirror,thethoughtwouldbethere.Person-
alizingthepitchbyprintingthedonor’s
namebelowthereflectiveareawouldlikely
helpaswell.Buildingonthevideoresults,
it’spossibleaphotoofthedonorcouldinflu-
encegenerosity.Morecostlysolicitations
aimedatindividuallargedonorscouldeven
incorporate a real mirror in some way.
Thebenefitsofusingmirrorsorotherself-
imageswillmostlikelybegreatestfor
408/743

409. marketerswhoareclearlyonthesideofwhat
issociallydesirable:charities,universities,
green marketers, and so on.
Notes
1.Robert Cialdini, Noah Goldsten, and
Steve Martin,Yes! 50 Scientifically
Proven Ways to Be Persuasive(New
York: Free Press, 2008).
409/743

410. Chapter 53
Get Closer to Heaven
Inourlanguage,wetendtoassociateheight
withgood.Heavenisaboveus,Hellissome-
wherebeneathus.Godappearsonamoun-
tain,notinavalleyorawell.Youlookupto
someoneyouadmireandlookdownon
someone undesirable.
Notonlyisthisassociationofheightwith
goodrootedinoursubconsciousmind,but
ourphysicallocationactuallyaffectsour
behavior.
Lifting Generosity

411. AstudyledbyLawrenceSannaofthe
UniversityofNorthCarolinaatChapelHill
lookedathowthephysicalpositionofsub-
jectschangedtheprobabilitythattheywould
engageinprosocialacts,thatis,dogood
things.Oneexperimentinvolvedaskingmall
shoppersforacharitablecontributionimme-
diatelyaftertheyhadgoneupanescalatoror
gonedownanescalator.Theyfoundthat16
percentofthepeoplegoingupcontributed,
morethantwicethe7percentcontributedby
subjectsgoingdown.Acontrolgroupof
shopperswalkingonlevelgroundnotnear
anyescalatorscontributedatan11percent
rate.
2
Elevating Cooperation
Anotherexperimentusedamorecontrolled
settingwithrandomlyassignedsubjects.
Thosewhohadgoneupasetofstepsspent
411/743

412. 68percentlongerhelpingtheexperiment
leaderwithataskthanthosewhohadgone
down a set of steps.
Physicallocationisn’tanessentialcom-
ponentofthehigh/loweffect.Inyetanother
experiment,subjectssawvideosshotfrom
anairplaneoracarandaskedtoimagine
themselvesinthevideo.Theythenengaged
inanactivityinwhichtheythoughtthey
werehelpinganotherindividualinacom-
putergame.Subjectswhosawtheairplane
video(the“high”position)were60percent
morecooperativethansubjectswhosawthe
car video (the “low” position).
Practical Implications
Sincenonprofitsdependonaltruisticbehavi-
ortogetdonationsandvolunteers,manyap-
plicationsspringtomind.Locatingdonation
tablesatthetopofstepsorescalatorswould
412/743

413. beanobviousstepasitdirectlymimicsthe
experiment.Thesefindingsmightinfluence
officelocation,too.Volunteerswhowalked
upaflightofstepsmightwellworkharder
andlonger.Althoughnotdemonstratedby
theexperiment,Ithinkitlikelythatthereis
a“highoffice”effect.Getdonorsintoan
upper-floorofficewithbigwindowsortoa
fund-raiserinavenuewithanexpansive
view,andtheirgenerositymightbe
increased.
Business Applications
Mostbusinessesdon’trunonaltruism,but
cooperationisimportant.Usingthealtitude
effectmightbeagreatadditiontoateam-
buildingexerciseorawaytoencourage
everyonetopitchinforanimportantrush
project.
413/743

414. Theresearchersdidn’tstudyhowlong
lastingtheeffectwas,butIwouldsuspect
thatrepeatedexposuretoanelevatedenvir-
onmentwouldreduceitsimpact.Ifyou
climbaflightofsteps(orrideanelevatorto
the20thfloor)everyday,itseemslikelythat
thebehavioreffectswoulddeclineasthe
change in elevation became routine.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Control
Altitude, Change
Attitude
Where’syouroffice?Whereareyouholding
yournextfund-raiser?Whereareyoumeet-
ingyourcustomerforlunch?Keepaltitude
inmind.Andifyouarestuckinthebase-
ment,notethatinoneexperimentmerely
414/743

415. showingthesubjectsavideotakenfromon
highwasenoughtokickintheheighteffect;
considerinstallingamuralofcloudsorabig
aerial photo.
Notes
2.Lawrence J. Sanna et al., “Rising Up
to Higher Virtues: Experiencing Elev-
ated Physical Height Uplifts Prosocial
Actions,”Journal of Experimental So-
cial Psychology47 (2011): 472–476,
http://www-personal.umich.edu/
~ljsanna/ljs11jesp.pdf.
415/743

416. Chapter 54
Child Labor
Weallliketolookatimagesofbabies(see
page86),butinadditiontotheirfascination
formostadults,theyhaveanextrapower:
baby pictures can boost altruistic behavior.
AnexperimentinEdinburghbeganby
plantinghundredsofwalletsoncitystreets.
Almosthalfweremailedbacktothe“owner.”
Mostwalletscontainedoneoffourpossible
photos:asmilingbaby,acutepuppy,a
happyfamily,oranelderlycouple.Other
walletshadnophotoatall,andsomehad
charity papers inside.
3

417. Theresultswerequitestartling.Fully88
percentofthewalletswiththebabyphoto
werereturned.Thenextbestratewasthe
puppyphoto,at53percent.Afamilyphoto
netteda48percentreturnrate,whileaneld-
erlycouplepicturescoredonly28percent.
Justoneoutofsevenoftheno-photowallets
was returned.
Accordingtotheprincipalresearcher,Dr.
RichardWiseman,thehighrateofreturnfor
thewalletsthatincludedababyphotore-
flectsanevolution-driveninstincttohelp
vulnerableinfants.Humans,inordertopro-
tectfuturegenerations,arewiredtohelpba-
bies, even the progeny of others.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Babies
to Boost Altruism
417/743

418. Foranonprofitorganizationthatdependson
altruisticbehavior,employingbabyimages
couldgetdonorsinamoregenerousmood.
Somegroupswillbebetterabletousethe
techniquethanothers;asymphony,forex-
ample,mightfinditdifficulttobuildababy
imageintoafund-raisingletterwithoutit
lookingodd.Charitiesservingfamilies,
though,mightconsideraprominentbaby
pictureinsteadofanimageshowinganen-
tirefamilygrouporpicturesofolder
children.
For-Profit Advertisers
Isthereatakeawayforfor-profitadvertisers?
Atthesimplestlevel,advertisershavelong
incorporatedbabyimagessimplybecause
theygrabbedtheviewer’sattention.Perhaps
insomecasestheygotanaltruisticboost,
too.
418/743

419. Thegeneralcategoriesofsafetyandpro-
tectionmightbenefitfromthebabyeffect.
Michelin,thetiremaker,picturedababy
nexttoatireinanadthatemphasizedthe
safetycharacteristicsoftheproduct.You
mightbewillingtoriskyourownneckdriv-
ingoncheaptires,butwouldyoutakea
chance with that cute baby?
Lifeinsuranceisanotherexampleofa
productthatmightbeignoreduntilframed
inthecontextofprovidingforone’sfamily,
and in particular, for a helpless infant.
Notes
3.Hannah Devlin, “Want to keep your
wallet? Carry a baby picture,”The
Times,July 11, 2009,ht-
tp://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/
science/article6681923.ece.
419/743

420. Chapter 55
Give Big, Get Bigger
Reciprocityisarecurringthemeindiscus-
sionsofinfluencingbehavior.Theconceptof
reciprocitysuggeststhatgivingsomeone
something,ordoingafavorforsomeone,es-
tablishesasubtlereturnobligation.Aninter-
estingstudybyGermanresearcherArmin
Falkshowedthatabiggergiftamplifiesthe
reciprocityeffect.Falk’sstudyinvolvedmail-
ing10,000requestsforcharitabledonations,
dividedintothreegroups.Onegroupre-
ceivedonlytheletterrequestingthedona-
tion,onegroupreceivedtheletterplusafree
postcardandenvelope(thesmallgift),and
thelastgroupreceivedapackagecontaining

421. fourpostcardsandenvelopes(thelarge
gift).
4
Theideathatsendingagiftalongwitha
charitabledonationrequestboostsresponse
iswellestablished,andtheexperimentbore
thisout:thesmallgiftboosteddonation
totalsby17percent.Therecipientsofthe
largegift,though,wereevenmoregenerous:
theydonated75percentmorethantheno-
gift group.
Thisexperimentissignificantinacouple
ofways.First,ittestedreciprocityinthereal
world,notinanacademicsettingwithun-
dergradsusedasinexpensivelabrats.Se-
cond,itdemonstratedthatthereciprocityef-
fectisproportionaltotheperceivedsizeof
thegiftorfavor,evenwhenthevariations
are relatively minor.
421/743

422. Nonprofit Reciprocity
Strategy
Nonprofitsarewellawareofthereciprocity
effect,andtheyuseittogreatadvantage.
Someuseanapproachnearlyidenticaltothe
test,mailingunsolicitedsmallgiftssuchas
addresslabelsorholidaycardstoboost
donationrates.Thisresearchshowsthat
testingdifferentgiftvaluesandtypesisex-
tremely important.
Clearly,fourcardshadpassedsomekind
oftippingpointthatspikeddonationscom-
paredwiththosegeneratedwhenasingle
cardwasused.Butwouldtwocardshave
donenearlyaswell?Wouldsixcardshave
causedenoughofanincreasetojustifythe
evenhighercost?Andwhatifthecardswere
ofexceptionalquality(andapparentlyhigher
value)orifthegiftwassomethingotherthan
cards?
422/743

423. Thegreatthingaboutdirectmailisthatit
lendsitselftotesting.It’seasytosegment
donorlistsfordifferentmailingsandtotrack
theresponserateforeachpackage.Witha
littleinvestmentintestingandgiftoptions,a
nonprofitcandeterminewhetherabigger
giftwillboostthedonationratebymorethan
enough to cover the added cost.
Business Reciprocity
Althoughbusinessesdon’tsendgiftstopo-
tentialcustomersaskingfordonations,are-
ciprocitystrategycanstillwork.(Conference
swagisoneexample;giveawayaT-shirtora
gimmickypen,andmanyboothvisitorswill
feel an obligation to listen to your pitch.)
Onebusinessuseofdirectmailthatis
somewhatsimilartoFalk’sexperimentisthe
“appointmentrequest”letteroftenusedin
salesprospecting.Thetypicalletter
423/743

424. introducesthesalesperson,mentionsthe
businesspurpose(e.g.,showingthecustom-
erhowtosavemoneyoninsurance),perhaps
mentionsasharedpersonalconnection,and
suggestsmeetinginperson.Abusinessthat
usesthisapproachshouldtryincreasing
theirappointment-settingsuccesswiththe
inclusionofasmallgiftfortherecipient.Not
onlywillreciprocitykickin,butthemailing
piecewillstandoutfromthefloodofother
mail on the recipient’s desk.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Gift Your
Prospects
Reciprocityisapotentforce,anditmakes
sensetotryvaryinggiftstoaccompanyyour
appeal.Evenaminorchangeinthegiftmay
haveasignificantimpactontheresponse
424/743

425. rate,andtheonlywaytodeterminethemost
cost-effective strategy is to test.
Theoldmaximsays,“It’sbettertogive
thantoreceive.”Thereciprocityeffectmight
changethisto,“It’sbesttogive,andthen
receive!”
Notes
4.Armin Falk, “Charitable Giving as a
Gift Exchange: Evidence from a Field
Experiment,” Institute of the Study of
Labor, Discussion Paper 1148, May
2004,http://ftp.iza.org/dp1148.pdf.
425/743

426. Chapter 56
Make It Personal
Logictellsusthatabiggerproblemshould
getmoreattention.Onepersonsuffering
fromadiseaseiscertainlybad,butathou-
sandafflictedindividualsshouldmotivateus
farmore.Asisoftenthecaseinourodd
worldofneuromarketing,researchshows
thatourbrainsoperateinanillogicaland
perhaps unexpected manner.
PaulSlovic,aresearcheratDecisionRe-
search,demonstratedthisbymeasuringthe
contributionlevelsfrompeopleshownpic-
turesofstarvingchildren.Somesubjects
wereshownaphotoofasinglestarvingchild
fromMali;otherswereshownaphotooftwo

427. children.Allwereidentifiedbyname.The
subjectsshowntwochildrendonated15per-
centlessthanthoseshownthesinglechild.
Inarelatedexperiment,subjectsshowna
groupofeightstarvingchildrencontributed
50percentlessmoneythanthoseshownjust
one.
5
Thistendencymaybehardwired.Weare
drawntostoriesaboutonepersonincrisis(a
greatexamplewasthenationalfascination
withBabyJessica,whowastrappedina
well),butmassstarvationorrampantdis-
ease barely engages us.
Clearly,nonprofitmarketersneedtomake
theirmarketingeffortsaspersonalaspos-
sible—andnotjustonthedonorside,buton
therecipientsideaswell.Thisisrealone-to-
one marketing.
Nocharityunderstandstheconceptbetter
thanChildFundInternational(formerly
ChristianChildren’sFund),wholetsits
donorssponsorasinglechildidentifiedby
427/743

428. name,photo,andotherpersonaldetails.
Potentialdonorsseeaphotoandbiography
ofachildtheycansponsor;thecostismade
toappearminimalbyexpressingitin“cents
a day.”
Atypicaldescriptionbeginslikethis:
“Sindyisaprettylittlegirlwholivesina
poorruralcommunitylocatedinthewestern
partofHonduras,CentralAmerica.Shestays
healthymostofthetimeandhasnophysical
impediments.Sindyattendspreschool.She
likesdrawingandplayingwithdolls...”
Thereisalsoaphotothatshowsaneedybut
not pathetic child.
Furthermore,ifyouaren’tmovedtosave
thatparticularchildfromabjectpoverty,you
canclickalinkfor“Searchforadifferent
child”thatletsyouseeseveralnewchild
photosandalsoletsyousearchbygender,
age,andotherfactorsincaseyouhavea
preference.Thepotentialdonorcanproject
hisorherownneedsontoaseemingly
428/743

429. limitlessdatabaseofneedychildren,brows-
ing them until the perfect match comes up.
I’minnowaycriticizingthegreatwork
ChildFunddoes—Iwasadonorformany
yearsmyself.Butthisisabsolutelybrilliant
marketing!Theirapproach,whichwenow
findhasasoundbasisinbehavioralre-
search,helpsexplainwhyChildFundhas
beenaroundfor70yearsand,accordingto
theirdata,hashelpedmorethan15million
children.
AnotherpowerfulelementofChildFund’s
personalizedrecipientapproachisthatmost
donorsnodoubtfeelobligatedtokeepgiv-
ing;evenifyoucutbackdonationstoother
charities,doyoureallywanttoimagine
“yourchild”beingtossedbackintoalifeof
grindingpovertybecauseyouwantedto
makeafewmoreStarbucksrunseach
month?I’dguessChildFund’sdonorcon-
tinuitynumbersareoffthechartscompared
with that of other charities.
429/743

430. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Make It
Personal
Mostnonprofitscanbenefitfromamore
personalapproachtodescribingtherecipi-
entsoftheirlargesse.Don’tcontributetothe
symphony’sgeneralfund;sponsoracellist
namedMarie.Don’tjustwriteachecktothe
universityyougraduatedfrom,providean
incomingfreshmanfromIowawiththeaid
sheneedstoenablehertoattend.Manynon-
profitshavediscoveredthepowerofperson-
alizingtheirappealalready,butothersstill
inundatepotentialownerswithmind-numb-
ing statistics.
Nonprofitmarketerswoulddowelltore-
memberthatthevastmajorityoftheir
donorsaren’tadeptatconvertingstatistics
430/743

431. intoadonationstrategyandthatourbrains
arewiredtorespondmorestronglytoanin-
dividualplightthanthesameconditionaf-
flictingagroup.Appealspersonalizedforin-
dividualdonorshavealwaysbeenimportant
inraisingmoney,butpersonalizingthere-
cipients can be just as important.
Notes
5.Clive Thompson, “Clive Thompson
Explains Why We Can Count on Geeks
to Rescue the Earth,”Wired Magazine,
August 21, 2007,ht-
tp://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/
magazine/15-09/st_thompson.
431/743

432. Chapter 57
Lose the Briefcase!
Mostnonprofitorganizationstrytopresent
asbusinesslikeanappearanceaspossible.
Afterall,donorswanttoknowtheircontri-
butionswillbehandledproperly.Looking
organizedisfine,butspecificcuescouldac-
tually cause donors to be more stingy.
ResearchersatStanfordandYaleuni-
versitiesshowedsubjectseitherpicturesof
objectsfromtheworldofbusiness
(briefcases,boardroomtables,fountainpens,
dressshoes,businesssuits,etc.)orneutral
pictures(kites,electricalsockets,turkeys,
whales, sheet music, etc.).

433. Whenthesubjectsthenparticipatedinthe
ultimatumgame,thoseprimedwithbusiness
imagesbehavedinamoreself-servingand
competitivemanner.Infact,whereas91per-
centoftheparticipantswhohadbeenshown
neutralimagesproposedanevensplitofthe
money,just33percentofthebusiness-
primed group did so.
6
Toseeifrealobjectswouldcausedifferent
behaviorthanpictures,asecondtestexposed
onegroupofsubjectstoabriefcase,aleather
portfolio,andanexecutive-stylepen.Theex-
perimenterwithdrewaformfromthe
briefcaseandtoldeachsubjecttoplacethe
completedformintheportfolio.Acontrol
groupreceivedsimilarinstructionsbutthe
businessobjectswerereplacedwithaback-
pack,acardboardbox,andacommon
wooden pencil.
Onceagain,thebusiness-primedsubjects
demonstratedaselfishstreak.Whereas100
percentofthebackpackgroupproposedan
433/743

434. evensplitofmoneyintheultimatumgame,a
mere50percentofthebriefcasesubjects
were so generous.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Avoid Busi-
ness and Financial
Cues
Whenyouaregettingreadytoaskfora
donation,avoidobviousbusinesscuesand
anyimagesorobjectsthatsuggestmoney.
Foranin-persondonationrequest,usea
neutral,perhapshomelike,settinginsteadof
anofficewithcomputers,filecabinets,and
alltheothertrappingsofbusiness.Ofcourse,
aswesawearlier,youshouldalsoavoidall
specificmoneyorcurrencyimagery(see
page 9).
434/743

435. Inaddition,amorecasualdresscode
makessense.Insteadofabusinesssuit,
snappyattachécase,andMontblancpen,ad-
opt a more relaxed look.
Negotiations, Too
Evenfor-profitfirmscanemploythis
strategy.Atypicaldealmeetingmightbea
bunchofsuitsinaboardroom—thisisthe
oppositeofwhatyouneedtoincitecoopera-
tion.So,justlikeanonprofithopingtospur
agenerousdonation,getridofasmanyobvi-
oustrappingsofbusinessasyoucan.Infact,
byencouragingcasualdressforallparties
andholdingthesessioninavenuelessform-
althanacorporateboardroom,bothsides
willbeprimedforcooperationinsteadof
competition.
Notes
435/743

436. 6.Aaron C. Kay, S. Christian Wheeler,
John A. Bargh, and Lee Ross, “Material
Priming: The Influence of Mundane
Physical Objects on Situational Constru-
al and Competitive Behavioral Choice,”
Organizational Behavior and Human
Decision Processes95, issue 1
(2004):83–96.
436/743

437. Chapter 58
Ask Big!
Yearsago,whenTheTonightShowruled
late-nightTVandwhenalltheguestsweren’t
celebritiespromotingtheirlatestbook,
movie,orTVshow,hostJohnnyCarsonin-
terviewedtheGirlScoutwhosoldthemost
cookiesthatyear.Thisyounglady,Markita
Andrews,setacookiesalesrecordthatwas
neverbroken.Whatwashertechnique?In
additiontohardwork,sheusedaframing
strategytomakehercustomersviewthepur-
chase as a trivial expense.
Markita’sstrategywassimple.Whenshe
knockedonadoor,shewouldfirstaskfora
$30,000donationtotheGirlScouts.

438. Naturally,shehadnotakersonthatrequest.
Butthenshe’daskiftheywouldatleastbuy
aboxofGirlScoutcookies,andjustabout
everyone would.
7
Thisisn’tunlikestickerpriceframing,
wherethelistpriceofaproductgreatlyex-
ceedstheactualsaleprice,makingthelatter
looklikeabargain.InMarkita’scase,
though,thestrategywasalittledifferent.By
throwingoutthe$30,000number,shemade
thefewbucksforsomecookiesseemtrivial.
(I’msurethefactthatthemessagewasde-
liveredbyacharminglittlegirlhelpedas
well!)
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Start With a
BigNumber
438/743

439. Evenifyouaren’taprecociouseight-year
old,there’sareal-worldstrategyhere.Ifyou
canintroducealargenumberintothefund-
raisingorsalesprocess,amuchsmallerask
amountwillbecastinabetterlight.Tryit
out.Youwon’tgetonTVtalkshows,butyou
might score a donation or close a sale.
Notes
7.David Rivers, “How to Win More
Sales: 5 Lessons I Learned From the
Best Selling Girl Scout in America,”Suc-
cess,December 23, 2008,ht-
tp://www.successmagazine.com/art-
icle/print?articleId=509.
439/743

440. SECTION NINE
Brainfluence
Copywriting
Theadagesaysapictureisworthathousand
words,butdon’ttellthattoaskilledcopy-
writer.Directmarketers,inparticular,know
thattherightcopycanincreasetheresponse
rate of an offer by many multiples.
Evenwithtoday’semphasisonmediathat
bombardthesenseswithmotionandsound,
wordsstillpackapunch.Sophisticatedlan-
guageskillssethumansapartfromother
species,andbrainymarketersknowthatthe
rightwordscantapintocustomeremotions
andholdtheirattentionwhileconveyinga
message.
Ourknowledgeofhowourbrainsworkis
nowhelpingusunderstandwhysomecopy

441. techniquesoutperformothersandcanhelp
youcraft copy like a pro!
441/743

442. Chapter 59
Surprise the Brain
Neuroscientistsaregettingclosertounder-
standinghowwearesurprisedbyunexpec-
tedevents.ResearchersintheUnitedKing-
domfoundthatthehippocampus,asmall
structureinourbrain,“predicts”whatwill
happennextbyautomaticallyrecallingan
entiresequenceofeventsinresponsetoa
single cue.
Thesubjectssawaseriesoffourimagesin
fixedorder.Whentheorderofthefinaltwo
waschanged,observedactivityinthehippo-
campussurged.Theresearchersconcluded
thatthesubjects’brainswerepredicting
whatwouldcomenextand,whenan

443. unexpectedimageappeared,thereactionoc-
curred.
1
There’sresearchthatshedslightonhow
yourbrainpredictswhat’scomingnext.In
somecases,yourbrainactslikeasmartword
processorthatsuggestswordsyoumight
want as you begin to type them.
2
Thistextisfromanaudiopodcastby
Scientific American’s Steve Mirsky
3:
WhileI’mtalking,you’renotjustpass-
ivelylistening.Yourbrainisalsobusy
atwork,guessingthenextwordthatI
willsa...vorbeforeIactuallyspeakit.
YouthoughtIwasgonnasay“say,”
didn’tyou?Ourbrainsactuallycon-
sidermanypossiblewords—andtheir
meanings—beforewe’veheardthefinal
soundofthewordinquest...ofbeing
understood.
443/743

444. Iknowmybrainanticipated“say”and
“question”inthetwospotswhereMirsky
surprised listeners with an unexpected word!
Advertisingcopywritershaveforyears
usedasimilartechniquetojarthereaderout
ofcomplacency.Onceinawhile,theysubsti-
tuteanunexpectedwordinafamiliar
phrase.Forexample,insteadof“astitchin
timesavesnine,”thewritermightusethe
unexpectedphrase,“astitchintimesaves
money.”Theunexpectedwordattheendofa
familiar phrase snaps the reader to attention.
Ifyouwanttowakeupyourreadersor
listeners,substituteanunexpectedwordfor
the one their brains have already filled in.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Surprise
the Audience
444/743

445. Thisresearchunderscoreshowanadvertiser
cangetareactionbydoingsomethingunex-
pected.Ifyoupresentaviewerwithafamili-
arimageorsituation,thatperson’sbrainwill
automaticallypredictwhatwillhappennext.
Iftheadvertiserinsertsanunexpectedim-
age,word,orevent,itwillgrabtheaudi-
ence’sattentiontoamuchgreaterdegree
than had the predictable occurred.
Inaspokenoraudiopresentation,aword
withasimilarbeginningmightbeparticu-
larlyeffective,asthebrain’sword-winnow-
ing method reinforces the expectation.
Thebrainisconstantlypredictingand
comparing,andprovidingitwithsomething
otherthanitpredictedwillcauseareaction.
Makeacommitmenttotestingthistech-
nique,becauseweallknowthatactions
speak louder than . . . doing nothing!
Notes
445/743

446. 1.“Tales of the Unexpected: How the
Brain Detects Novelty,”Medical News
Today,November 30, 2006,ht-
tp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/re-
leases/57648.php.
2.“Scientists Watch as Listener’s Brain
Predicts Speaker’s Words,”Science-
Daily,September 15, 2008,ht-
tp://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/
2008/09/080911140815.htm.
3.Steve Mirsky, “Listener Anticipates
Speaker’s Word Choice,”Scientific
American,podcast audio, September 12,
2008,ht-
tp://www.scientificamerican.com/pod-
cast/epis-
ode.cfm?id=56B932C3-0722-2562-5F1275228E5F3714.
446/743

447. Chapter 60
Use a Simple Slogan
Wethinkofbrandsasamazinglypowerful.
Peoplepreferwhatevercolatheyaredrink-
ing,aslongasit’slabeledCoke.Peoplepay
lotsmoreforaRalphLaurenpoloshirtthan
astore-brandshirtofidenticalquality.Al-
thoughthebrandnamerarelychanges,
brandslogansaretreatedasephemeraland
tendtobeupdatedmuchmorefrequently.
But,toresurrectanoldCokemotto,whatifa
brand’s slogan wasthe real thing?
Thinkofabrandthatisallaboutsaving
money...HowaboutWalmart?Surprising
researchshowsthatconsumersexposedto
theWalmartnamemightactuallyspendless

448. thanthoseexposedtothestore’scurrentslo-
gan,“Savemoney.Livebetter.”Thiscurious
findingwasreplicatedwithotherstoresand
slogansbyateamofresearchersfrom
Miami, Hong Kong, and Berkeley.
4
Theexperimentdividedsubjectsintotwo
groups.Halfwereexposedtobrandnames
associatedwithsavingmoney,likeWalmart,
DollarGeneral,Sears,andRoss.Theother
halfwereexposedtotheslogansforthosere-
tailers,suchasSears’scurrentmotto,“The
GoodLifeataGreatPrice.Guaranteed.”
Whenaskedtovisualizeashoppingtripand
describehowmuchmoneywouldbespent,
thebrand-exposedgroupspentanaverageof
$94versustheslogangroup,whospentjust
about twice as much: $184.
Asecondstudyfoundthatexposingcon-
sumerstoa“savings”messagecausedthem
tospendmorethanwhentheysawa“luxury”
message.Theresearchersfoundthefactthat
asavingsmessagecausedhigherspending
448/743

449. counterintuitiveandperhapsworrisome.Of
course,mostretailerswon’tbeoverly
troubledbythisincongruity.Theypush
savings-orientedslogansnottoreininexcess
consumerspending,butrathertoincrease
their own sales and gain market share.
I’dweightthisresearchmoreifithadbeen
conductedwithrealcustomersspendingreal
moneyinrealstores.Butthefindingsdo
suggestthatasavings-orientedsloganmight
beawaytoboostsalesforvaluebrands.
Mostofusarewillingtospendmoreifwe
thinkwearegettingadeal(likethatgallonof
mayoinyourfridgefromaSam’sClubtrip
two years ago).
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use a
Simple Savings Slogan
449/743

450. Perhapswehaven’tbeengivingslogans
enoughcreditforconveyingasavingsmes-
sage.(Walmart,noslouchatbuildingsales,
apparentlybelievesinthepowerofslogans;
unlikemanyretailers,theybuildtheirslogan
into their logo!)
Themainlessonisthatslogansthatprom-
isesavingsofferthepotentialtoincrease
consumerpurchases.Ifyourbrandisavalue
brand,developasimplesloganandmakeita
centerpiece of your marketing efforts.
Notes
4.http://moya.bus.miami.edu/~jular-
an/Papers/
PE_LaranDaltonAndrade_JCR.pdf?
450/743

451. Chapter 61
Write Like
Shakespeare
FewwouldarguethatShakespeareisoneof
thegreatestwritersintheEnglishlanguage,
butwedon’tseeMadisonAvenueputting
muchoftheircopyinsonnetform.Andal-
thoughIdon’texpecttoseeasurgeinthe
useofiambicpentameterinprintads,it
turnsoutthatShakespearemayhave
somethingtoteachtwenty-first-centuryad-
vertisingcopywriters.Neurosciencere-
searchersattheUniversityofLiverpool
foundthatreadingShakespearecausesposit-
ive activation of the brain.

452. Usingthreedifferenttypesofbrainscans,
researchersmonitoredbrainactivityinsub-
jectsastheyreadShakespeare.Theyfound
thatwhenShakespeareusedalinguistic
techniquecalledfunctionalshift(usingone
partofspeechforanotherinonesuchshift,
forexample,turninganounintoaverb),it
spikedthebrainactivityofthereader.Ines-
sence,thereaderwasjoltedintohavingto
workoutwhatShakespearewastryingto
say.
5Aphraselike“hegoddedme”isanex-
ampleofthiscreativemisuseofcommon
words that causes the burst of brain activity.
NeilRoberts,oneoftheresearchers,com-
parestheeffectofthistechniquetoamagic
trick.Themomentaryconfusioncreatedis
positive,hesays,andthespikeoccurswhen
thebrainencounterstheunexpectedword.
Heattributesthelong-lastingappealof
Shakespearetothewayhiswordsengagethe
brain of the reader (or listener).
452/743

453. Brainfluence
Takeaway: “Misuse” a
Word
Takealessonfromthebardandshakeup
thewayyouuseyourwords.Takeaword
thatpeopleknow,anduseitinanunexpec-
ted way. Neuro your copy!
Evenifyouradvertisingprosedoesn’tend
upbeingtaughtinliteratureclassescentur-
iesfromnow,itmaydoabetterjobofselling
today!
Notes
5.Armen Hareyan, “Reading
Shakespeare May Have Dramatic Effect
on Human Brain,”EmaxHealth,Janu-
ary 30, 2007,
453/743

454. http://www.emaxhealth.com/7/
9254.html.
454/743

455. Chapter 62
A Muffin by Any Other
Name . . .
Mostofusdon’tgivemuchthoughttowhat
wecallourproduct,atleastintermsofits
category.Toothpasteistoothpaste.Carsare
cars.Perhapsit’stimethatotherbusinesses
learnwhatmanyrestauranteursalready
know:whatyoucallaproductaffectsitsper-
ceived characteristics and its sales.
Savvyeateryoperatorsknowunhealthy
dishesthatconsumersmightavoidcanbe
mademoreappealingwithalittlecreative
renaming.Potatochipscanberelabeledas
“veggiechips,”whileapasta/vegetable

456. combinationwillappearmorehealthfulifit
iscalleda“salad.”Mypersonalfavoriteisthe
rebrandingofcakeasa“muffin.”Noneofus
wouldordercarrotcakeforbreakfast,but
whowouldn’twantanicecarrotmuffin?It
soundslikehealthfood,evenwiththelayer
of cream cheese frosting!
AstudyintheJournalofConsumerRe-
searchshowsthatindividualswhoarediet-
ingortryingtoeathealthyfoodshave
learnedtoavoidsomefoodsbyname.Hence,
theywillskipamilkshake,butwillstillor-
der a healthier-sounding smoothie.
6
Infact,theresearchersfoundthatthe
samedishcontainingvegetables,pasta,
meat,andcheesewasratedashealthier
whenitwascalled“salad”insteadof“pasta.”
Anothertestshowedthatsubjectsatemore
“fruitchews”than“candychews,”even
though the product was the same.
456/743

457. Beyond Food
I’msurethateveryindustryhassomeex-
amplesoftransformativenaming.Liquid
soapwasaroundforyearsbefore“shower
gel”transformedhowwebathe.Insome
cases,likethefoodexamples,thenameisa
meanstoshedanegativeimageforaproduct
thatpeopleenjoy.Potatochipstastegreat
butareloadedwithcarbsandfat.Veggie
chipstastegreat,haveplentyofcarbsand
fat,butsoundsomuchmorevirtuous!(In
eachcase,productandpackageadjustments
accompanied the renaming.)
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Rename
Your Category
457/743

458. Ifyoursalesarestalled,itmaybetimeto
thinkoutsidethebox—thatis,yourproduct’s
currentbox!Ifyourproducthasanynegative
connotations,orevenifsomeaspectofit,
likeaningredient,isproblematic,renaming
(andchangingitalittle)couldbepartofthe
solution to increasing sales.
Thismaybedifficult.Ifyouareinthe
candybusiness,yourfirstthoughtisn’ttola-
belaproductassomethingotherthancandy
ortoreformulateandrepackagetomakethe
productlesscandy-like.Nevertheless,some
creativereflectionmaygiveyoua“new”
productthatisclosertowhatyourcustomers
arelookingfor.(Creativityisgreat,butdon’t
getsoimaginativethatyoumisrepresentthe
underlying product!)
Describingyourproductinanewwaymay
notbeallthatdifficult;afterdecadesof
selling“prunes”toaging,constipatedpeople,
fruitcompaniesintheUnitedStatesalsoof-
fer“driedplums”toanewgenerationof
458/743

459. young,vigorous,health-orientedconsumers.
Renamingthecategoryonsomeoftheir
productsallowedthemtoshedtheoldprune
stereotypesatfarlowercostthantryingto
getconsumerstoreimaginethestodgy
prune.Notonlydidtheyavoidanexpensive
imagemakeoverforprunes,theycouldkeep
sellingthewrinkledfruittotheirtraditional
base with no loss of revenue.
Notes
6.Caglar Irmak, Beth Vallen, and Ste-
fanie Rosen Robinson, “The Impact of
Product Name on Dieters’ and Nondi-
eters’ Food Evaluations and Consump-
tion,”Journal of Consumer Research,
April 12, 2011,http://www.jstor.org/
stable/10.1086/660044.
459/743

460. Chapter 63
Why Percentages
Don’t Add Up
Whichwouldyoufindmorefrightening:un-
dergoingapotentiallyfatalsurgicalproced-
urethathasa95percentsurvivalrateorone
thatcausesdeathin1outof20patients?If
youarelikemostpeople,youwouldfindthe
latterstatisticfarmoreworrisome,even
thoughmathematicallythetwostatements
arethesame.Avarietyofresearchshows
thatmarketersshouldchoosecarefullywhen
throwing numbers at their customers.
AlthoughJasonZweig’sexcellentneuroe-
conomicsbook,YourMoneyandYour

461. Brain,isgearedtoshowinghowpoorlyour
brainsarewiredforevaluatinginvestments,
ithasplentyofcontentusefultomarketers.
Zweigspendstimediscussingframing—how
thewayinformationispresentedcanaffect
thewayitisinterpreted.Oneofthemore
surprisingexamplesofframingisthediffer-
encebetweenpercentagesandabsolute
numbers.
7
Zweignotesthatpeoplereactdifferently
eventothesubtlevariationbetween“10per-
cent”and“1outofevery10.”Forexample,
hecitesanexperimentthatshowed79per-
centofpsychiatristswouldreleaseapatient
whohada20percentchanceofcommitting
aviolentactwithinsixmonths,butonly59
percentwouldreleaseapatientwhenthey
weretoldthat“20outof100”similarpa-
tients would commit such an act.
Anotherexperimentshowedthatpeople
believedcancertobe32percentriskierwhen
461/743

462. toldthatitkills1,286outofevery10,000
people, versus 12.86 percent of people.
Thedifferenceisthatnumbersimplyreal
people.A2percentchanceofmisfortune
soundslow,butifyouhearthat2peopleout
of100willbeharmed,yourbrainimagines
two actual people suffering an injury.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Real
Numbers for Impact
Ifyouwanttoconveyapositivemessage,use
realnumbers,notpercentages.Ifyouarede-
scribingabenefitofyourproductorservice,
expressingitintermsofabsolutenumbers
will maximize its impact.
Good:90percentofourcustomers
rate our service as “excellent”
462/743

463. Better:9outof10customersrate
our service as “excellent”
Present Negative Data as
Percentages
Ifyoumustpresentnegativeinformation
(andarenotboundlegallytopresentitina
particularway),expressingitasapercentage
maymuteitsimpactsomewhat.Ingeneral,
ofcourse,it’sbettertofocusonthepositive;
fewmarketerswouldincludenegativein-
formationintheiradsvoluntarily.(“Most
peoplelikeourproductalot,but5percent
think it sucks!” is an unlikely tagline.)
Sometimes,whenmarketersdohavetoin-
cludenegativeinformation,suchastheside
effectsofapharmaceuticalproduct,they
mayhavespecificlegalrequirementsasto
whattheycanandcan’tsay.Butthereare
timeswhenmarketingandpublicrelations
peopledohavetoaddressnegativetopics,as
463/743

464. whendealingwithpresscoverageofacom-
panyproblem.Inthesecases,I’drecom-
mendpercentages.“Only1percentofour
laptopshaveactuallycaughtonfire”is,from
aframingstandpoint,betterthan,“Only1
outof100...”Badnewsisbadnews,but
peoplewillbelesslikelytovisualizetheir
legsgettingscorchediftheydon’timagine
themselves as “the one.”
Percentages Still Have
Their Uses
Aproductthatis99.94percentpuredoesin-
deedsoundfreeofcontaminants,andthere
maynotbeabetterwayofmakingthepoint.
Inthatcase,though,thewriterisn’texpect-
ingthereadertoreallyanalyzeorunder-
standthenumberbeyondthefactthatitis
really close to a perfect 100 percent.
Inshort,tocommunicatewithclarityand
impact,userealnumberswheneverpossible.
464/743

465. Yourtargetswillunderstandyoubetterand
identifymorecloselywiththestatisticswhen
they relate to numbers of people.
Notes
7.Jason Zweig,Your Money and Your
Brain: How the New Science of Neuroe-
conomics Can Help Make You Rich
(New York: Simon and Schuster, 2007).
465/743

466. Chapter 64
Magic Word #1: FREE!
It’snotbignewsthat“FREE!”isapotent
wordincopy.Fordecades,thatwordhas
beenoneverylistofattention-gettingwords
forcopywriters.Morerecently,ChrisAnder-
sonwroteanentirebookabouttheconcept
of“free”andhowitisbecomingaconsumer
expectation.
FREE!isindeedspecial.Researchconduc-
tedbyauthorandDukeprofessorDanAriely
showsusthat“free”isfarmoreeffectivethan
“almostfree.”Indeed,apreferencefor“free”
seemstobeanotherfeaturehardwiredinto
our brains.

467. Free Kisses Beat Bar-
gain Truffles
InhisbookPredictablyIrrational,Arielyde-
scribesaseriesofsimpleexperimentsthat
offeredsubjectssomething desir-
able—chocolate—atavarietyofprices.Two
typesofchocolatewereused:aHershey’s
KissandaLindtchocolatetruffle.Whereas
theKissisaninexpensiveandratherpedes-
triantreat,aLindttruffleisafartastiercon-
fectionthatcostsanorderofmagnitude
more than the Kiss.
Thefirstexperimentofferedsubjectsa
trufflefor15cents(abouthalfitsactualcost)
oraKissfor1cent.Nearlythreeoutoffour
subjectschosethetruffle,whichseemslogic-
alenoughbasedontherelativevalueofthe
offers.
Thenextexperimentreducedthepriceof
eachproductbyonecent—thetrufflewas
467/743

468. offeredat14cents,andtheKisswasfree.Al-
thoughthepricedifferentialremainedthe
same,thebehaviorofthesubjectschanged
dramatically:morethantwothirdsofthe
subjectschosethefreechocolateKissover
the bargain-priced truffle.
Toseeiftheappealofthefreechocolate
wasbasedonconvenience(nothavingany
change,havingtohuntaroundinapursefor
coins,etc.),theexperimentwasrepeatedina
cafeteriafoodlinewherethecostofthe
chocolatecouldbeeasilyaddedtothetotal
purchase.Evenwiththeeliminationofpay-
inginconvenience,thefreeKisswasstillthe
overwhelming choice.
Arielyattributesthepreferenceforfree
evenwhentherationalchoicewouldbethe
bargainitemtoourbrain’saversiontoloss.
Inessence,afreeitemcarriesnorisk.Ariely
mayberight,althoughIthinkanotherex-
planationisthat,toourhunter-gatherer
brain,afreeitemrepresentstheproverbial
468/743

469. low-hangingfruit.Thatis,aresourcethat
canbeobtainedwithnear-zeroeffort.If,mil-
lenniabeforemoneyandcommercecamein-
tobeing,Ihadjustgorgedonfruitandhad
anadequatesupplyoffoodstoredinmy
cave,Iwouldbeunlikelytogolookingfor
morefood.But,ifIwaswalkingbacktomy
caveandfoundaperfectapplehangingover
thepathineasyreach,I’dnodoubtbetemp-
tedtopluckitandfigureoutwhattodowith
itlater.Thatapplewouldbe,inessence,
free—otherfoodsourcesmightinvolve
climbing,stalking,traveling,orotherkinds
of effort.
Amazon’s Experience
With FREE!
Themostinterestingexampleofthepowerof
freeinPredictablyIrrationalcomesfrom
Amazon.com.WhenAmazonlaunchedafree
469/743

470. shippingpromotionwiththepurchaseofa
secondbook,everycountryexceptFrance
showedabigjumpinsalesfromtheoffer.
TheAmazonmarketersinvestigated,think-
ingperhapstheFrenchwererationalenough
not to be swayed into buying a second book.
Infact,theyfoundthatinFrancethepro-
gramhadbeenslightlyaltered.Insteadof
zeroshipping,theofferinFrancechargeda
mereonefranc—about20cents.Fromapure
economicstandpoint,thetwooffersareal-
mostindistinguishable.Inactualperform-
ance,though,theonefrancoffercausedno
salesincrease.(WhentheFrenchofferwas
changed to free, sales did indeed jump.)
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Tap Into
the Power of FREE!
470/743

471. FREE!ismorepowerfulthananyrational
economicanalysiswouldsuggest.Ifyou
wanttosellmoreofsomething,usethat
power.Ioftenseedepartmentstoreoffers
suchas,“Buyonepairofslacksatregular
price,getasecondpairforonlyonepenny!”
Thatmaysoundclever—“Wow,pantsforjust
apenny!”—butIthinkfreewilloutperform
thepennyoffer.Wanttosparksalesofa
product?Tryofferingsomethingfreewithit.
Wanttogetthewidestpossiblesamplingofa
new product? Use a free sample.
WhenNotto Use FREE!
TherearesomecaseswhenusingFREE!isn’t
thebestidea.Ifyouaretryingtoencourage
samplingofaproductthatappealstoaspe-
cificaudience,forexample,averymodest
chargewillthrottledemandbutwillelimin-
atemostsamplerswhohavenouseforthe
product.Forexample,Idon’townacat.I
471/743

472. don’tevencaremuchforcats.Butifthesu-
permarkethadabigdisplayof“FreeCat
FoodSamples,”there’sagoodchancethat
I’dpickoneup,thinkingthatI’dgiveittoa
friend.OrmaybeI’dhangontoitforwhen
oneoftheinevitablestraycatsshowsup.
Hey,it’sFREE!—I’llgrabitnowandfigure
out what to do with it later.
Ariely’sresearchsuggeststhatpricingthe
catfoodsampleat,say,amere10cents,
wouldalmostcertainlyslashinappropriate
samplingbypeoplelikeme.Afewlegitimate
catownersmightavoidthesample,too,but
theoverallcost/benefitoftheprogram
would likely improve.
472/743

473. Chapter 65
Magic Word #2: NEW!
Anotherwordthatisaperennialentryin
everylistofattention-gettingwordsforad-
vertisingis“NEW!”Neuroscientistshave
nowdeterminedthattheappealofNEW!is
hardwired into our brains.
Noveltyactivatesourbrain’srewardcen-
ter,whichmayhavebeenanevolutionary
advantagetoourancestorsastheyen-
counterednewfoodsourcesorotherele-
mentsofsurvival.Today,wearenolonger
huntersandgatherers,butthenovelty-seek-
ingcircuitryisstillactiveandmakesusfind
newproducts(andevenrepackagedold
products) attractive.

474. ResearcherBiancaWittmannandher
teamshadsubjectschoosecardsassociated
withsmallrewardswhilescanningtheir
brainsusingfMRI.Overtime,thesubjects
wereshowncardswithwhichtheyhadbe-
comefamiliaraswellasnewones.There-
searchersfoundthatmakingnovelchoiceslit
upthebrain’sventralstriatum,anevolution-
arilyprimitivepartofthebrainandanarea
associatedwithrewardingbehavior.
Wittmannspeculatesthatdopamine,aneur-
otransmitterthatispartofthebrain’sre-
wardprocess,isreleasedwhenanovel
choice is made.
8
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Make It
NEW!
474/743

475. Makeaproduct“new”insomeway,andit
willgetaboostwhencomparedwithcom-
petingproducts.Atthesametime,marketers
shouldbemindfuloflong-termbrandat-
tachments.(WillCoca-Colaeverforgetthe
NewCokedisaster?)Forexample,changing
abrand’slogomightprovideashort-term
noveltyboost,butitmightalsoweaken
brand familiarity and attachment.
Sinceweknowthatbrainscansshowthat
familiarbrandscausehigherlevelsofbrain
activationthanunfamiliarones(seepage
53),marketersneedtosteeracarefulcourse.
Youshouldemphasizethenoveltyofyourof-
feringwhilestillusingthepoweroflong-
term brand affinity.
Notes
8.Roger Highfield, “‘Sense of Adven-
ture’ Makes Us Marketing Targets,”The
Telegraph,June 25, 2008,
475/743

476. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/
science-news/3345444/Sense-of-
adventure-makes-us-marketing-tar-
gets.html.
476/743

477. Chapter 66
Adjectives That Work
Compelling,emotion-richadjectivescangive
blandcopyamajorboostineffectiveness.
(Justlikethestartofthatsentence!)Iwas
remindedofthiswhileviewingaPanera
menu.Whichdoyouthinksoundsmore
appealing:
Ham,egg,&cheeseonwheatbread
sandwich.
or
OurBreakfastPowerSandwichstarts
withlean,hardwood-smokedhamand
afreshly-crackedegg.Thenweadd
Vermontwhitecheddarforitstangy

478. sharpness.Finally,wegrilleverything
onourfreshlybakedwholegrainbread
tobringoutthegrains’nutty,smooth
flavors.
Takealookattheadjectivesthatturnan
averagesandwichintoamouthwatering,tan-
talizing sales magnet:
OurBreakfastPowerSandwich
startswithlean,hardwood-smoked
hamandafreshly-crackedegg.Then
weaddVermontwhitecheddar
[cheese]foritstangysharpness.Fin-
ally,wegrilleverythingonour
freshly-bakedwholegrainbreadto
bringoutthegrains’nutty,smooth
flavors.
Ifpeoplearen’tlininguptobuythissand-
wich,it’snotthecopywriter’sfault.(Sadly
forPanera,though,mostpatronsseeonly
theminimalistdescriptiononthein-restaur-
ant menu board.)
478/743

479. Adjectivesaren’twithoutcontroversy.
Somecopyexpertsthinkadjectivesslow
downthereaderandreducecomprehension.
Butresearchshowsthatproperlyusedad-
jectives actuallyincreaserevenue.
Forexample,Dr.BrianWansinkstudied
theeffectofdescriptivemenulabelsand
foundtheyincreasedsalesbyasmuchas27
percent.Hedividedhisadjectivesintocat-
egories,includinggeographic(e.g.,
“SouthwesternTex-Mexsalad”)andsensory
(e.g.,“butteryplumppasta”).Brandingad-
jectivescanhelptoo,like“JackDaniels”bar-
becue sauce.
AccordingtoWansink,notonlydovivid
descriptorsnudgepatronstowardapur-
chase,theyalsoincreasesatisfactionatthe
endofthemealcomparedwiththesame
food without the labeling.
9
Althoughwecanlikelyallagreethat
“applewood-smokedbacon”ismoreenticing
thanplainold“bacon,”mostofusdon’trun
479/743

480. restaurants.Still,wecanlearnfromwhat
thosefoodestablishmentshavefoundtobe
effective.Whenitmakessense,enhancethe
impactofyourdescriptivecopywithcare-
fullychosenadjectives.I’lloffermyownvari-
ation on Wansink’s categories of modifiers:
Vivid—“Freshly-cracked”ismuch
more compelling than “fresh.”
Sensory—Termssuchas“hickory-
smoked,”“brickoven–fired,”and
“oven-crisped,”engagethereader’s
senses.
Emotional/nostalgic—“Aged
Vermontcheddar”evokesimagesof
crustyNewEnglanddairymen
rather than Kraft megaplants.
Specific—“WildAlaskan”attached
toasalmondescriptionimmedi-
atelyenhancesitwithvisionsofvig-
orous,healthyfishswimmingin
pristine, unpolluted streams.
480/743

481. Branded—Attaching desirable
brandnamestoadescriptioncan
boostsales.I’msureithasn’tbeen
cheapforrestaurantstooffer“Jack
Daniels”barbecueitems,buttheir
continuedmenupresencesuggests
brandingwiththefamouswhiskey
name more than pays for itself.
Theseadjectivesareprocesseduncon-
sciouslymostofthetime.Doyoureallypon-
derwhetherthetomatoonyourburgeris
“farm-fresh”asthemenuclaims?Whatdoes
“farm-fresh”mean,anyway?Dosomeres-
taurantsusetomatoesthatdon’tcomefrom
farmsorthatarespoiled?(Morelikely,the
tomatoesaresofreshthattheystartedgreen,
hadtobeethylene-ripenedandarestillas
hard as croquet balls!)
Whileyourconsciousmindisthinking
abouttheprice,howmuchcashisinyour
wallet,andwhethertheitemwillblowyour
481/743

482. diet,thosesensoryandemotionaltermsare
being processed in the background.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Season
Your Copy With Vivid
Adjectives
Yourownchallengeistofindtheadjectives
thatworkforyourproductorservice.What
emotionsdoyouwanttoevokeinyourcus-
tomers?Afeelingof,say,traditionand
craftsmanship?cutting-edgetechnology?
personalservice?Findrelevant,compelling
adjectives,andyourcopywillbemore
effective.
Striking a Balance
482/743

483. Inyourquesttolivenupyourcopy,don’tgo
overboard.AsenticingasthePanerasand-
wichdescriptionis,mostofuswouldhateto
readmorethanafewlineswritteninthat
style.
Yourmessageistoldmainlybynounsand
verbs,andtoomanyadjectivesslowdown
thereaderandmuddleyourmessage.That’s
particularlytrueiftheyareboringwordsthat
addlittleinthewayofsensoryoremotional
engagement.
JustlikeaddingtoomuchHawaiianRed
andBlackSeaSalt(yes,itexists)toyourre-
cipe,it’scertainlypossibletooverdothings
evenwithvividandenticingmodifiers.Use
adjectivesinshortproductdescriptionsand
similarplaces,butleavethemoutofyourcall
toaction,yourorderinginstructions,and
anywhereelsewherequick,easycomprehen-
sion is critical.
483/743

484. Notes
9.Sarah Kershaw, “Using Menu Psycho-
logy to Entice Diners,”New York Times,
December 22, 2009,ht-
tp://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/23/
dining/23menus.html.
484/743

485. Chapter 67
Your Brain on Stories
“TheylaughedwhenIsatdownatthe
piano . . .”
“Onabeautifullatespringafternoon,
twenty-fiveyearsago,twoyoungmen
graduatedfromthesamecollege.They
wereverymuchalike,thesetwoyoung
men.Bothhadbeenbetterthanaverage
students . . .”
Advertisingbuffsinstantlyrecognizethese
twoopeninglines.Thefirstisfromanad
pennedbythelegendaryJohnCaplespro-
motingmusiclessonsbymail.Thesecondis
thebeginningofaMartinConroy–written

486. WallStreetJournalad,whichBrianClark,
principalauthorofthepopularCopyblogger
website,describesas“thegreatestsalesletter
of all time.”
Whatdothesetwoadshaveincommon,
besidesbeingamazinglysuccessfuland
nearlyageless?(Bothcampaignsranfordec-
adesessentiallyunchanged,unheardofin
thefast-changingworldofadvertising.)The
answerissimple:theseunusuallyeffective
ads eachtell a story.
Why Stories Engage
Our Brain
Evolutionarypsychologiststhinkourbrains’
affinityforstoriesishardwiredandthatit
providedearlyhumansasignificantadvant-
ageoverotherspecies.Whilemostanimals
learnbyexperience—“theredbumpyfruit
makesyousick,”forexample—humanscan
486/743

487. describetheirexperiencesandotherhumans
canimaginethemasiftheywereexperien-
cing the same thing.
There’smodern-dayproofthatstoriesal-
lowvividsharingofexperiences.Scientists
putsubjectsinanfMRImachinewhilethey
readanexcitingpassagefromaHardyBoys
novel.Thescansshowedthatthesubjects’
brainslitupindifferentplacesfordifferent
passages.Forexample,whenthestorychar-
actersweregrabbingobjects,motorneurons
wereactivated;vision-relatedneuronsfired
upwhenthecharacterswereobservingtheir
environment.
10
PsychologywriterHerbertWraythinkswe
aren’tpassivewhenwereadbut,rather,our
brainsturnon“scripts”basedonreal-world
experiences.Becauseofthis,Wraysaysthat
“readingismuchlikerememberingorima-
gining a vivid event.”
487/743

488. The Mind-Meld Effect
Princetonresearchersmonitoredbrainactiv-
ityinpairsofsubjectswhileonetoldtheoth-
erastory.Theyfoundthatwhenthesubjects
communicated,neuralactivityintheirbrains
becamealmostsynchronous.Asecondafter
specificbrainactivitywasobservedinthe
speaker’sbrain,thissamepatternwasre-
peated in the listener’s brain.
11
Thebrainscansshowthatsuchneural
couplingdoesn’talwaysoccur—ithappened
onlywhenthelistenerwaspayingattention
and understood the story.
Advertising Stories
Clearly,thenarrativesinthesuccessfulads
resonatedinsomespecialanduniversalway
withtheirreaders.We’veallexperiencedmo-
mentsofsocialdiscomfort,muchlikethe
488/743

489. would-bepianistwhositsdownatthepiano
onlytohavehisfriendslaugh.Andwe’veall
hadmomentsofpridewhenothersacknow-
ledge our skill or accomplishments.
Thenarrativenatureofthewordingin
“TheylaughedwhenIsatdown...”brings
thesedeep-seatedmemoriestothesurfaceto
produceamoreprofoundeffectthanhadthe
adcopysimplysuggestedthatwecouldim-
press our friends if we could play the piano.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Tell a Vivid
Story
Toengagepotentialcustomers,writeavivid
storyinvolvingyourproductorbrand.In-
cludeaction,motion,dialogue,andotheras-
pectsthatwillactivatedifferentpartsofyour
customers’brains.Thisapproachhasworked
489/743

490. forthebestcopywritersandmostsuccessful
ads in history, and it can work for you.
Notes
10.We’re Only Human;“The Narrative
in the Neurons,” inWe’re Only Human,
a blog by Wray Herbert, July 14, 2009,
http://www.psychologicalscience.org/
onlyhuman/2009/07/narrative-in-
neurons.cfm.
11.Greg J. Stephens, Lauren J. Silbert,
and Uri Hasson, “Speaker–Listener
Neural Coupling Underlies Successful
Communication,”Proceedings of the
National Academy of Sciences of the
United States of America107, no. 32
(August 10, 2010): 14425–14430,ht-
tp://www.pnas.org/content/107/32/
14425.full.pd-
f+html?sid=af1e1664-a040-42d0-9f79-b-
f44eedbc1af.
490/743

491. Chapter 68
Use Story
Testimonials
Weknowthatanecdotescanbeaconvincing
waytosellaproduct,particularlyifsomeone
wetrusttellsthestory.Thisharksbacktoa
timewhenourbrainswereevolvingandhu-
manshadtwowaystolearnaboutdangers
andrewardsintheirenvironment:personal
experienceandcommunicationfromother
trusted humans.
Trustedstoriesarestillimportant,even
whenourpersonalnetworksarefar-flung
andsomuchcommunicationiselectronic.
Formostofus,anaverageratingof3.7stars

492. foranearbyrestaurantisfarlesspowerful
thanadescriptionofafriend’snightmarish
experienceonherlastvisittothe
establishment.
AsChristopherChabrisandDanielSimons
point out inThe Invisible Gorilla:
12
Wenaturallygeneralizefromoneex-
ampletothepopulationasawhole,and
ourmemoriesforsuchinferencesare
inherentlysticky.Individualexamples
lodgeinourminds,butstatisticsand
averagesdonot...Ourancestors
lackedaccesstohugedatasets,statist-
ics,andexperimentalmethods.Byne-
cessity,welearnedfromspecificex-
amples,notbycompilingdatafrom
manypeopleacrossawiderangeof
situations.
Statisticsaresimplylessinterestingand
relevanttoourbrainsthandetailedanec-
dotes.Thisiswhysuccessfulinfomercials
492/743

493. alwaysincludepersonalsuccessstoriestold
bytheindividualsthemselves.(Another
reasonmightbethattheylackthestatistic-
allyvalidresearchtobackuptheirclaims!)
Evenifyoucanshowthattwothirdsofthe
peoplewhousedyourdietaidlostweight,
havingonecredibleindividualtellherper-
sonal story can be much more potent.
Theseinfomercialstoriesusuallyprovide
plentyofdetail—theindividual’ssituation
beforeusingtheproduct,howthatperson
felt,whatthefirstexperiencewiththe
productwaslike,andsoon.Thisdetailall
playstoourbrain’sabilitytosilentlysimu-
late what it is hearing.
Sadly,evenbogusstoriesexerciseconsid-
erableinfluence.IntheUnitedStates,child-
hooddiseasesthathadbeennearlynonexist-
entaremakingacomebackduetoscientific-
allyunfoundedfearsthatvaccinescauseaut-
ism.Araftofstatisticsdemonstratingthe
safetyofthevaccines,andeven
493/743

494. pronouncementsbygroupsofeminentsci-
entists,provedtobelesspowerfulthanthe
storiesofmothersofautisticchildrenwho
attributedtheconditiontoavaccineinjec-
tion.Scientistscandismisssuchclaimsas
anecdotalandproducestatisticsthatshow
nocauseandeffect,buttheunfortunate
truth is that our brains respond to anecdotes.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Go Beyond
Short Testimonials
Shorttestimonialsarenotabadthingatall.
Lettingpotentialcustomersknowthatother
realpeopleusedyourproductwithsuccessis
alwaysagoodthingandconstitutessocial
proof.Butdon’tstopthere.Turningatesti-
monialintoapersonalanecdotewillgreatly
increaseitsimpact.Addinganame,aface,
494/743

495. andastorywillplaytothewayourbrains
evolvedandbemoreconvincingandmore
memorable.
Ourbrain’spreferencefortrustedstories
explainswhywordofmouthissuchapower-
fultool:ifthestoryistoldbysomeoneweac-
tuallyknow,notbyacelebrityorpaiden-
dorser,itwillbeevenmorecredibleand
potent.
Notes
12.Christopher Chabris and Daniel Si-
mons,The Invisible Gorilla: And Other
Ways Our Intuitions Deceive Us(New
York: Crown, 2010).
495/743

496. Chapter 69
When Words Are
Worth a Thousand
Pictures
Whatmakesanengagingtelevisioncommer-
cial?Ifyouthinkvisualandauditoryap-
peal—action,sound,music,people,color,
andsoon—youwouldusuallybecorrect.
Dittoforhighproductionvalues.Anexotic
locationmighthelptoo.Allofthesecapabil-
itiesexplainwhyadvertiserslovethevideo
medium,particularlyforcreatinganemo-
tional reaction in the viewer.

497. Foryears,copywritershavehadtosuffer
underthemaximthat“apictureiswortha
thousandwords.”(Justimaginehowmany
wordsavideowouldbeworth!)But,arecent
SuperBowlprovidedanexamplethatshould
warmtheheartsofcopywriterseverywhere:
Google’sentryintothebigleagueofSuper
Bowladvertisingwiththeir“ParisianLove”
ad.
13
Thisadisquitedifferentfromthetypical
SuperBowlcommercial,and,indeed,from
almostanytelevisionspotthatyouhave
seen.Therearenodogs,horses,ormonkeys.
Noscenery.Nofastcars.Nogorgeouswo-
men.Infacttherearenohumansatall.Oth-
erthanafewsmall,fleetinglyseenmaps,the
onlygraphicelementistheprominent
Google logo.
Whattheaddoeshaveistext...lotsof
text.Notonlydoestheadhavetexttoread,
butthere’splentyofspurioustextthatthe
viewerhastoignorewhiletryingtokeepup
497/743

498. withtherapidlychangingscreens.Justasin
realGooglesearches,multiplesuggestions
areshown,asaremultipleresultsforeach
completedsearch.Despitethequickscreen
changesandirrelevantcontent,though,
viewerscaneasilyfollowthestoryspelled
out by the searches.
So,torecapsofar...Googledecidedto
spendnearly$3milliontoairanadthatcost
nexttonothingtoproduce,hasnoactorsor
computer-generatedimages(CGI)oranima-
tion,nocuteanimals—nothingbutaseriesof
wordstypedintosearchboxesandthegener-
atedsearchresults.Atfirstglance,thismight
soundlikeE-Trade’sfamous,“Wejust
wasted $2 million bucks” ad, but it’s not.
Infact,thisunlikelyadwashighly
effective.
Howdoweknow?Oneindicatormightbe
criticalacclaim.Everyyear,marketingpro-
fessorsatMichiganStateUniversityrankthe
SuperBowlads,andin2010,theirtopchoice
498/743

499. ofthe60commercialswasGoogle’sad.Their
reasoningwasthatithada“fantasticstory,
lowproductioncostsandthesurprisefactor.
It sells what they do in a simple way.”
14
Amoretellingindicator,though,mightbe
howpeoplerespondedphysicallyandemo-
tionallytothead.Neuromarketingcompany
SandsResearchconductedastudyofall60
orsoadsthatairedduringthe2010Super
Bowl,andGoogle’sParisianLoveadcamein
fourthintermsofwhatSandscalls“neuro-
engagement.”
15
Thatanadconsistingentirelyoftextcould
outscorenearlyallofthehigh-budget,high-
productionvalueSuperBowladswasasur-
prise,accordingtothefirm’sfounderSteph-
enSands.Hecommentedthatinadditionto
thehighneuro-engagementscore,the
Googleadwasoneofthemost-remembered
adswhenthesubjectsweresurveyedafter
the experiment.
499/743

500. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Text Beats
Richer Media When It
Tells a Story
Eveninahighlyvisualmediumliketelevi-
sion,properlyusedtextcanbeatcommer-
cialswithamazingimagery,sound,andpro-
ductionvalues.Fromabrandingandmem-
orabilitystandpoint,havingagiantGoogle
logoonthescreenmuchofthetimeislikely
agoodthing,butthekeytothead’sengage-
mentwasitscompellingplot.ThisGoogle
commercialisfurtherproofthattextcanbe
amazingly powerful when it tells a story.
Notes
13.“Parisian Love,” YouTube video,
00:52, uploaded by SearchStories,
500/743

501. November 19, 2009,http://www.you-
tube.com/watch?v=nnsSUqgkDwU.
14.Michigan State University, “MSU
Profs Rate Google Ad Top Super Bowl
Commercial,” news release, February 7,
2010,http://news.msu.edu/story/7416.
15.Neuromarketing;“Super Bowl 2010
Ad Winners,” inNeuromarketing,a
blog by Roger Dooley, February 24,
2010,http://www.neurosciencemarket-
ing.com/blog/articles/super-
bowl-2010-ad-winners.htm.
501/743

502. Chapter 70
The Million-Dollar
Pickle
Yearsago,Ilistenedtoakeynotespeechfo-
cusedoncustomerservice.Thespeaker’s
centerpiecewas“thepicklestory.”Briefly,
thisguydiscoveredhewasoutofpicklesjust
beforeabigSundaycookoutathishouseand
madeanemergencyruntotheclosestsuper-
market.Hearrivedhomewiththepickles
andopenedthejar,onlytofindthatthetop
pickleappearedtohavealargebiteoutofit.
Hiswifeconfirmedthediagnosis,sohe
rushedbacktothestoreagain.That’swhen
things headed south.

503. Hewasmetbysurlinessandindifference
bythestore’sstaff.Theclerkeyedhimwith
suspicion,andtwomanagerswerecalled
over.Theyconferred,examiningthepicklein
questionandglancingrepeatedlyattheir
customer.Clearly,theyhaddecidedthatif
anyonetookabiteoutofthatpickle,itwas
thejokerwhonowwantedadifferentjar.Al-
thoughthestoreeventuallyreplacedthe
bottle,thecombinationofterribleattitude
andlengthydelaymadeourspeakervow
never to shop at the store again.
Healsovowedtospreadthewordfarand
wide.Hetoldhisguestsatthecookout.He
toldhisneighbors.Hetoldtheaudienceshe
spoketo.Iwon’tattempttoduplicatethe
math,buthecalculatedthatthehassleovera
$1.50jarofpicklescostthestorethousands
ofdollarsinpurchasesthatheandhisfamily
wouldhavemadeinthefollowingyears.He
estimatedthestore’slossesatanamountin
themillionsofdollarsifevenaportionofthe
503/743

504. peoplewhoheardhispicklestorydecidedto
try shopping someplace else.
Didthatspeakercostthestoremillionsin
lostsales?Whoknows?Butthere’slittle
doubtthestorylodgedinthebrainsofthose
wholistenedtoit.Ididn’tevenknowthe
guy,andIstillrememberthestorymany
yearslater.I’msurehehadlotsofgreatin-
formationabouthowgoodcompaniestake
careoftheircustomersandhadimpressive
statisticsthatdemonstratetheeffectsof
goodservice.Butwhat’stheonlythingIre-
member? The pickle story!
Mostlikely,Iwouldhaverememberedthe
nameofthesupermarketchain,too,butit
wasn’tonethatservedmyarea;I’msure
manyofthosewhoheardthestoryfirsthand
didrememberthenameandstoreditasan
essential part of that story.
504/743

505. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Don’t
Create Negative
Stories
Weknowthatstoriescansellinpartbecause
theymakeourbrainslightupinsympathy
withwhatwearehearingandthatanecdotes
aremorepowerfulthanstatistics.Thepickle
storyisagreatexampleofastorythatwill
hurtsales,andwillpersistinthemindsof
thosewhohearit.Storieslikethatcanaffect
theperceptionoftheunfortunatemerchant
for years to come.
Thepersistenceofthestoryinmyown
memory,despitenotrecallingthespeaker’s
name,thevenue,thenameoftheevent,or
anyotherdetails,illustrateshowstickystor-
ies can be.
505/743

506. Youcan’tmakepeopleforgetamemorable
taleofpoorserviceorproblematicproducts,
soyourbestdefenseistospeedilyresolve
everyproblembeforeitturnsintoyourown
“million-dollar pickle” story.
506/743

507. SECTION TEN
Consumer
Brainfluence
Neuroscienceandbehaviorresearchhave
providedmany,manyinsightsintohowcon-
sumersmakedecisions.Herearesomeofthe
best and most actionable!
Thishasendedupbeingacatchallcat-
egoryforneuromarketingtechniquesthat
maynotfitneatlyintoasinglemediumbut
that can be applied in multiple ways.

508. Chapter 71
Simple Marketing for
Complex Products
Themorecomplexadecisionis,themore
thoughtanddeliberationitrequires,right?
Asintuitiveandseeminglyobviousasthat
statementseems,researchshowsthatit’snot
true,atleastinsomekindsofsituations.A
studyattheUniversityofAmsterdamon
howwemakedecisionsledtoasurprising
conclusion:simpledecisionsseemtowork
outbestwhenmadewithmorethought,
whereascomplexdecisionsseembetterwhen
made intuitively.
1

509. Oneexperimenthadsubjectsassessthe
qualityoffourhypotheticalautomobilesus-
ingeither4or12attributes.Thosewhowere
givenfourattributeschosethebetter-quality
carsmoreaccuratelywhentheywereallowed
tothinkaboutit,whereassubjectswhowere
distracted(andwhocouldn’tdeliberate)
madeworsechoices.Surprisingly,though,
theresultswerereversedforthesubjects
whohadmoreinformation(12attributes):
thedistractedsubjectsactuallymadebetter
choicesthanthesubjectswhowereallowed
to concentrate on the decision.
Ofgreatermarketinginterest,perhaps,is
anotherexperimentbythesamegroupthat
measuredthesatisfactionofsubjectswith
purchasedecisionstheymade.Theresearch-
erssurveyedshoppersleavingtwostores,De
Bijenkorf,whichsellsclothes,asimple
product,andIKEA,asellerofcomplex
productslikefurniture.(Isuspectthe
509/743

510. researcherswhofoundclothingtobea
simple product were mostly male!)
Theresearchersfoundthatthepurchasers
ofsimpleproductswerehappiestwiththeir
decisionwhentheyhadthoughtlongand
hardaboutthepurchase,whereasthere-
versewastrueforthosewhoboughtmore
complexproducts.Thehappiestbuyersfor
thecomplexproductswerethosewhode-
cided with little conscious deliberation.
2
Thestudyconcludedthatdecisionmakers
leavemorecomplexdecisionstothesubcon-
scious.I’mnotsureIcompletelybuyinto
thisstrategy.Sometimes,complexproducts
actuallyrequiredetailedanalysistomakea
gooddecision.Periodically,Ievaluatesmart-
phones,forexample—acomplexproductif
thereeverwasone.Eachphonehasdozens
ofimportantvariables:screensize,keyboard
typeandlayout,overallweight,batterylife
underdifferentconditions,dataconnection
speed,serviceavailabilityindifferent
510/743

511. geographicareas,operatingsystem,available
data plans, and many others.
Themodelsareusuallyquitedifferentin
manyrespects,andaunitthatexcelsinone
areamaybedeficientinanother.Thisis
trulyacomplexproblem,butcarefulanalysis
isimportant;buyinganexpensivephone
thatprovestobeincompatiblewithmy
schedulingsoftware,hasadifficult-to-use
keyboard,orhaslimitedbroadbandservice
inageographicareaIfrequentisaprescrip-
tion for disaster.
Ontheotherhand,we’veallhadtimes
whenwe’vedevotedwaytoomuchthought
tobuyinganitem.I’venoticedthatdoing
lotsofresearchmaypromotebuyer’sre-
morse;evenwhenyoumakethebestchoice,
youarestillawareoftheflawsofthething
youboughtandofthoseareaswhereacom-
peting item excels.
511/743

512. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Give Buyers
a Simple Reason to
Buy Your Complex
Product
Ifweaccepttheideathatsomecomplexde-
cisionsarebestmadewithoutlotsofdeliber-
ation,howshouldthataffectourmarketing?
It’samatterofdegree.Ifyouaresellinga
complexproductlikeanautomobile,givethe
customerasimplereasontobuyyour
product.Makethespecificationsandfea-
turesavailabletotheconsumer,because
peoplelikemewillwanttoanalyzethede-
tails;however,don’tleadwithsixnewfea-
tures or 10 reasons to buy the product.
Asimplemessage,like“#1incustomer
satisfaction”or“moresafetyfeaturesthan
anycarinitsclass”willgofartherinsteering
512/743

513. theconsumerdowntheintuitivedecision
path.Afterall,ifthecarI’mbuyingis#1in
customersatisfaction,doIreallyneedto
sweatthedetails?Maybenot.Anevensim-
plerapproachisanonverbalemotionalap-
peal,suchasshowingthecarinasettingthat
exudes wealth, glamour, and luxury.
Simplemarketingmessageshavealways
beenappealingfortheirclarityandmemor-
ability.Theflipsideoftheresearch,though,
isthatverysimpleproducts,suchastooth-
pasteandsocks,maydobetterwithmorein-
formation.Indeed,scanningthetoothpaste
aisletodayrevealsproductswithanalmost
bewilderingarrayoffeatures.Toothpasteis
nolongerasimplecommodityfordental
cleaning;now,productsoffervariouscom-
binationsofwhitening,tartarcontrol,cavity
prevention,breathfreshening,gumcare,and
otherfeatures.Consumerscanzeroinon
theiroralhygieneprioritiesandfinda
product that’s a perfect match.
513/743

514. Onecaution:eventhoughtheresearch
showsthatconsumersshouldmakede-
cisionsinthismannerforbestresults(in
termsofbothdecisionqualityandtheirown
satisfaction),itdoesn’tmeanthatpeoplewill
decidethisway.Theresearchersfoundno
shortageofshopperswhoboughtsimple
productsimpulsivelyandcomplexproducts
withalotofthought.Evenifthesestrategies
weren’toptimal,that’showthoseconsumers
made their choices.
Atbest,amarketingcampaigncanguide
thecustomertowardonestrategyortheoth-
er,butitcan’tforceacustomertodecideina
waythatheorshedoesn’twantto.Soallow
fordifferenttypesofdecisionmakers,
whethertheproductissimpleor
complicated.
Notes
514/743

515. 1.S. Alexander Haslam, “I Think, There-
fore I Err,”Scientific American Mind18,
no. 2 (April 2007): 16–17,ht-
tp://www.scientificamerican.com/art-
icle.cfm?id=i-think-therefore-i-err.
2.“Sleep on It, Decision-Makers Told,”
BBC News, February 17, 2006,ht-
tp://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/
4723216.stm.
515/743

516. Chapter 72
Sell to the Inner
Infovore
Althoughtheterminfovorehasbeenkicking
aroundforawhileasacutenameforacon-
sumerofinformation,theUniversityof
SouthernCalifornia’sIrvingBiedermanuses
thetermtodescribehumansexhibitinga
morespecifickindofbehavior:aninnatede-
sireforinformationandlearning.Bieder-
man’sworkshowsthereisafeedbackmech-
anisminthebrainthatrewardstheacquisi-
tionofknowledgeandthatmosthumans
have a “knowledge addiction.”
3

517. Biedermanthinksweareprogrammedto
beinformationjunkies.Fromanevolution-
arystandpoint,perceivedintelligenceisa
keyfactorinmateselection,henotes.Bie-
dermanevenattributesourappreciationfor
art to the same quest for new information.
Incomingupwiththistheory,Biederman
linkedpleasurereceptorsinthebraintothe
wayweprocessnewvisualstimuli.Seeing
somethingnewincreasesactivityinthatarea
of the brain, and the reward system kicks in.
AccordingtoBiederman,weuncon-
sciouslyseekthingsthatarerichininforma-
tionandnovel.Althoughhisworkfocusedon
theprocessingofvisualinformation,he
speculatesthatsimilarfindingswouldapply
to other senses.
517/743

518. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Show ’Em
Something New
WhatcanmarketersderivefromBieder-
man’sresearch?Perhapsthemostimportant
findingisthatpeopleexperienceaneuro-
chemicalrewardwhentheyacquirenewin-
formation.Thatinformationdoesn’thaveto
bereadingWarandPeaceorlearningthe
proofforamathematicaltheorem;itcould
beassimpleasseeinganew,unfamiliar
picture.
So,althoughconventionaladvertisingwis-
domsuggeststhatrepetitionisanessential
partofchangingcustomerbehavior,Bieder-
man’sworkshowsthatthebraintendsto
tuneoutfamiliarimagesinfavorofnovel
ones.Hence,advertisersmuststrikeabal-
ancebetweenrepeatingtheirmessagebut
518/743

519. alsoprovidingnovelinformationtotrigger
the reward circuits in the brain.
Market Like Absolut
Onesuccessfuladcampaignthatisanexcel-
lentexampleofinfovoremarketingisAbso-
lutVodka’slong-runningprintcampaignof
bottle-shapedimages.Longbeforeneur-
omarketingwasconceived,Absolut’sad
peopledevisedacampaignthatprovidedin-
triguing,novelimagesincorporatingthedis-
tinctiveshapeoftheAbsolutbottle.These
highlycreativeimagesnotonlywereoriginal
butoftencontainedabitofhumororplay-
fullyincorporatedsomeconceptthatwould
takeabitofthoughtfortheviewertofully
connect.
Fromaninfovoreperspective,onewould
havetosaytheseimageswerejustaboutper-
fect.Notonlyweretheynoveland
519/743

520. unexpected,theyproducedalittle“aha,Iget
it!”rewardtotheviewerwhodecodedthe
image.
Notes
3.Irving Biederman and Edward Vessel,
“Perceptual Pleasure and the Brain,”
American Scientist94, no. 3 (May–June
2006): 247,http://condition.org/as-
65-6.htm.
520/743

521. Chapter 73
Want Versus Should:
Time Your Pitch
Everyoneisfamiliarwiththewantversus
shouldconflict.Doyouordertheloaded
cheesefriesasyoursidedishorthesteamed
broccoli?Youwantthegreasyfries,butyou
knowyoushouldorderthebroccoli.Doyou
mowthegrass(should)orwatchfootball
(want)?
HarvardresearchersToddRogersand
KatherineMilkmanthinktwopersonalities
resideinallofus:thewant-selfandthe
should-self.Table73.1showssometypical
behavioral conflict.

522. Table 73.1WantVersusShould
Want-self Should-self
Short-term gratificationLong-term benefit
Junk food Healthy food
Spend now Save for later
Watch television Exercise
Timing Is Critical
Thestudyshowedthattimingwascriticalin
thewantversusshouldbattle.Adecisionon
foodforimmediateconsumptionfavored
wantitems.Purchasesforconsumptiondays
inthefutureweremorelikelytobehealthy
and nutritious (should items).
4,
5
Movie Battles
522/743

523. Foodisn’ttheonlybattlegroundbetweenour
want-selfandshould-selfwheretimeofcon-
sumptiondifferencesexist.Thesamere-
searchersstudiedDVDrentalpatternsand
foundthatpeopleordereddocumentary
(shouldwatch)DVDsbeforeactionandother
entertainmentfilms(wanttowatch).They
tendedtoreturnthedocumentariesafterthe
otherDVDs,however,indicatingthatatthe
momentofconsumption(puttingtheDVDin
theplayer),thewant-selfwonoutoverthe
should-self.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Time Your
Pitch toWantsand
Shoulds
523/743

524. Theimplicationsofthisworkaresignificant
formanykindsofmarketers.Justabout
everymarketersellseitherwantorshould
items, and many sell both.
Sell Want Items for Imme-
diate Use
Basedonthesestudies,salesofwantitems
canbemaximizedwhentheywillbeused
rightaway;shoulditemsdobestifmarketed
forfutureuse.Theauthorspointoutthat
fruitsandvegetablesareamongthefirst
thingstheconsumersseesastheybeginto
pushtheircartsaroundthegrocerystore;
thismakessense,asthebeginningofthe
shoppingtripisfarthestawayfromtimeof
product use.
Iassumethesamelogicdictateswhythe
supermarketsplacecandybarsrightatthe
checkout.Theseitemsmaynotevenmakeit
to the car before they are consumed!
524/743

525. Selling Online
Theauthorscommentthatonlinesellersand
catalogmerchantsshouldbesuretotakede-
liverytimeintoaccountwhenpromoting
theirmerchandise.Consumersarelikelyto
ordermorewantitemsiftheyareavailable
forimmediatedelivery.Ontheotherhand,
theycautionthatcustomerswillspendless
overallthefurtherinadvanceofdeliverythe
order is placed.
Everything Else
Theselessonscouldapplytojustaboutany-
thing.Sellingsportscars?Assurethecus-
tomerthathecandriveawayinhisnewcon-
vertibleassoonashesignsthepapers.
Sellingvitamins?Offerapromotionfavoring
purchasesofasix-monthsupply,maybe
525/743

526. evenwithadelayedpaymentandperiodic
shipments.
First,determinewhetheryouaresellinga
wantorashould;then,chooseanappropri-
atetimingstrategy.Aswithmanythingsin
lifeandbusiness,inthebattlebetweenthe
customer’swant-selfandshould-self,timing
is everything.
Notes
4.Sarah Jane Gilbert, “Understanding
the ‘Want’ vs. ‘Should’ Decision,” Har-
vard Business School, July 16, 2007,ht-
tp://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/5693.html.
5.Todd Rogers, Katherine L. Milkman,
and Max H. Bazerman, “I’ll Have the Ice
Cream Soon and the Vegetables Later:
Decreasing Impatience Over Time in
Online Grocery Orders,” Harvard Busi-
ness School, May 15, 2007,
526/743

527. http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/
07-078.pdf.
527/743

528. Chapter 74
Sell to Tightwads
Aquarterofyourpotentialcustomersmay
beparticularlychallengingtosellto.They
areclassifiedastightwads,individualswho
areparticularlyreluctanttopartwiththeir
money.
ResearchatCarnegieMellonUniversity
showedthatsomeindividualsfeelsomuch
buyingpainthattheytendtoavoidspending
money—eveninsituationswheremostindi-
vidualswouldfindtheexpensetobejustified
andofgoodvalue;thesearetightwads.
Spendthrifts,meanwhile,seemtofeellittle
buyingpainandspendmoneyevenin

529. situationswheremostindividualswould
avoid doing so.
6
Accordingtotheresearchers,thediffer-
encesinbehaviorbetweenthetwogroups
arestrongestinscenarioswherethepainof
payingismaximized(e.g.,immediatepay-
mentinfull)andsmallestinsituationswith
theleastbuyingpain(e.g.,paymentdeferred
intothefuture).Theyalsofindadistinction
betweentightwadsandpeoplewhoare
frugal.Frugalpeopledon’tfeelmorebuying
painthantherestofus;theysimplyenjoy
saving.Thatdistinctionmaybeincon-
sequentialinsomesituations,butit’sim-
portanttonotethattheunderlyingmotiva-
tion of frugality is different.
Asurveyofmorethan13,000individuals
showed the following breakdown:
Tightwads—24 percent
Unconflicted—60 percent
Spendthrifts—15 percent
529/743

530. Somemarketersmaybedisappointedthat
freespenderscompriseonly15percentof
theirpotentialcustomerbase,butthekey
takeawayisthattherearemajorportionsof
thepopulationwhoarewiredtorespondto
marketingoffersinquitedifferentways.
Ignoringthesedifferencesmayresultinan
underperformingadcampaignorsales
effort.
Oneofthedefiningquestionsinthesurvey
washowmuchcreditcarddebtthesubject
had.Spendthriftswerethreetimesaslikely
astightwadstohavecreditcarddebt.Per-
hapsunsurprisingly,tightwadsreported
higherlevelsofpersonalsavingsthan
spendthrifts.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Minimize
530/743

531. the Pain for Tightwads
(and Everyone Else)
Althoughanin-personsaleseffortcanadjust
tocustomercharacteristicsonthefly,print
andothermediacampaignsmayhaveto
comeupwithanapproachthatisgearedto
themostlikelybuyergroupsordevelop
somewhatdifferentcampaignsifitmakes
sense to try to target all groups of customers.
Theoverallapproachthatseemslikelyto
workacrosstheboardistominimizebuying
pain in a given offer.
1.Makethepriceabargain.Tightwads
don’tlikehighprices,orpricesthatap-
peartobehighforwhattheyarebuying.
Salepricesaremorepotenttoolswith
thisgroup.Inadirectsellingsituation
wheretheoffercanbetailoredtothein-
dividual,apricediscountcanhelpseal
thedeal.Inmostsellingsituations,
531/743

532. though,discountingmaynotbeadesir-
ableoption,orevenapossibility.In
thesecases,tryrestatingthepriceindif-
ferentterms.Anannualmembership
costing$120mightbedescribedas
“only$10permonth”or“only33cents
perday.”Ineverycase,youaretryingto
showthetightwadbuyerhowfairthe
price is for the value received.
2.Avoidrepeatedpainpoints.Per-item
pricing(asinasushirestaurant)creates
amorepainfulbuyingsituationthana
one-time,all-inclusiveprice(asinasea-
foodbuffet).Sincetightwadsaremore
sensitivetopayingpain,avoid“drip-
drip-drip”pricingstructuresthatpunish
thebuyereverytimeshedoes
something.Obviously,notallselling
situationsallowthis.Walmartcan’t
adopt“per-cart”or“all-you-can-buy”
pricing.Butmanyproductsandser-
vices,includingInternetservice,cell
532/743

533. phoneserviceplans,healthclubmem-
berships,andphysicalproductswithop-
tions,arepossibilitiesforconvertingàla
carte items in a package price.
3.Createproductbundles.Thisis
closelyrelatedtothepreviouspoint.
Oneeffectofpackagepricingistodis-
guiseindividualpainpoints,ashasbeen
notedbyneuroeconomicsexpertGeorge
Loewenstein.Oneexamplehecitesis
thebundlingofcaraccessories,suchas
leatherseats,powerfeatures,andsoon,
intoasingle“luxurypackage.”This
avoidsthemultiplepainpointsofselect-
ingseparatelypriceditemsandalsodis-
guisestheindividualprices.Ifthepack-
ageditemsweresoldindividually,the
consumerwouldhavetomakeaspecific
decisiononwhetherleatherseatswere
worthanextra$1,000,apowermoon-
roof,$900more,andsoon.Even
thoughthepackagemaycostasmuch
533/743

534. as,orevenmorethan,theindividual
componentspricedseparately,there’s
less buying pain involved.
Onegoodthing:ifyoucanreducethebuy-
ingpainassociatedwithyouroffer,you’llal-
mostcertainlydobetterwiththevastmajor-
ityofyourpotentialcustomers.Allbutthe
mostextremespendthriftsdofeelsomebuy-
ingpain,andalesspainfulofferwillhelp
with more than tightwad customers.
4.Appealtoimportantneeds.Tight-
wadsarelesslikelytobeseducedbythe
sexappealofaproductthanothertypes
ofbuyers.Oneoftheexperimentscon-
ductedbytheCMUresearcherswasto
presentanofferofa$100massage
couchedeitherinutilitarianterms(re-
liefofbackpain)orhedonicterms(a
pleasurableexperience).Althoughtight-
wadswere26percentlesslikelytobuy
thehedonicmassagethanthespend-
thrifts,theylaggedbyonly9percentfor
534/743

535. theutilitarianmassage.Mostproducts
combineavarietyofcharacteristics,and
theutilitarianonesmaybemostimport-
anttoemphasizewhensellingto
tightwads.
5.Watchyourlanguage!Onerather
startlingfindingintheCMUresearch
wasthatchangingthedescriptionofan
overnightshippingchargeonafree
DVDofferfroma“$5fee”toa“small$5
fee”increasedtheresponserateamong
tightwadsby20percent!Thisishardly
inventivecopywriting,butthemerere-
minderthat$5wasasmallamountof
moneyhadanimportanteffecton
tightwads.
Inshort,don’twriteoffabigchunkofyour
potentialcustomersastoocheaptobother
marketingto.Instead,refineyourapproach
toyourtightwadcustomers,andyou’llsteal
marketsharefromyourlessawarecompetit-
ors and boost sales across the board.
535/743

536. Notes
6.Scott I. Rick, Cynthia E. Cryder, and
George Loewenstein, “Tightwads and
Spendthrifts,” Knowledge@Wharton,
September 1, 2007,ht-
tp://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/pa-
pers/1342.pdf.
536/743

537. Chapter 75
Sell to Spendthrifts
Neuroeconomicsresearchshowsthat
roughly15percentofyourconsumersare
spendthrifts—peoplewhohaveunusuallylow
sensitivitytothepainofpaying,thatis,the
neuraldiscomfortassociatedwithparting
with money.
Sellingtopeoplewhofeellittleornobuy-
ingpainshouldbeeasy,right?Withreduced
buyinginhibition,aspendthriftismore
likelytotakeadvantageofanygivenoffer
comparedwithatightwadorevenanormal,
nonconflictedperson.Nevertheless,making
thesaleisn’tagiven.Forone,youhavecom-
petition;yourofferiscompetingwithother

538. offersforsimilarproductsorservices,aswell
as offers for dozens of other, unrelated items.
Unlessyourspendthrifthasthenetworth
ofWarrenBuffett(whowouldnodoubtqual-
ifyasatightwad),choiceswillhavetobe
made—asmuchasthespendthriftmightlike
to, buying everything isn’t an option.
Why Worry about
Spendthrifts?
Iflessthanoneoutofsixcustomersfallsinto
thespendthriftcategory,andtheyarerelat-
ivelyeasytosellto,whyworryaboutthemas
agroup?Ithinkit’sworththinkingabout
spendthriftsbecauseitislikelythatcertain
typesofgoods—luxuryitems,expensiveva-
cations,andthelike—arepurchaseddispro-
portionately by this group.
Isatightwadlikelytobuyanexpensive
CoachpurseorHermestie?Probablynot,
538/743

539. unlessthattightwadhassomuchactual
wealththatthere’slittlepainassociatedwith
buyingthoseitems.Marketersofluxury
items,nottomentionproductsthatarenon-
essentialorevenfrivolous,shouldpaypar-
ticular attention to spendthrift psychology.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Push the
Free-Spending Hot
Buttons
1.Appealtobothhedonisticandutilit-
ariantendencies.Unliketightwads,
spendthriftsareconcernedbothabout
utilitarianissuesaswellashowthe
product or service will make them feel.
Inthepreviouschapter,wementioned
studyofa$100massageofferthatwas
539/743

540. presentedtosubjectsintwodifferentways:
forsome,asarelieffrombackpain,andfor
others,asapleasurableexperience.Spend-
thriftsweremuchmorelikelytobuythan
tightwadswhentheofferwascouchedin
termsofthemassagebeingapleasurableex-
perience.Almosthalfofthespendthrifts
boughtapleasurablemassage,compared
withonlyabout22percentofthetightwads.
That’s more than 100 percent higher.
Interestingly,though,spendthriftswere
morelikelytobuythetherapeuticmassage,
too—almost80percentofthespendthrifts
boughtthemassage,versusalittlelessthan
70percentofthetightwads.Thisshowsthat
themosteffectiveofferbyfarforthespend-
thriftswastheutilitarianservice,butthey
werealsomuchmoreresponsivetotheidea
of a pleasurable experience.
What’samarketertodo?Ifpossible,hit
bothhotbuttons—youneedthisproduct,but
it’sfuntoo.Agoodexampleofthiskindof
540/743

541. marketingistheluxurypickuptruckmarket.
Abuyermayneedthepickuptruckforcon-
tractingworkbutalsowantittolookgood
andbefuntodrivetoo.(Atightwadcorpor-
atebuyer,whowon’tbedrivingthevehicle
personallyanyway,mightchoosean
anonymous-lookingutilityvanforthesame
application.)
2.Provideandemphasizecreditop-
tions.Thetightwadstudyshowsthat
spendthriftsarethemostlikelygroupto
havecreditcarddebt.Becausethis
grouphasanabove-averagewillingness
tousecreditcards,providingbothcredit
cardoptionsaswellasothereasyfinan-
cingwillhelpclosethedeal.Although
financingoptionscanhelpinsellingto
tightwadstoo,thereasonisdifferent.
Fortightwads,financingdefersand
spreadsoutthebuyingpain;forspend-
thrifts,financingoptionsaremore
541/743

542. importantintheirroleofsimplyen-
abling the purchase.
3.Don’tsweatthelanguage.Although
framinga$5shippingfeeasa“small$5
fee”washighlyeffectiveinsellingto
tightwads,ithadlittleeffectonspend-
thrifts.Thisdoesn’tmeanthatword-
smithingshouldgooutthewindowen-
tirely,butratherthatspendingalotof
efforttoputthepricinginthemostfa-
vorablelightwon’thelpmuch.Focuson
makingtheproductorserviceappealing
to this group.
4.Offerinstantgratification.Although
thiswasnotaconclusionoftheCarnegie
MellonUniversitystudy,Ithinkthebe-
havioralcharacteristicsofspendthrifts
suggestthattheywillbemoresuscept-
ibletooffersthataffordeitherinstantor
quick gratification.
542/743

543. What’sbetterthanasexysportscar?One
youcandriveoffthelotrightnowandin
minutesbeshowingoffinyourdrivewayor
taking for a spin in the country.
5.Improvemarginswithoptions.
Spendthriftshavelesssensitivitytobuy-
ingpain,sosomesellingsituations
mightuseanattractiveinitialofferto
getthebuyertocommitandthenim-
provemarginswithdesirableoptions.
Theneteffectonthepackageprice
mightbenodifferentthananall-inclus-
iveorbundledoffer,buttheclosurerate
might improve.
Arespendthriftsmorelikelytobuyanex-
tendedwarranty?Wehavenodataonthat,
butitislikelythatinmakingthetrade-off
betweenpeaceofmind(knowingthat
whatevergoeswrongwithyourpurchase,
you’llbecovered)andaheftyfee(often10
percentormoreofthepurchaseprice),a
spendthriftismorelikelytotaketheoffered
543/743

544. warranty.Indeed,thereasonelectronics
storeclerksaretrainedtoaskeverycustomer
aboutaddingthewarranty(notunlikethe
automaticfast-foodqueries,“frieswith
that?”and“supersizeit?”)isthat15percent
ofthecustomerbaseiswiredtobemorere-
ceptive to that pitch.
544/743

545. Chapter 76
Take a Chance on a
Contest
Ourbrainsareprogrammedforrewardanti-
cipation,buttheyaren’tverygoodatcalcu-
latingodds.AStanfordUniversitystudy
showsthatbigpotentialrewardsproducebig
responses,eveniftheyareunlikelyout-
comes.Inotherwords,ourbrainisveryre-
sponsivetothesizeoftherewardandfarless
sensitivetotheprobabilityofactuallyreceiv-
ing that reward.
7
Peoplewhostandinlinetobuya
Powerballticketwhenarecordjackpotisin
playaren’tcalculatingtheodds.Evenifa

546. statisticianwasattheticketdispensertotell
peopletheiroddsaremuchworsethanif
theywaitaweekortwo,theywillignorethat
information.Ifanything,themobsbuying
ticketsareaformofsocialproof,notanin-
dicationofrapidlydecliningodds.It’sthe
amountthatengagespeople,notthehard-
to-visualize probability of winning.
Theanalyticalpartofyourbrainneverhas
achancetocompetewiththerewardcenter
lightingupfromtheprospectofwinninga
sumbiggerthanthegrossnationalproduct
ofsomenations.Thishumaninclinationhas
implicationsformarketerswhousecontests,
sweepstakes,orotherprizeofferings.The
clearmessageisthatit’sthemagnitudeof
thegrandprizethatisthemostimportant
factorinagiveaway.Therestofthedetails
are just that, details.
Golf Lessons
546/743

547. Conventionalwisdomattheblackjacktable
istodeclinetheinsuranceofferedbythe
dealer,butformarketersinsurancemakes
sensewhenitallowsabiggerprize.Aperfect
exampleisthecommon“million-dollarhole-
in-one”fund-raiser.Golfersmakeadonation
toenterthecontestforachanceatwinninga
million dollars by shooting a hole in one.
Therearevariousrulestoreducetheprob-
abilityofthemilliondollarsactuallybeing
paid.Themostsignificantisthatthewinning
shotusuallycan’ttakeplaceinthequalifying
roundwhenhundredsofgolfersmaybe
whackingmultipleballsatthecup;the
moneyshottakesplaceinafinalsession,
whenjustoneorafewgolfers(whoplaced
closesttotheholeinthefirstroundtoquali-
fy) get a chance.
Theothertechniquethateliminatesany
risktothecharity(agoodthing,sinceone
luckyshotmightturnafund-raiserintoa
financialdisaster)isthattheycanbuy
547/743

548. insurance.Bypayingatinyfixedsumtoa
firmthatofferssuchcoverage(andwhoen-
surestherulesofthegameminimizethe
probabilityofapayout),thecharitycanoffer
themillion-dollarprizewithnofearofcata-
strophic loss.
Thereasonthosefund-raisersattract
entrantsisthemagnitudeofthepotential
payout.(Adesiretosupportthecharityand
thejustificationforplayinghookyfromthe
officearenodoubtalsofactors.)Thecostof
hole-in-oneinsuranceforamilliondollars
mightbeaslittleasafewhundreddollars,
but the prize looks enormous.
Fromthestandpointofatotallyrational
individualcompetitor,awardingafew
$1,000prizestothoseclosesttothehole
wouldhaveahigherexpectedpayoutthan
theopportunitytoqualifyforamillion-dol-
larshot.Butwouldlogicalimprovementin
thepayoutgenerateanyexcitement?Likely
noneatall.Inshort,awardingfive$1,000
548/743

549. prizeswouldcostthecharityalotmorethan
hole-in-oneinsuranceforamillion-dollar
prizeandwouldalmostcertainlyresultin
fewerentrants(unlessthefund-raiseristar-
getingmathematiciansandstatisticians)and
a lot less excitement.
Pepsi’s Billion Dollars
Onecompanythatsawhowattractiveabig
prizecouldbeissoftdrinkgiantPepsi-Cola.
Theyranasweepstakeswithatopprizeof$1
billion,certainlyoneofthebiggestprizes
ever.Liketheorganizersofyourlocalcharity
hole-in-onecontest,Pepsitookavarietyof
precautionstoavoidfinancialdisaster.They
structuredthecontestasaplay-offevent,in
whichfirst-roundwinnersqualifiedtocon-
tinueinasecondroundandonlyonecon-
testantultimatelyhadachancetomatcha
six-digitnumber(chosenbyachimpanzee
549/743

550. rollingdice!)towinthebilliondollars.They
alsoinsuredtheprizeviaBerkshireHath-
away,thefinancialpowerhousefoundedby
WarrenBuffett.Intheunlikelyeventthatthe
billion-dollarprizehadtobeawarded,Pepsi
wouldn’t take a huge hit to the bottom line.
8
Thehooplasurroundingthecontest
includedreality-TVshowcoverageofthefi-
nalstages.Ofcourse,thefinalcontestant
didn’twinthebilliondollars.Hedidwalk
awaywithamillion,though,andPepsi
garnered a publicity windfall.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Keep Your
Eye on the Prize
Businesscontestshavedifferentmotivation
thancharityfund-raisers,butthesameprin-
ciplesapply—aspectacularprizeisbetter,
550/743

551. eveniftheoddsarelow.(Oneexceptionmay
bevery-high-frequencyprizes,suchasthose
insomefast-foodrestaurantpromotions;in
these,thereisahighconcentrationofwin-
ninggamepieceswithsmallfoodawards,
likefreefrenchfries.That’snearlyPavlovian
in design!)
Whenchoosingatoplineprize,think
big—eveniftheoddsarelower,peoplewill
respondbetteriftherearemorezerosatthe
endofthenumber.Hereareafewwaysto
maximize the prize value:
•Concentratetheprizebudgeton
one prize.
•Useaplay-offsystemorotherap-
proachtopermitahugeprizewith
tightlycontrolledprobabilityof
awarding it.
•Participateinajointpromotion
withothercompaniestoincreasethe
prize budget.
551/743

552. (IntheUnitedStatesandotherjurisdic-
tions,therearelawsthatgoverncontests,so
besuretocomplywithanyrelevantlegal
requirements.)
Notes
7.Jason Zweig, “Your money and your
brain,” CNNMoney, August 23, 2007,
http://money.cnn.com/2007/08/14/pf/
zweig.moneymag/
?postversion=2007082313.
8.Gordon T. Anderson, “Pepsi’s Billion-
Dollar Monkey,”CNNMoney,May 2,
2003,http://money.cnn.com/2003/04/
09/news/companies/pep-
si_billion_game/index.htm.
552/743

553. Chapter 77
Unconventional
Personalization
DaleCarnegieoncesaid,“Rememberthata
man’snameistohimthesweetestandmost
importantsoundintheEnglishlanguage.”
It’sagoodbetthatevenCarnegiewouldbe
surprisedathowtruethatstatementis,even
at the unconscious level.
Let’sstartwithaquickexperiment.Take
thefirstletterofyourfirstname.Now,do
youlikethatletter?Althoughyoumightsay
it’sjustaletterandyoudon’tlikeordislike
it,researchacrossmanycultureshasshown
thatpeopleliketheir“initial”lettersbetter

554. thanotherletters.Thispreferencecanbe
overt,butitalsohassomestrangeandunex-
pected effects on our behavior.
Onestudyshowedthatstudentswhose
namesbeganwithAandBgotbettergrades
(andweremorelikelytoattendanelitelaw
school)thanthosewhosenamesbeganwith
CandD.
9Theweirdnessdoesn’tstopthere.
Otherresearchshowsthatpeoplearemore
likelytoliveincitiesthatresembletheir
namesandchoosecareersthatdothe
same.
10
Theconceptiscalledimplicitegotism.
Peoplearegenerallypositiveaboutthem-
selvesandtendtobefavorabletowardthings
connectedtothem.Hence,theresearchers
foundthatpeoplenamedLouisarestatistic-
allymorecommoninSt.Louis,andthat
peoplenamedDennisandDenisearemore
frequentlydentiststhanonemightpredict.
Even“birthdaynumbers”correlatedwith
554/743

555. locations,forexample,peoplebornonthe
third living in Three Rivers.
Otherresearchhasshownrelatedeffects,
includingtheownershipeffect,apreference
foranitemthatoneownsoveronethatbe-
longstosomeoneelse.Onestudyshowed
thatpeoplehadamorefavorableimpression
ofRasputin,the“madmonk,”whenthey
thought he shared their birthday.
11
Thisresearchisweirdlyfascinating.I’m
surelawyersnamedLawrencewouldargue
thattheirnamehadabsolutelynothingtodo
withtheircareerchoice.ButwhatcanMarv
andMark,whochosethefieldofmarketing,
do with this information?
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Try Going
555/743

556. Beyond Simple
Personalization
Directmarketersknowthatpersonalized
mailersore-mailsalmostalwaysoutperform
genericversions.Buthowdotheyuseimpli-
citegotismtofurtherenhancetheiroffer-
ings? Here are a few thoughts.
List Segmentation
Directmarketersstillmailcatalogsandother
marketingpitches,despitetheever-increas-
ingcostofdoingso.Mailinglistscanberen-
tedandenhanced.Forexample,amailer
mighttakealargelistofmagazinesub-
scribersandtrytoimprovetheresponserate
bymailingonlytothoseinspecificzipcodes
thatinthepasthadbeenshowntorespond
well.Thus,alistthatmighthavebeenun-
profitabletomailtocannowproducea
556/743

557. positivereturn.(Listenhancementgetsalot
more sophisticated than that.)
But,IwonderifHarryandDavidever
testedhowtheirgiftcatalogperformedwhen
mailedtopeoplenamedHarry,Harriet,
David,Davey,andothervariations?There-
searchwouldpredictabetterresponsefor
thosenamesthannameslikeSam,Zeke,or
Susan.Similarly,Frontgatemightseeasmall
improvementwhenmailingtopeoplenamed
Frank Smith or Susan Fremont.
Enhanced Personalization
Weknowthatpersonalizationworks,but
whatifamarketingpitchpersonalizedsome
otherelements.Forexample,adatabaseof
customertestimonialscouldbedeveloped,
andatestimonialthatmatchedtheinitialor
nameoftheprospectcouldbeselected.
WouldIrespondbettertoamarketingpiece
thatfeaturedasatisfiedcustomernamed
557/743

558. RogerJonesversusonethatusedMiranda
Smith?I’dliketothinknot,buttheresearch
shows I probably would.
Similarly,afeaturedproductmightbe
chosenbasedonthenameoftheprospect.A
giftcatalogmightputaCuisinartproducton
pitchestoprospectswhosenamesstarted
withCandaKitchenAiditemtothosewhose
names began with K.
Birthday Fun
Ifpeopleareattractedbytheirownbirthday
numbers,whatifoneincorporatedaseem-
inglyrandombutprominentnumberona
mailing?Perhapsahouseaddressonanil-
lustration?Ifyouknewtheprospect’sbirth-
daywasDecember14,thenumbercouldbe
1214.Buildingthisinsubtlybutvisibly
would be a challenge, but it could be done.
Theseare,ofcourse,weakeffects.Inmany
cases,employinganimplicitegotismstrategy
558/743

559. wouldlikelynotbeeffectiveenoughtojustify
itscost.Still,marketerscouldtestthe
concept,orevenresearchitusingpastsales
data.Directmarketers,inparticular,are
greatatdataanalysis,anditwouldn’tbedif-
ficultforasophisticatedmarketertoseeif
peoplenamedHarryoutperformedthose
with other names in their last big mailing.
Notes
9.Sharon Begley, “A, My Name is Alice:
Moniker Madness,”Newsweek,Novem-
ber 7, 2007,ht-
tp://www.newsweek.com/blogs/lab-
notes/2007/11/07/a-my-name-is-alice-
moniker-madness.html.
10.Brett W. Pelham, Matthew C. Miren-
berg, and John T. Jones, “Why Susie
Sells Seashells by the Seashore: Implicit
Egotism and Major Life Decisions,”
Journal of Personality and Social
559/743

560. Psychology82, no. 4 (2002): 469–487,
http://www.stat.columbia.edu/~gel-
man/stuff_for_blog/susie.pdf.
11.John F. Finch and Robert B. Cialdini,
“Another Indirect Tactic of (Self-) Image
Management,”Personality and Social
Psychology Bulletin15, no. 2 (June
1989): 222–232,ht-
tp://psp.sagepub.com/content/15/2/
222.abstract.
560/743

561. Chapter 78
Expect More, and Get
It!
Brainstudiesareprovidingnewinsightsinto
consumerbehavior,butoneofthemostim-
portantfindingsisthepotentialimpactof
marketingontheactualcustomerexperi-
ence.Fewadvertisingandmarketingexecut-
ivesdiscountthevalueofmarketing,but
howoftenhaveyouheardthesekindsof
statements?
Our product will sell itself!
Oncepeopletrytheproduct,they’ll
love it!

562. Wecountonadvertisingmainlyto
build awareness.
Manybusinessexecutivesassumethat
marketingisafront-endactivitydesignedto
enticepeopletobuytheproductatleast
once.Atthatpoint,theproductitselftakes
over;thecustomerwilllikeit,ornot,andfu-
turepurchaseswilldependonwhichitis.
That’strue,asfarasitgoes,butitneglects
animportantfact:thecustomer’srealexper-
iencewiththeproductwillbeshapedbyhis
orherexpectationsandbeliefsaboutthe
product.
NotethatI’mnotsayingthatthecustom-
er’sreportedexperienceisaffectedbypre-
conceivednotions;forexample,it’scommon
forconsumerstorationalizeanexpensive
purchaseandreporthigherlevelsofsatisfac-
tionthanarereallyaccurate.I’msayingthat
thecustomer’sactualexperience—beforeany
rationalizationorevenconsciousthought
562/743

563. occurs—isaffectedbywhatthatperson
knows about the product!
Thebasisforthisboldassertionisre-
searchonwine,ofallthings.Wineisactually
agoodproducttostudy,becausemost
peoplearen’twineexpertsandhenceare
moresuggestible.Followingareafewdata
points that illustrate what I’m talking about.
Price Influences Taste
InChapter6,wediscussedresearchthat
showedpeople’sbrainslitupmoreinthe
partofthebrainthatregistersapleasantex-
periencewhentheythoughttheyweredrink-
inga$45wineinsteadofa$5wine,even
thoughthetwowineswereactuallythe
same!Thesubjectsanticipatedabetterex-
periencefromthe$45wine,andtheygotit.
Expensivewinereallydoestastebetter,even
when it isn’t!
12
563/743

564. Wine Label Makes Food
Better
Anotherstudyfoundthatdinersoffereda
freeglassofwinefrom“Noah’sWineryin
California”atemorefoodatafixed-price
Frenchrestaurantandwereevenmorelikely
tobookanewreservationthandinerswho
weregivenaglassfrom“Noah’sWineryin
NorthDakota.”Asinthepreviouslyde-
scribedexperiment,thewinewasactually
the same for all diners.
13
Expectation Becomes
Reality
Whatthisresearchshowsisthatwhatcus-
tomersbelieveaboutaproductcanturninto
reality—iftheybelieveaproductisbetter,it
willbebetter.Ifyouwanttolookatitanoth-
erway,ifcustomershavedoubtsabouta
564/743

565. product,asinthecaseofNorthDakotan
wine,theexperiencecanbediminished.
(Thiswouldcertainlybeafrustratingsitu-
ationforarealNorthDakotawinery,whose
customerswouldfindthattheirwinenever
tastedquiteasgoodasthatfromCalifornia
orFrance—evenifobjectivelythewineswere
equivalent!)
A New Role for
Marketing
Criticsoftenassumethatmarketing,advert-
ising,andbrandingeffortsareintendedto
manipulateconsumersintobuyingthings
theydon’tneed.Amorecommon(andbe-
nign)viewisthattheseactivitiesaregeared
toinformingconsumersaboutproductsthat
theymayenjoyorthatmayimprovetheir
livesinsomeway.Individualmarketers
couldaddtothislistwithspecificssuchas
565/743

566. encouragingrepeatpurchases,building
brand awareness, and so on.
Here’stherolethatwon’tbeonanyof
thoselists:establishinghighcustomerex-
pectationsthatwillimprovetheiractualex-
periencewiththeproductorservice.Butit
shouldbe.Thewineresearchshowsthat
whatconsumersbelieve—“Expensivewines
arelikelytotastebetterthancheapones”or
“Californiawinesarefamousworldwide,and
Ididn’tevenknowthatwinesfromNorth
Dakotaexisted”—affectstheirsatisfaction
withtheproductbeyondtheactualcharac-
teristics of the product itself.
It’snotabigleaptoassertthatwhatacus-
tomerknowsaboutabrandwillsimilarlyaf-
fecttheproductexperience.Lexustradition-
allyranksnearthetopofcustomersatisfac-
tionsurveys.Certainly,theactualqualityof
thevehiclesplaysaroleinthis.Butthereare
ahostofotherfactors—thereputationofthe
brand,thepremiumprice,theunusually
566/743

567. well-appointeddealerships—thatcreatethe
expectationofasuperior-qualityproduct.As
longastheproductitselfdoesn’tdisappoint
insomemajorway,theLexusbuyerislikely
toreallybemoresatisfiedthanhadheorshe
purchased a comparable Toyota.
Product Still Counts
Itwouldbenicetothinkthatgoodmarket-
ingcouldcreateafantasticcustomerexperi-
enceonitsown,butthat’sobviouslynotthe
case.Ifacustomerbuysa$100wineandit
tasteslikevinegar,theexpectationofanout-
standingwineexperiencewillbecrushedby
the reality of the awful flavor.
Asmallamountofdissonancebetweenex-
pectationandrealitycanbeovercome,butif
thegapistoowide,allbetsareoff.Thecus-
tomerwillrealizethattheexpectationwas
wrong,andindeed,mayfindtheproduct
worsethanitreallyis.Buyinga$5bottleof
567/743

568. winethathasanunpleasantflavorisanex-
periencelikelytobeforgotteninaday,but
buyinga$50bottlefromafamouswinery
thattasteslikespoiledcorkislikelytocreate
bothanimmediatehighlevelofdissatisfac-
tion and a long-term suspicion of that brand.
Inmyopinion,theproductmustfallinthe
generalrangeofexpectationsformarketing
toimprovecustomers’realexperience.Inad-
dition,theexpertiseofcustomerswillde-
terminehowmuchtheywillbeaffectedby
preconceivednotions.Themoreknowledge
andexperiencecustomershave,themore
theywilluseobjectivefactorsinjudginga
product.Aprofessionalwinetasterisun-
likelytobefooledbyputtingaFrenchlabel
anda$100pricetagonlastTuesday’sbot-
tling of Two Buck Chuck.
Butevenproscanbeinfluenced,of
course—thinkoftheaudiophileswhorepor-
tedbettersoundfrombizarreaccessories
like“balancingstones,”littlerocksreputed
568/743

569. toimprovesoundqualityifstrategically
placedonaudiocomponents.It’sallamatter
ofdegree;theprofessionalwinetastermight
easilyreject$3plonkbutmightbeconvinced
thatagoodwinewasabitbetterthanit
really is with the right priming.
From Wine to
Software
Microsoft’smuchreviledoperatingsystem,
Vista,sufferedfrombadpressfromthetime
itwasintroduced.Earlyusersencountered
bugs,corporateinformationtechnology(IT)
executivesnoisilydemandedthattheybeal-
lowedtokeepusingVista’spredecessor,
WindowsXP,andAppleheapedscornon
Vista with its I’m a PC; I’m a Mac ads.
Evenafterinitialbugswerecured,opin-
ionsaboutVistawerestillnegativecompared
withpastintroductionsofnewWindows
569/743

570. versions.ThiswasnodoubtannoyingtoMi-
crosoftexecutives,justasifaNorthDakota
winerywasshippingsuperbwinebutpeople
stillfounditlesstastythaninferiorwine
fromCalifornia.So,inamoveoutofthe
neuromarketingplaybook,Microsoftcon-
ductedastudythataskedpeopletotest-
driveandrateanewoperatingsystem,“Mo-
jave.”Thenewoperatingsystemwas,of
course, actually Vista.
Loandbehold,softwareusersturnedout
tobeasimpressionableaswinedrinkersand
therestofhumanity.Animpressive94per-
centoftheusersratedMojavehigherthan
theyhadratedVista,andMojave(post-
demo)scored8.5onascaleof10versus
Vista, which was scored at 4.4 (pre-demo).
14
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Set High
570/743

571. but Achievable
Expectations
Besureyourmarketingisgearednotonlyto
gettingcustomerstobuyyourproductbutto
improvingtheirexperienceoncetheytryit.
Thatmeanssettinghighbutrealisticexpect-
ationsfortheproduct’squality,taste,per-
formance,orwhatevermeasuresapplytoit.
Brandpositioningshouldemphasizethose
variablesthatwillleadtoapositivecustomer
experience;placelessemphasisonlow
pricesorvalueandmoreonsuperiorflavor,
finecraftsmanship,andsoon.Ifyousuc-
ceed,you’llhavehappiercustomersand,of
course, higher sales.
Notes
12.Lisa Trei, “Price Changes Way
People Experience Wine,”Stanford
571/743

572. News Service,January 16, 2008,ht-
tp://news.stanford.edu/news/2008/
january16/wine-011608.html.
13.Cornell University, “Fine as North
Dakota Wine,” news release, August 6,
2007,http://www.eurekalert.org/
pub_releases/2007-08/cfb-
fan080607.php.
14.Paul McDougall, “Microsoft Dupes
Windows Vista Haters with ‘Mojave Ex-
periment’,”Information Week,July 29,
2008,ht-
tp://www.informationweek.com/news/
windows/operatingsystems/
209800457.
572/743

573. Chapter 79
Surprise Your
Customers!
Whatdoesittaketomakeyouhappy?Not
much.Aclassicstudybypsychologist
NorbertSchwarzfoundthat10centswould
dothetrick.Heandhiscohortsrepeatedly
placedadimenearacopymachinewhere
theyknewitwouldbefound.Whenthesub-
jectswhofoundthedimeweresurveyed
shortlyaftertheirdiscovery,theiroverallsat-
isfactionwithlifewassubstantiallyhigher
than other subjects who did not find a coin.
Althoughtheoriginalstudywasconducted
backin1987,whenadimeboughtmorethan

574. itdoestoday,thebasicidearemainsthe
same:evenatinypositivesurprisecanim-
proveone’soutlook,albeittemporarily.Inan
interviewwiththeBaltimoreSun,Schwarz
noted,“It’snotthevalueofwhatyoufind.
It’sthatsomethingpositivehappenedto
you.”
15
Anotherstudyshowedthatfoodsurprises
workedtoo.Inagrocerystore,shoppers
wereaskedabouttheirsatisfactionwiththeir
homeTV.Thosewhohadreceivedafree
foodsampleminutesearlierwerehappier
withtheirTVthanthosewhodidn’tgetthe
sample.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Create Pos-
itive Feelings With a
Small Surprise
574/743

575. Thisstudyshowsthatonehastheopportun-
itytocreateanassociationofimproved
moodwithabrandifasmallpositivesur-
prisecanbedeliveredatthesametimeasa
brandimpression.Anditdoesn’thavetobea
totalsurprise—receivingafoodsampleata
grocerystoreisn’texactlyashocking
occurrence.
Here are a few that come to mind.
Sampling, but With Clear
Brand Identity
Samplingispervasivethesedaysinsuper-
marketsandwarehousestores,butoftenthe
brandidentityislostintheshuffle.Sampling
inavenuenotalreadyfloodedwithsampling
stations,ensuringthatthedisplayshowsthe
brand,andtrainingtheattendanttomention
thebrandbynamewillfurtherhelpensure
the brand gets the boost.
575/743

576. Surprise in the Box
Productmakerscouldincludeasmall,inex-
pensivefreeaccessoryorpromotionalitem
intheproductpackage.Obviously,putting
“Freegiftinside!”ontheoutsideofthebox
willkillanysurprise.But,callingtheitema
“freegift”insidetheboxwouldemphasize
thatitisofsomevalueorutilityandlikely
enhance the surprise.
Shipping Upgrades
Zappos.combecameabillion-dollarcom-
panyinpartbysurprisingitscustomerswith
freeshippingupgrades.Whenmostofits
shoe-sellingcompetitorsweretakingthreeor
moredaystodeliverproduct,Zapposde-
liveredmanyofitsordersusingtwo-dayor
overnightshipping.Ratherthantoutinga
freeupgradepolicy,theysurprisedtheir
576/743

577. customersbynotifyingthemofanupgrade
after the order had been placed.
Notes
15.Susan Ager, “A dime can make a dif-
ference,”Baltimore Sun,August 22,
1999,http://articles.baltimoresun.com/
1999-08-22/news/
9908240363_1_schwarz-dime-life.
577/743

578. SECTION ELEVEN
Gender
Brainfluence
Researchcontinuestoshowthatnotonlydo
menandwomenbehavedifferently,butthey
evenusetheirbrainsdifferently.Forex-
ample,brainscanstudiesshowthatmenand
womenviewinganemotionalmovieshow
differentpatternsofbrainactivationatthe
same points in the film.
1
Needlesstosay,thesedifferencescanhave
majorimplicationsformarketers.Thissec-
tionwilllookatsomespecificwaystoappeal
to each gender.
Notes

579. 1.Ronald Kotulak, “Hormones Wire
Men’s, Women’s Brains Differently,”
Baltimore Sun,May 19, 2006,ht-
tp://articles.baltimoresun.com/
2006-05-19/news/
0605190009_1_hormones-female-or-
male-puberty.
579/743

580. Chapter 80
Mating on the Mind
AprofessorattheUniversityofNewMexico
hasaninterestingsuggestion:theevolution
ofthehumanbrainwaslargelydrivenby
findingbetterwaystoappealtotheopposite
sex.
GeoffreyMiller,anevolutionarypsycholo-
gist,thinksthatthehumanbrainisalotlike
thepeacock’stail—it’sabiologicalartifact
thatevolvedtoattractamate.Thebrain,of
course,hasalotmorefunctionalitythana
decorativeplumeoffeathers.Sill,Miller
thinkstheadvancedfeaturesofthehuman
brain,likelanguageandcomplexreasoning,
are all about sex.

581. Millerstudiedconspicuousconsumption
andaltruism.Theseconceptsseemlikeop-
posites;thefirstbehaviorisselfish,andthe
secondseemsgenerous.Millerthinksthey
arerelated,though,andthatvisiblealtruism
is a form of conspicuous consumption.
Totestthisidea,Millerandfellowre-
searchersprimedtwogroupsofsubjectsin
differentways.Thefirstgroupwasromantic-
allyprimedbyhavingtowriteabouttheir
idealdate.Thesecondgroup’sassignedtopic
was the weather.
Eachsubjectwasthengivenanimaginary
budgetofbothmoney($5,000)andtime(60
hours)tospend.Theromanticallyprimed
menturnedintowildspenders,whilethe
womeninthatgroupvolunteeredlikecrazy.
Themendidlittlevolunteering,andthewo-
men spent little money.
Theneutrallyprimedgroupshowedno
majortendencytowardspendingorvolun-
teering.Theresearchersconcludedthatmen
581/743

582. andwomendo“showoff”whenromantically
primedbutusedifferentstrategies.Guysbuy
stuff, and women help others.
2
Afollow-upstudylookedatthedegreeto
whichthisshowingoffwasvisibleandfound
thatromanticallyprimedmenfocusedon
buyingthingstheycouldwearordriveand
tendedtoignoreitemsthatwouldstayin
theirhome.Thewomeninthatstatechose
volunteeractivitiesthatwereinpublicset-
tings and avoided solitary tasks.
Thosesubjectswhoweren’tromantically
primedweremostlyindifferenttothepublic
orprivatenatureoftheirspendingand
volunteering.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Ro-
mantic Priming if Your
582/743

583. Product (or Service
Project) Is
Conspicuous
Succeed With Men
Longbeforeneuromarketingandevolution-
arypsychology,marketersknewthatmen
spendmoneytoenhancetheirreputation
(andtheirappealtotheoppositesex)—ex-
pensivesportscars,costlyrestaurants,and
soon,alldemonstratethattheguyisfinan-
ciallywellfixedand,becauseofthat,
attractive.
Marketerswhogiveamanachancetobuy
somethingexpensiveinavisiblewaycanex-
pectanabove-averagerateofsuccess.Non-
profitslookingfordonationsmust,toappeal
tomales,alsoensurevisibility;publicrecog-
nitionisparticularlyimportantamongthose
583/743

584. who(usuallyunconsciously)areseekingto
boost their attractiveness.
Succeed With Women
Thefemalesideoftheequationisabitdif-
ferent.Women,apparently,tendnotto
spendmoneyconspicuouslyasanimplicit
matingstrategy.(Theymaystillspend
moneyonclothingandaccessoriesintended
toenhancetheirattractiveness,butromantic
priming doesn’t have much effect.)
Interestingly,theymaybeinducedto
spendtheirtimeconspicuouslyforthatpur-
pose.Nonprofitslookingforvolunteersknow
thatrecognitionisimportant,andthisre-
searchunderscoresthatsomerecognition
shouldbepublicandvisibletobemost
effective.
Howdoesoneaccomplishromanticprim-
ingoutsideapsychologylab?Probablythe
mostlogicalwayiswithgender-appropriate
584/743

585. imagesthatputtheviewerinamatingframe
ofmind.We’llseeinsubsequentchapters
somespecificwaysthiseffecthasbeen
demonstrated.
Notes
2.“Blatant Benevolence and Conspicu-
ous Consumption,”Economist384, no.
8540 (August 4, 2007): 67–68,ht-
tp://www.economist.com/node/
9581656?story_id=9581656.
585/743

586. Chapter 81
Guys Like It Simple
PopularbookslikeMenArefromMars,Wo-
menArefromVenus,nottomentiongenera-
tionsofcomedians,haveplayedupthedif-
ferencesbetweenmalesandfemales.What’s
notajokeisthatresearchersatNorthwest-
ernUniversityandtheUniversityofHaifa
foundthatthereareprovablebiologicaldif-
ferencesinthewaythatboysandgirlspro-
cess language in their brains.
3,
4
Theresearchersfoundthatlanguagepro-
cessingbygirlsismoreabstract,whereas
boysaremoresensorywhendealingwith
thattask.Boysandgirlsusedifferentparts
of the brains for the same activities.

587. Theresearchersfocusedontheeducation-
alimplicationsoftheirresearch.Thediffer-
encesinlanguageprocessingweredramatic
enoughthattheysuggestedthatsingle-
genderclassesmightbemoreeffective.They
alsosuggestedthatboysmightperformbet-
teronwrittenexamsaboutmaterialtheyhad
readandonoralexamsformaterialtheyhad
absorbed by hearing it.
Thefindingssuggestthatboysmayhave
somekindofsensoryprocessingbottleneck
thatpreventsauditoryorvisualinformation
fromreachingthelanguageareasofthe
brain.
Theresearchersextendthisasapossible
explanationforuseofmorecomplexandab-
stractcommunicationsbywomen.Theyuse
givingdirectionsasoneexample;women,
theysay,tendtoprovidemoredetail,likede-
scribingwhatkindoflandmarksareneara
turn, while men use less detail.
587/743

588. J. Peterman Is From
Mars, the Catalog Copy
Isn’t
Thistheorywouldsuggestthatadvertising
copyaimedatmalesshouldbesimpleand
directandthatfemale-orientedcopycan
providemorecontext.Thefirstbrandthat
poppedintomyheadwhileponderingsimple
copyversushighlycontextualandabstract
copywasJ.Peterman,whosecatalogfea-
tureshighlyengagingbuthardlysimpleand
directcopy.Itrackeddownthepercentageof
femaleversusmalecustomersfortheJ.
Petermancatalog(whichincludesitemsfor
bothmenandwomenandwhoseflagship
productisamen’sdustercoat),andIwasn’t
surprisedthatfemalesoutnumberedmales
by more than a two-to-one margin.
Obviously,theproductselectionhas
somethingtodowiththisskewedgender
588/743

589. splitinJ.Peterman’scustomerbase,butan-
otherexplanationisthatthelengthyproduct
narrativesworkbetterwiththefirm’s
primarygenderdemographic:females.
Indeed,catalogmarketingishighlyscientif-
ic:thedetailedstatisticsforbothproducts
andcustomerdemographicsensureaDar-
winian evolution over the years.
Abigcaution,though:thegenderdiffer-
encesinlanguageprocessingamong9-to
15-year-oldsarewelldemonstratedbythis
research;adultdifferencesandtheirreal-
worldimplicationsarealotmorespeculative
atthispoint.Andoverallstatisticaldiffer-
encesdon’tsaymuchaboutindividuals—I
enjoyreadingtheJ.Petermandescriptions
as much as the next guy . . . or gal!
589/743

590. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Simple
Copy for Guys
Wordycopyisrarelyagoodidea,butespe-
ciallyifyouareaimingatamaleaudience,in
whichcase,keeptheprosesimple.Typically,
guysprocesslanguageinalessabstract,
moresensoryway,andexcessverbiagewill
get in the way of your message.
Notes
3.Wendy Leopold, “Gender Differences
in Languages Appear Biological,” North-
western University, March 11, 2008,ht-
tp://www.northwestern.edu/newscen-
ter/stories/2008/03/burman-
gender.html.
590/743

591. 4.Douglas D. Burman, Tali Bitan, and
James R. Booth, “Sex Differences in
Neural Processing of Language Among
Children,”Neuropsychologia46, no. 5
(2008): 1349–1362,http://www.scien-
cedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S0028393207004460.
591/743

592. Chapter 82
Are Women Better at
Sales?
Haveyounoticedthatfemalesalespeople
seemtodominatesomeareasandthatthese
womenseemtoskewtowardtheattractive
endofthespectrum?Oneexampleisthe
pharmaceuticalsalesrep,whoprototypically
isanattractivewomanwhospendsmuchof
hertimecallingonapredominantlymale
physiciancustomerbase.That’sanovergen-
eralization,ofcourse;therearemanyfemale
doctorsandplentyofmaledrugreps.Still,
thestereotypeissufficientlyvalidthata
physicianacquaintanceofmineexpressed

593. mockshockatseeingamiddle-agedmale
drugrep,quipping,“Idon’tthinkI’veseen
one of those before.”
HereareafewtheoriesI’veheardad-
vancedastowhyfemalesalespeoplemight
be more successful:
•Gettinginthedoor?Somemight
thinkthatthereasonforthedomin-
anceoffemalerepsinsomeareasis
their“getinthedoor”factor.Here’s
howthattheorymightwork:ifabusy
maleexecutivehasanewsalesperson
waitinginthelobby,ishemorelikely
tomakethetimetoseeapaunchy
middle-agedguyoranattractive20--
somethingwoman?Thatmightseem
likeano-brainertosome,butwe
don’t have any actual data on that.
•Peopleskills?Anotherreasonfor
thesuccessoffemalesalespeople
mightbebetterpeopleskills.Infact,
593/743

594. there’sanentirebookdevotedtothat
theory:WomenMaketheBestSales-
men:Isn’tItTimeYouStartedUsing
TheirSecrets?Thebook’sdescription
notes,“Women,withtheirnatural
socialskillsandacuteemotionalan-
tennae,havenaturaladvantagesboth
sexes can learn from.”
5
Another Theory—The
Peacock Display
Couldthemerepresenceofahalfwayat-
tractivefemaleservetoromanticallyprime
themalecustomer?Basedontheresearch
wepreviouslywroteabout,ifsubconsciously
primedwithromanticthoughts,themale
customerwillbemoreinclinedtodemon-
stratehismatingpotentialbyhisspending
594/743

595. behavior,forexample,byplacingalarge
order.
Weknowthatstimuliastrivialasaphoto
ofanattractivewomanhavearomantic
primingeffectonmen(seepage90).It’sno
leapatalltosuggestthatarealwoman
wouldworkatleastaswell.And,ifyoubuy
intoGeoffreyMiller’stheory,youwouldex-
pectthatotherbehavior,suchasplacingan
order,wouldservethesamepeacockdisplay
purpose.
Inthemedicalsphere,eventhoughaphys-
icianusuallyisn’tactuallyorderingproduct
orspendingmoney(patientsandinsurance
companiesspendtherealmoney),hecan
stilldemonstratehispowerandmasteryby
agreeingtodistributesamples,recommend
theproductinappropriatesituations,andso
on.Exercisingauthorityinthismanner
seemsasmuchofavisibledisplayaswriting
a check.
595/743

596. I’mnotsuggestinganythingimproperis
occurring.Althoughit’spossiblethateither
partycouldengageinovertlyflirtatiousbe-
havior,Idon’tthinkthatoccursinmostsitu-
ationsorisevennecessaryfortheromantic
primingeffecttowork.Indeed,suchbehavi-
or could be counterproductive.
Ofcourse,manyfactorsinfluencethe
typicaldecision-makingprocess,mostof
themsubstantive.Theproducthastobeap-
propriateandmoreorlessasgoodasthe
competition.Thepricehastobeinlinewith
expectationsandthecompetition.Sales
skills—theabilitytopresenttheproductef-
fectivelyandestablishabondwiththecus-
tomer—areimportantaswell.Sendinginan
attractivesalespersonwithaninadequate
productorpoortrainingislikelytofailmost
of the time.
Iviewtheromanticprimingeffectasa
tiebreaker;giventwofirmswithsimilar
productsandpricing,thesalespersonwho
596/743

597. cancreatetheromanticprimingeffectmay
haveasmalladvantagewhenaskingforthe
order.Thinkofitasatemporaryandsubtle
realitydistortionfield.Anyinfluenceon
judgmentwillmostlikelyoccurinthepres-
enceofthesalespersonwhentheprimingef-
fectismaximized.Whenthesalesperson
movestoclosethedeal,ifthecustomerwas
favorablydisposedtobeginwith,thesubtle
andunconsciouspriminginfluencemight,
forexample,beenoughtoproduceanimme-
diatesignatureinsteadofapromisetothink
about it.
A Male Approach
Femalesalespeoplearen’ttheonlyoneswho
trytoappealtomalecustomersfora“power
display.”I’veperiodicallyreceivedcallsfrom
boiler-roomsecuritysalesmen(universally
male,inmyexperience)tryingtopitcha
stockoratleastgetanagreementthatI’ll
597/743

598. listentofuturepitches.I’musuallycourteous
whenIdisengageatelemarketer,butthe
onlywaytogettheseguysoffthelineisto
hangup.Anyattempttoendthecallwill
produce more rapid-fire questions.
OneapproachI’vehadthemuseisaline
suchas,“Areyoutellingmeyoucan’tmakea
$5,000investment?”Saiddismissively,it’s
clearlyintendedtoquestiontheauthority,
thefinancialwherewithal,andultimatelythe
masculinityoftheclient.Thedesiredre-
sponseisanotherpeacockdisplay,perhaps
somethinglike,“OfcourseIcan!Imake
muchlargerinvestmentsallthetime!”With
thatresponse,thesalesguyisbackontrack
withhispitch.Notromanticpriming,per-
haps,butanotherwaytoproduceasimilar
result.Inavianterms,he’sasking,“Doyou
actually have any tail feathers at all?”
The Good News
598/743

599. Withentirebooksdevotedtoexplainingwhy
womenmakebettersalespeople,onemight
feardiscriminationinthehiring,retention,
andpromotionprocess.Inthesalesprofes-
sion,though,it’sresultsthatcount.Few
companiesretainineffectivesalespeople,and
manybaseasignificantportionoftheindi-
vidual’scompensationonactualsalesmet-
rics.Theoretically,atleast,thatshouldmake
genderdiscriminationmuchlesslikelythan
inmoresubjectivelyevaluatedpositions.Ul-
timately,too,customerswantsalespeople
whocanfixtheirproblemsandmaketheir
liveseasier—appearanceandgenderfactors
will pale in comparison to real solutions.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Exploit the
599/743

600. Peacock Effect With
Male Buyers
Romanticprimingcanaffectthesalespro-
cess,althoughitmaybeasecond-orderef-
fectinmostsituations.Asalespersonseeking
toexploitthatsmalladvantageshouldmake
asubtleappealtothe(male)customer’sfin-
ancialorauthoritystatus.Inmostcases,it
shouldn’tbeasaggressiveas,“Areyoutelling
meyoucan’taffordthepaymentsonthis
car?”
Rather,alower-keyapproachsuchas,
“Wouldthepaymentsonthiscarbecomfort-
ableforyou?”willgivethecustomera
chancetoshowoffhisbeautifultailfeathers.
Asimplequestionlike,“Canyousignoffon
thisyourself?”canprovidethesamekindof
opportunity(ifhecansignoffonithimself).
Linkingthedisplayoffinancialabilityor
decision-makingpowertoaconcreteaction,
suchassigninganagreement,isthefinal
600/743

601. elementinturninganypossibleprimingef-
fect into sales success.
Notes
5.Marion Luna Brem,Women Make the
Best Salesmen: Isn’t It Time You Star-
ted Using their Secrets?(New York:
Doubleday, 2004).
601/743

602. Chapter 83
Do Women Make Men
Crazy?
Dowomenmakemencrazy?Itturnsoutpic-
turesofwomendohaveaneffectonmalede-
cisionmaking.Theguysdon’tactuallybe-
comecrazy,buttheybecomemoreimpatient
and focused on the short term.
EvolutionarypsychologistsMargoWilson
andMartinDaly(bothofMcMaster
University)studiedthisphenomenonand
concludedthatpicturesofattractivewomen
werecausingmentovalueshort-termbene-
fitsmorebyputtingtheminamatingframe
ofmind.Acleverexperimentalplan

603. demonstratedtheprimingeffectofphotosof
attractive women.
6
Theresearchersevaluatedthedegreeto
whichsubjectsdiscountedthefuture.Weall
discountthevalueoffuturebenefitsversus
immediateorshort-termbenefits—it’slogic-
al.Mostofuswouldchoosetohave$100
giventousimmediatelyversus,say,$105in
twoyears.Everyindividualhashisorher
owndiscountrateformakingthesekindsof
decisions.Men,asagroup,haveahigher
discountratethanwomen;thatis,theirpref-
erences skew toward shorter-term rewards.
WilsonandDalythinkevolutionarypsy-
chologyaccountsforthisdifference,asaba-
sictenetofthatfieldisthatwomenoperate
withalongertimeframeduetotherealities
of childbearing and subsequent care.
WilsonandDalytestedthishypothesisby
showingmenandwomenheadshotsofat-
tractiveandunattractivemembersoftheop-
positesex.Menwhoviewedphotosof
603/743

604. womenjudgedtobeattractiveshowedasig-
nificantincreaseintheirdiscountrate;that
is,theybecamemoreattractedbyshort-term
rewards.Theothergroupsdidnotshowstat-
isticallysignificantchanges.(Seerelated
findings about bikini photos on page 90.)
Otherrecentresearchevenshowedalink
betweenmatingprimingandwarlikein-
stinctsinyoungmen.Photosofattractive
womenservedtoprimementorespond
morequicklytoimagesorwordsrelatedto
war.Asseemscommonintheseexperi-
ments,womenwereunaffectedbysuchim-
ages.
7
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Attractive
Female Photos
604/743

605. Shorten Male Time
Horizons
Maleviewersareinfluencedbyphotosofat-
tractivewomen,andtheirdecisionsskewto-
wardtheshort-termandimpulsive.Incor-
poratingsuchimagesinmarketingorpoint-
of-salematerialshasthepotentialtoliftsales
iftheproductitselfhasanappropriate
reward.
Iwouldexpectthatsalesofapparelor
groomingproductswoulddobetterthan,
say,broccoli.TheworkdonebyWilsonand
Dalyspecificallylookedatmonetaryre-
wards,whichwouldhavemostsignificance
forproductssuchasloans,insurance,invest-
ments, casinos, and so forth.
When Not to Use Pretty
Women
605/743

606. I’dalsoexpectthatphotosofattractivewo-
menwouldbeineffectiveorevenanegative
whensellingcertainkindsofproductsto
men.Forexample,productslikelifeinsur-
anceandannuitiesbothinvolvespending
currentmoneyforafuture(and,inthecase
ofinsurance,uncertain)payout.Priming
malesalesprospectswithmatingcuescould
becounterproductivebymakingthecashin
theirpocketseemmorevaluablethanfuture
rewards.
Notes
6.Margo Wilson and Martin Daly, “Do
Pretty Women Inspire Men to Discount
the Future?”Proceedings of the Royal
Society271, Suppl. 4 (May 2004):
S177–S179,http://rspb.royalsocietypub-
lishing.org/content/271/Suppl_4/
S177.full.pdf.
606/743

607. 7.Lei Chang, Hui Jing Lu, Hongli Li,
and Tong Li, Pers Soc Psychol Bull, July
2011; vol. 37, 7: pp. 976–984, first pub-
lished on March 23, 2011.
607/743

608. SECTION TWELVE
Shopper
Brainfluence

609. Chapter 84
Cooties in Every Bag
Someofusareoldenoughtoremember
whensupermarketssoldfoodandafew
householdproducts,drugstoressoldhealth
andbeautyproducts,hardwarestoressold
hardware,andsoon.Today,anynumberof
chainshavehugestoresthatstockjustabout
every category imaginable.
IrecallthefirstmegastoreIshoppedat:it
wasfascinatingtowatchwhatothershop-
pershadintheircartsastheycheckedout—a
gallonofmilk,afloormop,khakislacks,and
achainsaw...greatfodderforacreative
writingcontest!Itturnsoutthatthere’sa
downsidetosomeofthoseweirdproduct

610. juxtapositions.Researchshowsthatproducts
thattriggersubconsciousfeelingsofdisgust
cancontaminateconsumerperceptionsof
other products.
Productssuchaslard,femininehygiene
items,cigarettes,andcatlittertriggeradis-
gustreaction,asdosomelessobviousitems,
suchasmayonnaiseandshortening.There-
search,conductedbyGavanFitzsimons,a
professorofmarketingandpsychologyat
DukeUniversity,andAndreaMorales,anas-
sistantprofessorofmarketingatArizona
State,examinedhowproductsliketheseaf-
fectedconsumerperceptionsofotheritems
in their shopping carts.
1
Theexperimentwassimple.Theresearch-
ersplacedfoodproductsnexttoaproduct
thatwouldtriggeradisgustreactionandlet
subjectsseetheproducts.Theythentested
thesubjects’attitudesandfoundthatfood
itemsthathadbeeninproximitytoa
disgust-inducingitemwerelessappealing.
610/743

611. (Apparently,cootiescan’tjumpveryfar.If
theproductswereoneinchormoreapart,
the effect was negligible.)
Thiswasn’tafleetingeffect,either.Even
anhourlater,fewerpeoplewantedtotrya
cookieiftheyhadseenitincontactwitha
packageoffemininehygieneproducts.The
researchersattributethisbehaviortoahu-
maninstincttoavoidconsumingitemsthat
might be contaminated.
Fat Transfer
Oneofthestrangerfindingswasthatrice
cakesinatransparentpackagewerejudged
tohaveahigherfatcontentaftersubjects
sawthemtouchingacontaineroflard.The
fatgainexperiencedbythericecakeswas
lowerwhentheywereinanopaquepackage.
Itappearsthatproductsinclearpackaging
611/743

612. arethemostvulnerabletosubconscious
contamination.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Watch Your
Pairings
Clearly,marketerscan’tcontrolwhatshop-
perscombineintheirshoppingcarts,and
oncetheitemisinthecart,theconsumeris
almostcertaintobuyitanyway.It’salso
doubtfulthatthisnegativeassociationisa
long-lastingeffectthatwouldtarnishthe
brandortheconsumer’slong-termfeelings
about the product.
I’dworrymoreaboutpreshoppingcart
productcontagiononthestoreshelvesand
indisplays.Fortunately,moststoressegreg-
atetheirproductsbycategory,andonewon’t
findcatlitterinthecookieaisle.But,
612/743

613. particularlyinsmallerenvironments,weird
juxtapositionscanoccur.Inahotel“conveni-
encestore,”Ispiedcupsof“InstantLunch”
noodlesdirectlytouchingpackagesoffemin-
inehygieneproducts.Justaguess,butI’d
expect those noodles to be slow sellers.
Clear (and Present)
Danger
Marketersshouldbemindfulofthisprevi-
ouslyunknowndownsidetoclearpackaging.
Althoughcompletetransparencyensures
consumersthattheproducttheyarebuying
isexactlywhattheyexpect,itseemsthat
clearpackagingcausesgreatervulnerability
to imaginary contamination.
Inretailenvironmentsthataren’twelllit
andspotlesslyclean,itseemslikelythatclear
packagesmightallowtheproductstobe“in-
fected”(subconsciously,ofcourse)bytheir
surroundings.So,forproductslikelytobe
613/743

614. soldinwidelyvariedenvironmentswithun-
certainmaintenance(conveniencestores,
gasstations,etc.),optforopaquepackagesto
keeptheproductfreefromimagined
contamination.
Notes
1.Laura Brinn, “When Cookies Catch
the Cooties,”Duke Today,April 30,
2007,http://today.duke.edu/2007/04/
cooties.html.
614/743

615. Chapter 85
Customer Replies
Change Minds
It’saxiomaticthatyoufindouthowgooda
businessreallyiswhenithasalready
screweduponce;thespeedandnatureofthe
fixshowthefirm’struenature.Aftership-
pingyouthewrongitem,dotheyjustofferto
refundyourreturnshipping?Dothey
overnightthecorrectitemtoyou,noques-
tionsasked?Howquicklydotheyresolvethe
problem?
Itturnsoutthatthewaycompaniesre-
spondtobadonlinereviewsmakesadiffer-
encetoo.AHarrissurveyshowedthat18

616. percentofthosewhopostedanegativere-
viewofthemerchantandreceivedareplyul-
timatelybecameloyalcustomersandbought
more.
2
Inaddition,nearly70percentofthose
consumersreceivingrepliesreversedthe
negativecontenteitherbydeletingthebad
revieworpostingasecondpositiveone.Con-
sideringthepowerofwordofmouth—inpar-
ticular,negativewordofmouth—that’sa
stunning accomplishment.
Althoughsalvagingoneoutoffiveun-
happycustomersisalaudablegoal(and,I
suspect,alotcheaperthanprospectingfor
newcustomers),Ihavenodoubtthebenefits
extendfarbeyondthatnumber.Countless
otherbuyersreadingreviewswillseeapro-
activeresponsetoaprobleminsteadofan
unanswered(andapparentlyignored)com-
plaint.(Indeed,whenI’mevaluatinganon-
linepurchaseIusuallyvisitthefirm’sforum
toseehowquicklyandeffectivelythey
616/743

617. respondtoproblemreports.Unanswered
complaints are a huge red flag.)
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Engage
Problem Customers
Quickly
Monitor where your customers
post—Twitter,Facebook,blogs,reviewsites,
yourownsupportforum,andsoon—anden-
gagethemquicklyandconstructively.Don’t
trytowinanargumentaboutwho’sright;if
thecustomerisupset,thatwilljustcreateag-
gravationandillwill.Offerasimplebutsin-
cereapology,andstatehowtheproblemcan
beresolvedwithminimalcustomerpain.Not
onlydoyouhaveachancetoretainthatcus-
tomer,butyou’llhaveinfluencedmany
617/743

618. othersaswell.Evenbetter,withagreatre-
sponseyoumayinfluencethecustomerto
remove or correct the initial complaint.
Notes
2.“The Retail Consumer Report: Bring
Back Unhappy Customers via Social Me-
dia,” Right Now (2011): 1–6,ht-
tp://www.rightnow.com/files/Retail-
Consumer-Report.pdf.
618/743

619. Chapter 86
It’s Wise to Apologize
Occasionally,productorservicefailuresgo
viral.The“UnitedBreaksGuitars”video
(www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo)
isoneexample.Afterbaggageattendantsat
UnitedAirlinesbrokeamusician’sguitar
andthecustomerservicestaffprovidedno
satisfaction,herecordedavideothathas
garnered more than 10 million views to date.
Alittleolderexampleisthe“YoursIsa
Very Bad Hotel” slideshow
(www.slideshare.net/whatidiscover/yours-
is-a-very-bad-hotel-97480)directedatthe
DoubletreeClubHouston,whichrecounts
thehotel’sindifferenceencounteredbyapair

620. ofbusinesstravelerswhentheirconfirmed
reservations weren’t honored.
Muchlikethemillion-dollarpicklestory
(seepage179),theseincidentsshareacom-
monthread:aninitialcustomerservicefail-
urewasexacerbatedbypoortreatmentafter
ithappened.TheguitarvideoportraysUn-
itedAirlinescustomerserviceasindifferent
anduncaring.TheDoubletreeslideshow
mocks“nightclerkMike”inhilariousfash-
ion;Mikehadnotonlygivenawaytheir
rooms,buthetooknoresponsibilityforthe
problemandfoundthemroomsatanother
hotelonlyunderduressfromthewearytrav-
elers.Ineachcase,apromptandfriendly
resolutionoftheproblemwouldhaveended
theincidentbeforeitturnedintoapublicre-
lations problem.
620/743

621. The Price of Rude
Behavior
InTheUpsideofIrrationality,DanAriely
describesanexperimentthatshowshowcus-
tomerattitudescanbechangedbyasimple
apology.
LikemanyofAriely’sexperiments,this
onewasdeceptivelysimple.Subjectswere
recruitedwithapromiseofa$5paymentfor
completingabrieftask.Tomeasuretheirat-
titudetowardtheresearcher(orresearchor-
ganization),theresearcher“accidentally”
overpaideachsubjectbyafewdollarsatthe
endofthetaskinawaythatthesubject
couldeasilypocketthedifference.Forhalf
thesubjects,theresearcherexplainedthe
taskandpaidthesubjectsafteritwascom-
plete.Withtheothersubjects,heinterrupted
theexplanationtotakeanunrelatedandun-
importantcellphonecallandofferednoex-
planationorapologywhenheresumedthe
621/743

622. instructions.Inbothcaseshepaidthesub-
jects,suggestedtheycountthemoney,and
then moved away.
Althoughthefauxcalltookamere12
seconds,therudetreatmentdramaticallyaf-
fectedthesubjects’willingnesstoreturnthe
overpaymentforthetask.Whereas45per-
centoftheregulargrouppointedouttheer-
rorandreturnedtheextramoney,just14
percentofthephonecallgroupdidso.Afew
secondsofrudeness,andtheportionofhon-
est customers dropped by two thirds.
Arielyconsidersrudetreatmenttobeare-
vengemotivator.“Hewasrudetome,soI’m
justifiedinpayinghimback.”Inthiscase,
paybackmeantnotpayingbacktheextra
money.Anattitudechangecanmanifestit-
selfinmanywaysintherealworld.Cus-
tomersmightcomplain,theymightberude
inreturn,theymightpostderogatoryre-
viewsornegativesocialmediacomments,or
theymightattempttotakeadvantageofthe
622/743

623. companyinsomeotherwayascompensation
fortheirpoortreatment.Ifthecompanyis
particularlyunlucky,thesedisgruntledcus-
tomerswillhavethetalentandmotivationto
createsomethingthatreachesfarbeyond
their own circle of friends.
The Apology Effect
Sowhat’sacompanytodo?Arielyconducted
asecondexperimentthataddedathirdcon-
dition:theresearchertookthecellphone
call,butimmediatelyapologizedforthebe-
havior.Thedatashowedastartlingchange:
thegroupthatreceivedtheapologyreturned
theoverpaymentatthesamerateasthosein
the“nointerruption”group.Theapology
negatedtheeffectoftherudebehaviorim-
mediately preceding it.
623/743

624. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Don’t Be
Afraid to Apologize
Ariely’ssimpleexperimentconfirmswhat
customerserviceexpertsknowalready:a
sincereapologygoesalongwaytowardde-
fusingcustomeranger.Sometimescompan-
iesandtheirstaffersarereluctanttoapolo-
gize,asdoingsoisanadmissionoffault.
That’samistake.Customersaremorelikely
tocontinuetofight,whetherthatmeansfil-
ingalawsuitorcreatingaviralcomplaint
video,iftheymeetwithunapologetic
indifference.
624/743

625. Chapter 87
The Power of Touch
Haveyoueverbeeninastoreandhada
salespersonencourageyoutoholdanitem
andperhapsevenimaginewhatitwouldbe
liketoownit?In2003,theIllinoisAttorney
Generalactuallywarnedconsumerstobe
waryofthispractice.Althoughthatmight
soundliketheultimateinnanny-stategov-
ernment,subsequentresearchshowedthat
touchinganitemdidindeedcausepeopleto
feelagreatersenseofownershipandtoplace
ahighervalueonit.Imaginingthatthey
owned it increased the effect.
MarketingprofessorsJoannPeckandSuz-
anneShuevaluatedhowsubjectsfeltabout

626. itemswithandwithouttouchingthemand
alsowithandwithoutvisualizingtheyowned
them.Inaseriesofexperimentsinvolving
productssuchasaSlinkyandamug,they
found touching did change attitudes.
3
Psychological
Ownership
Ownershipcantakedifferentforms.You
mayfeelasenseofownershipinthecom-
panyyouworkfor,youralmamater,orfa-
voritesportsteam,eventhoughyouhaveno
legalownershipinanyofthem.Physicalob-
jectscanbethesame;youknowtheyaren’t
yours,butyoucanhavevaryinglevelsoffeel-
ingownershipforthem.Separatefroma
senseofowninganitem,youcanalsofeel
positive or negative emotion toward it.
PeckandShufoundthattouchinganob-
jectimmediatelyimprovedboththelevelof
626/743

627. perceivedownershipandpositiveemotion.
Theonlyexceptionwasanobjectthathadan
unpleasantsurface.Peoplestillfeltmore
ownership,buttheydidn’tliketheitemany
more.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Let Cus-
tomers Touch Your
Product
Youhaveagreaterchanceofmakingasaleif
youletyourcustomerstouchorholdyour
product(unlessitisunpleasanttotouch,a
conditionthatyoumightwanttoaddress
anyway).Youcanamplifytheeffectbyhelp-
ingcustomersimaginethattheyownthe
product.
627/743

628. Smalltoysandmugsweretheexperiment-
alprops,butthefindingscouldextendtolar-
gerandmoreexpensiveitems.Gettingcus-
tomersbehindthewheelwillcertainly
providetactilestimuli.Askingafewques-
tionssuchas,“Canyouimaginepullinginto
yourdrivewayandgarageinthiscar?”would
providetheownershipimagerytoamplify
the effect.
Brandflagshipstores,rangingfromApple
toGucci,allservetheimportantpurposeof
gettingpotentialcustomerstohandlethe
productsinacontrolledandpositivesetting.
Getyourproductintoyourcustomers’
hands,andit’smorelikelythey’llleavewith
it.
Notes
3.Joann Peck and Suzanne B. Shu, “The
Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived
628/743

629. Ownership,”Journal of Consumer Re-
search,October 2009.
629/743

630. Chapter 88
When Difficulty Sells
Marketersexpendagreatdealofeffortmak-
ingiteasytobuytheirproducts.Theyex-
panddistributionchannels,offerfinancing
alternatives,andwhenpossible,ensurethe
customercanleavewiththeproductattime
ofpurchase.Afterall,ifyouthinkofthesales
processasafunnel(orperhapsaleakyfun-
nel),everylittlebarriertopurchasingisone
morewaytoknockthatpotentialbuyerout
ofthefunnel.Theexceptionstothisruleare
some true luxury products.
WanttobuyaFerrari?Writeacheckand
getonthewaitinglist.Anynumberofhigh-
endluxuryproductsaresoldonlythrougha

631. smallnumberofbrand-controlledretail
stores,whichmeansthatthepotentialbuyer
musttraveltothatcityandaspecificloca-
tiontomakeapurchase.Otherluxuryitems
havedifferentwaysofmakingbuyingtheir
product an ordeal.
Insteadofgoingoutofbusiness,though,
mostofthedifficult-to-buybrandsarehighly
prizedbytheirowners.Onereasonforthisis
cognitivedissonance.Inthiscontext,it
meansthatourbrainshavetomakesenseof
this conflict:
1.Obtainingthisproductwas
inconvenient.
2.I’msmart,andwouldn’texpenda
lot of effort to buy just any product.
Theresolutionthatourbrainusually
comes up with is:
Thisisanamazingproduct,andit’s
morethanworththeeffortittookto
buy it.
631/743

632. Someoftheearlyresearchincognitivedis-
sonanceresolutiontookplacemorethan50
yearsago.StanfordUniversityresearchers
conductedanexperimentinwhichsubjects
whowantedtojoinadiscussiongroupwent
throughaninitiationprocessinwhichthey
hadtoreadtothegroup.Somesubjectswere
ina“severe”groupthatreadsexuallyexplicit
(henceembarrassing)text,whilea“mild”
groupreadneutraltext.Allofthesubjects
thenheardarecordingofothergroupmem-
bersinwhichtheconversationwasinten-
tionallyasdullaspossible.Theresearchers
foundthatthesubjectswhounderwentthe
severeinitiationratedthediscussionassig-
nificantlymoreinterestingthanthoseinthe
mild group.
4
Thecognitivedissonancefactordoesn’t
justaffectultra-luxuryproducts.It’sone
reasonwhy,forexample,Applefanatics
stoodinlineforhourstobuythelatestitera-
tionoftheiPhone,eventhoughitrequired
632/743

633. theoften-reviledAT&Tphoneservice.Obvi-
ously,theproductitselfisgreat,butthefan-
aticismoftrueApplediehardsandtheirun-
willingnesstotolerateanycriticismofthe
productisclearlyaresultoftheircognitive
dissonanceresolution.Andthere’slikelya
feedbackloopeffect:thetruebelieverswho
lineupthenightbeforeaproductlaunchare
alreadydisposedtoliketheproduct,andthe
extremeefforttheyputintopurchasingthe
product reinforces that affinity.
Notallluxurybrandspursuethisstrategy.
Lexus,forexample,strivestomakethebuy-
ingexperienceaspainlessaspossible.(Of
course,somewouldconsiderLexustobea
premium brand, not a luxury brand.)
633/743

634. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Easy Isn’t
AlwaysBest
Formostbrandsandsituations,eliminating
obstaclestobuyingisagoodthing.Butthe
counterintuitivestrategyfromcognitivedis-
sonanceresearchsuggeststhateasyisn’tal-
waysbest.Ifyouareluckyenoughtohavea
highlysought-afterproduct,youmayactu-
allyincreasebuyercommitmenttoyour
productbymakingthebuyingprocessalittle
more difficult.
Conversely,ifyoufindyourselfinasitu-
ationinwhichyourcustomersfindthatbuy-
ingisdifficult,forexample,ifthere’sanun-
expectedshortageofapopularproduct,try
toturntheproblemintoaplus:useitasan
indicatorofthepopularityoftheproduct.
Thecombinationofcognitivedissonanceand
634/743

635. socialproofwillmakeforhighlycommitted
customers.
Notes
4.Elliot Aronson and Judson Mills, “The
Effect of Severity of Initiation on Liking
for a Group,”http://faculty.uncfsu.edu/
tvancantfort/Syllabi/Gresearch/Read-
ings/A_Aronson.pdf.
635/743

636. SECTION
THIRTEEN
Video, TV, and
Film Brainfluence

637. Chapter 89
Don’t Put the CEO on
TV
Whydospokespeopleinadswhoaren’tpro-
fessionalactorsdosobadlymostofthetime?
Nodoubtwe’veallseenthepainfullybadads
featuringthesalesmanagerofthelocalcar
dealerortheguywhoownsthefurniture
outlet.
Ofcourse,thereareafewsuccessstories:
long-runningcampaignsthatturnedchief
executiveofficers(CEOs)intocelebritiesand
changedthefortunesofthecompany—Lee
Iacocca’sseriesofChrysleradscomesto
mind,alongwithDaveThomas’sWendy’s

638. commercials. Part of the reason is the level of
productioninvolved;filmingnationalspots
foranautocompanywillhaveahigh-quality
directorwhowilluseasmanytakesasre-
quiredtogetitright.Localretailadshave
lowerproductionvaluesandwillprobably
usethefirsttakeinwhichthe“actor”doesn’t
muff the lines.
Neurosciencesuggestsanotherreasonfor
this divide.
Infilmingacommercialfeaturinga
spokesperson,theprimaryfocusisusually
onthetexttheactorwilldeliver—whythe
newproductisgreat,howpriceshavebeen
slashedforthehugeweekendsale,andso
on.Researchshows,however,thatgestures
andbodylanguagemaybeasimportantas
thewordsandthatamismatchbetweenthe
verbalandphysicalmeansofcommunication
causesashiftinbrainwavessimilartothe
reaction to misused or unexpected words.
638/743

639. NeuroscientistSpencerD.KellyofColgate
Universitystudiestheeffectsofgesturesby
measuringevent-relatedpotentials—brain
wavesthatformpeaksandvalleys.Measured
withanEEG,thepatternsshowhowdiffer-
entareasofthebrainprocessinformation.
Oneparticularvalley,ornegativepeak,has
beendubbedN400;itoccurswhenwe
stumbleoveraninappropriateword.(Forex-
ample, “He spread his toast with socks.”)
1
Interestingly,thesameN400negative
peakisfoundwhenaspeaker’sgestures
don’tmatchthewordsbeingspoken.Forex-
ample,ifthespeakerwassaying“tall”but
usinggesturesthatindicatedsomething
short,astrongnegativepeakwouldbeob-
served.Theresearchersinterpretedthisas
meaningthatspeechandgesturesarepro-
cessedsimultaneouslyandthatobservers
factorthemeaningofthegestureintotheir
interpretation of the word.
639/743

640. Our Bodies Talk
Yearsago,thetermbodylanguagewaspop-
ularizedwhenvariousauthorsofferedinter-
pretationsfordifferentbodypositionsand
gestures.Crossedarmsmeantresistanceto
anidea,steepledfingerswereasymbolof
authority,andsoon.Readerswereencour-
agedtopayattentiontothebodylanguageof
othersandbehaveinaccordwiththeirbetter
understandingofthementalframeofthe
otherperson.Forexample,facedwithasales
prospectleaningbackfromthetablewith
crossedarms,asalespersonwouldbefoolish
toplowaheadtoutingfeaturesandbenefits;
thefirststepwouldbetogetthesubjectina
more receptive frame of mind.
Thefactisthatpeopleareconstantlypro-
cessingthebodylanguageandgesturesof
others,butthisisdonemostlyattheuncon-
sciouslevel.Whenwesay,“Thatsalesperson
seemedabitsketchy,”itmaywellbeduetoa
640/743

641. mismatchbetweenthewordsbeingspoken
and the body language.
Somebusinessownersmaybecomfortable
enoughasactorstodoacrediblejob.In
manycases,theyhaveoneadvantageovera
professionalactor:theyknowtheirproduct
andbelieveinit.Ifthisessentialtruthcanbe
communicatedtoviewers,theydon’tneed
exceptionalthespianskills.Abusinessowner
whocan’tdeliverthelineswithcomplete
conviction,though,hadbetterbeanout-
standingactor.Howmanytimeshavewe
heardcardealersclaimtheyarehavingthe
“saleofthecentury,”withpricesthatare“the
lowestinourhistory,”andthatwill“neverbe
seenagain.”Afewweekslater,ofcourse,we
hearadifferentvariationonthesametheme.
Deliveringtheselineswithheartfeltconvic-
tion might be best left to a professional.
641/743

642. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Physical Ac-
tions Outweigh Words
Ineveryelementofyourmarketingcam-
paign—printads,commercials,andsales
presentations—payasmuchattentiontothe
physicalactionsofthepeopleastowhatthey
aresaying.Ifthesegesturesandposturesre-
inforcetheverbalmessage,thatmessagewill
bemorepowerful.Ifinsteadthenonverbal
cuescreatedissonancewiththeintended
message,theeffectivenessofthateffortwill
drop.
Notes
1.Ipke Wachsmuth, “Gestures Offer
Insight,”Scientific AmericanMind17,
no. 5 (October 2006): 20–25,
642/743

643. http://www.scientificamerican.com/art-
icle.cfm?id=gestures-offer-insight.
643/743

644. Chapter 90
Get the Order Right!
Oneofthemoreintriguingconceptsinneur-
omarketingispriming:influencinganindi-
vidual’sbehaviorbytheintroductionofvari-
oussubtlecues.Thisoftenoccursinasub-
liminalmanner;thatis,theindividualisen-
tirelyunawarethatheorshehasreceived
cuesofanynatureorthathisorherbehavior
has been affected in any way.
InmasterwordsmithFrankLuntz’sWords
ThatWork,Iranacrossaphenomenonthat
Icallprimingbyorder.Inanutshell,re-
searchconductedbyLuntzandhisfirm
showedthattheorderinwhichthreefilms
aboutapoliticalcandidatewereplayed

645. dramaticallyaffectedperceptionofthatcan-
didate by focus group participants.
2
FrankLuntzhasbuiltacareerandabusi-
nessaroundadvisingpoliticiansandcorpor-
ationshowtochoosetherightwords.Al-
thoughLuntzmaycomeacrossasasortof
verbalSvengali,mostofhisrecommenda-
tionsarebasedonspecificresearch.He
doesn’tjustcomeupwithmagicwords,like
renamingtheinheritancetaxthedeathtaxor
callingdrillingforoilenergyexploration;he
usespollsandfocusgroupstodiscoverwhat
reallyworks.I’vealwaysbeenafanofquant-
itativemarketing,sowhensomeonebacks
uptheclaimswithhardnumbers,Itendto
listen.
ThekindofprimingItalkaboutelsewhere
inthisbookisextremelysubtle:individuals
areexposed,say,towordsorpictureswith
noparticularattentiondrawntothem.
Often,theloadedwordsorimagesseemto
bepartofthegeneralbackgroundorare
645/743

646. mixedinwithneutralcontent.Subsequently,
thebehaviorofthesesubjectsisobservedto
bedifferent—amoneyimageonacomputer
screensaver,forexample,causestheindi-
vidualswhosawittobehaveinamore
selfishfashionafterexposuretoit.Luntzde-
scribesasomewhatdifferentphenomenon
thatIthinkresemblesotherpriming
examples.
Luntz’stestbeganasanaccident.In1992,
hewasshowingfocusgroupsthreeshort
filmsofpresidentialcandidateRossPerot:a
biography,testimonialspraisingRossPerot,
andarecordedspeechbyPerothimself.In
onesession,heinadvertentlyshowedthe
speechfirstandwasstunnedtofindthatthe
individualsinthatgroupwerefarmoreneg-
ativeaboutPerotthanallofhisprevious
groups.
Furthertestingshowedthatleadingwith
thespeechwasfarlesseffectiveatcreatinga
positiveimpressionofthecandidate.He
646/743

647. attributedthistothefactthatPerothadan
impressivebusinessbackgroundandwas
wellrespected,buthedidn’tnecessarily
communicatethisthroughhispersonalpres-
enceandwords.Hisideaswereabitdiffer-
entfromthoseoftypicalpoliticianstoo.As
Luntzaptlyputsit,“Unlessanduntilyou
knewsomethingaboutthemanandhis
background,youwouldgettheimpression
thathismentaltraywasnotquiteinthefull,
upright,andlockedposition.”Luntzlistsget-
tingtheorderrightasakeytechniquefor
preventing message mistakes.
Inonesense,weshouldn’tbesur-
prised—salesandmarketingareaprocess,
andwewouldn’texpectasalespersontoat-
tempttoclosethedealbeforeassessingthe
customer’sneeds,describingtheproductbe-
nefits,andansweringobjections.Inanother
sense,though,Luntz’sexperienceisabit
startling.Inthiscase,thesubjectswerepass-
ivelyviewinginformationofthreedifferent
647/743

648. types;theyallsawallofthecontent,and
therewasnointeractiontoclosethedeal.
Nevertheless,theorderofviewingmadea
hugedifferenceintheiropinionsevenafter
they had viewed all of the content.
Thisisclearlyaneffectthatmarketers
shouldbeawareof;inthePerotcase,his
credibilitywasirreparablydamagedwhen
viewerswereexposedtohissomewhatout-
landishideasandgratingvoicebeforehis
credibilityhadbeenestablishedbythird-
partynarrationandtestimonials.Oncethe
viewerswereturnedoff,exposuretotherest
ofthePerotinformationdidn’tturnthem
back on to him.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Credibility
Before Claims
648/743

649. It’scommoninmarketingtoleadwitha
powerfulclaimtograbtheviewer’satten-
tion—“Themosteffectiveinvestmentman-
agementsystemeverdevised!”—andthen
followwithsupportinginformation.Ifyou
buyintotheideaofprimingbyorder,it
mightbemoreeffectivetoleadwith,
“Developedbyacompanythathasbeen
managingitsclients’moneyformorethan
150years...”or“Describedbyformer
FederalReserveChairmanAlanGreenspan
as‘anamazingbreakthroughthatevenIcan
beexuberantabout...’”andthensegueinto
the actual claims.
Certainly,everysituationisdifferent.Per-
hapsifPerothadn’tbeenabig-earedshort
guywithoutmuchhairanddidn’thavea
mannerofspeakingthatwaspartcracker
andpartnails-on-chalkboard,Luntz’stesting
oforderwouldn’thaveyieldedsuchdramatic
results.Nevertheless,marketerswillignore
thesedataattheirperil;introducinganidea,
649/743

650. particularlyanideathatmightnotbein-
stantlybelievable,andthenbackingitup
maybelesseffectivethanpreparingthe
audience to accept it first.
Notes
2.Frank Luntz,Words That Work: It’s
Not What You Say, It’s What People
Hear(New York: Hyperion, 2007).
650/743

651. Chapter 91
Emotion Beats Logic
Theideathatadsthatengageusemotionally
workbetterthanthosethatdon’tshouldnot
beabigshocktoanyonewho’sspenttimein
advertising.Surprisingly,though,Istillen-
counterbusinessexecutiveswhodon’tbe-
lievetheyareswayedbyemotionalfactors
whenbuyingthingsandoftendoubtthat
othersare.So,forthoseuberrationalde-
cision makers, here’s the hard data.
TheUK-basedInstituteofPractitionersin
Advertising(IPA)maintainsadatabankof
1,400casestudiesofsuccessfuladvertising
campaignssubmittedfortheIPAEffective-
nessAwardcompetitionoverthepastthree

652. decades.AnanalysisoftheIPAdatacom-
paredtheprofitabilityboostofcampaigns
thatreliedprimarilyonemotionalappeal
versusthosethatusedrationalpersuasion
andinformation.Campaignswithpurely
emotionalcontentperformedabouttwiceas
well(31percentversus16percent)withonly
rationalcontent,andthosethatwerepurely
emotionaldidalittlebetter(31percent
versus26percent)thanthosethatmixed
emotional and rational content.
Intheirbook,BrandImmortality:How
BrandsCanLiveLongandProsper,Hamish
PringleandPeterFieldattributethissplitto
ourbrain’sabilitytoprocessemotionalinput
withoutcognitiveprocessing,aswellasour
brain’smorepowerfulrecordingofemotion-
al stimuli.
3
PringleandFieldnotethatalthoughan
emotionalmarketingcampaignmaybemore
effective,creatingadsthatengageconsumer
emotionsisn’teasy.Bycomparison,basinga
652/743

653. campaignona“killerfact”(ifabrandhas
suchanadvantage)iscomparativelysimple.
Indeed,brandshavedamagedthemselves
whenanemotionalcampaignfailedtoalign
withreality.PringleandFieldsuggestthat
committingtoanemotionalbrandingap-
proachbe“hardwiredintothefabricofthe
brand,”whichrequiresamajorcommitment
aswellasgoodunderstandingofconsumer
motivation.TheyciteNike’spervasivetheme
of“successinsport”asanexampleofa
brandthatfocusesonakeyemotionaldriver
andbuildsadvertising,sponsorships,andso
on, around it.
Smallerbrandsmaynotbeabletofollow
thesameemotionalbrandingapproachas
themarketleaders,PringleandFieldnote,
buttheymaybeabletosegmentthemarket
tofindagroupofconsumersthatwillre-
spondtoadifferentappeal.Ben&Jerry’s
andJonesSoda,forexample,weren’tthe
biggestplayersintheirmarkets,butboth
653/743

654. achievedsuccessbyappealingtosmallerseg-
ments of consumers.
Smallerentitiesfaceadditionalchallenges.
Theirnamerecognitionislikelymuchlower,
andanemotion-basedcampaignmaybe-
fuddleconsumerswhodon’tevenlinkthe
brandanditsproductcategory.Budweiser
canrunamusingandengagingcommercials
aboutClydesdalesandDalmatiansbecause
everyoneintheaudienceknowstheir
products,andmostknowtheirbrandim-
agery.Asmallbusinessmighthavetotake
thecombinedrationalandemotionalap-
proachevenifitisslightlylesseffective,orat
leastensurethatitsemotion-basedads
clearly identify the product.
654/743

655. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Get
Emotional
Emotion-basedadsmaybemoredifficultto
create,butthestatisticssayit’sworththeef-
fort.Althoughpureemotionalappealshave
beenshowntoworkbest,usingadualap-
proachthatincludessomefactsmaybebest
forbrandsthataren’twellknownto
consumers.
Notes
3.Hamish Pringle and Peter Field,
Brand Immortality: How Brands Can
Live Long and Prosper(London: Konan
Page, 2008).
655/743

656. SECTION
FOURTEEN
Brainfluence on
the Web

657. Chapter 92
First Impressions
Count—Really!
Themaximthatsays“Firstimpressionscan
bedeceiving”mayapplytowebsites,but
yourvisitorsmaynotgiveyouachanceto
undo a negative first impression.
Howlongdoyouthinkittakessomeoneto
decidewhetheryourwebsiteisappealing?A
fewseconds?Uptoaminute?Researchersat
CarletonUniversitywerestunnedtofind
thatshowingusersanimageofawebsitefor
amere50milliseconds—that’sjustatwenti-
ethofasecond—wassufficientforthemto
decide how appealing a website was.
1

658. Lestyoudismissthisasinterestingbutnot
reallymeaningfulforreal-worldwebsiteus-
age,therewereadditionalfindingsthat
hammeredhometherelevanceofthatin-
stantaneous impression:
1.The50-millisecondratingfor
visualappealcorrelatedhighlywith
ratingsgivenaftermuchlonger
exposures.
2.Thevisualappealratingwas
foundtocorrelatehighlywithother
ratings—whetherasitewasboring
orinteresting,clearorconfusing,
and so on.
Confirmation Bias
Makes the First Im-
pression Stick
658/743

659. Theresearcherssuggestthatthere’sacon-
firmationbiasatworkthatamplifiesthepo-
tencyofthefirstimpression.Onceourhu-
manmindsformanopinion,wereadilyac-
ceptnewinformationthatagreeswiththat
opinion;wediscountorrejectcontradictory
information.
Long-heldbeliefsrelatedtotopicslikereli-
gionorpoliticsaresomeofthemostpower-
fulexamplesofconfirmationbias.Trycarry-
ingonarationaldiscussionofpoliticswith
someonecommittedtoonepoliticalparty,
andthatpersonwilllikelyfindawaytodis-
countordismissanyfactsthatdisagreewith
his or her beliefs.
Inessence,itseemsthattheopinionofa
website’sappearanceformedinmilliseconds
biasesusersastheycontinuetoviewthesite.
Iftheirinitialimpressionwasgood,flaws
theyfindwillbediscounted.Conversely,if
theydislikedthesiteatfirstglance,itwillbe
659/743

660. difficulttochangethatimpressionbymore
time on the site.
Happy Users Keep
Trying
HumanfactorsexpertDonNormancomesto
asimilarconclusion,albeitfromadifferent
perspective.InhisbookEmotionalDesign,
Normanreportsonresearchthatshows
userswhoarehappywithadesignaremore
apttofinditeasiertouse.Lookingattheun-
derlyingneuroscienceandpsychology,Nor-
manpositsthatauserinapositiveframeof
mind(renderedpositivebyapleasingand
emotionallysatisfyingdesign)ismorelikely
tofindawaytoaccomplishthetask.Auser
whoisnegativeorfrustratedismoreliableto
repeatthesameactionthatdidn’tworkthe
firsttime.Thisisastrategythatworksonly
occasionallywithphysicalproductsandis
660/743

661. almostneverassuccessfulonwebsites.Nat-
urally,additionalfailurescausemorefrus-
tration and ultimate lack of success.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Test Your
Site’s First Impression
Itwouldbenicetothinkthatamagicfor-
mulaexistsformakingagreatfirstimpres-
sion.Unfortunately,thestudy,whichused
100differenthomepagesintheirtesting,
failedtouncoveranyconsistentdesignchar-
acteristicsthataccountedforhighrat-
ings—eventhoughtheratingswerefairly
consistent across the population of raters.
Naturally,usinggooddesignersandem-
poweringthemtodotheirbesttocreateap-
pealinganduser-friendlypagesisagreat
start.Testingthedesign,oralternative
661/743

662. designs,onpotentialsitevisitorsistheonly
waytoreallydeterminevisualappealinthe
target population.
Beyond the Home Page
Remember,many,ifnotmost,ofyoursite
visitorswon’tarriveonyoursite’shome
page.Theymaycomethroughalandingpage
becausetheyclickedonapaidadoracon-
tentpagethatturnedupinasearch.Inaddi-
tiontotestingthehomepage,spot-check
typical entry pages too.
Notes
1.Gitte Lindgaard et al., “Attention Web
Designers: You Have 50 Milliseconds to
Make a Good First Impression!”Behavi-
or and Information Technology25 no. 2
(March–April 2006): 115–126,
662/743

663. http://www.ext.colostate.edu/
conferences/ace-netc/lindgaard.pdf.
663/743

664. Chapter 93
Make Your Website
Golden
Whatdomathematicians,architects,
sculptors,biologists,andgraphicdesigners
haveincommon?Theyallusewhatisper-
hapsthemostinterestingnumberinmath-
ematics:thegoldenmean,alsocalledthe
goldenratioandthegoldensection.Approx-
imatedas1.618andillustratedasarectangle
inthefollowinggraphic,thegoldenmean
playsaprominentroleinmath,science,and
art.
Mathematiciansknowthisnumberasphi,
theratiobetweennumberpairsinthe

665. Fibonaccisequence.Biologistsfinditinthe
proportionsofNautilusshellsandleaves.Ar-
chitects,painters,andsculptorshaveincor-
poratedtheratiointotheirworksbecauseit
seemstoimpartapleasingbalance.The
facadeoftheParthenon,consideredoneof
themostperfectlyproportionedbuildingsin
history,matchesthegoldenratio.Thefre-
quencywithwhichthisnumberseemstopop
upinsuchdisparateareasmaystrikesome
as surprising, or even a bit spooky.
665/743

666. Neuroscientistsarestartingtounravelat
leastapieceofthemysteryusingfunctional
magneticresonanceimaging(fMRI)brain
scans.Italianresearchersshowedsubjects
undergoingfMRIbrainscansimagesof
sculptures.Theoriginalsculpturesfollowed
theclassicalproportionsdefinedbythe
goldenmean.Thesubjects,whowereselec-
tedfortheirlackofdetailedartknowledge,
alsosawimagesofthesamesculpturesmod-
ifiedtodepartfromthatratio.Whenthesub-
jectsviewedthesculpturesthatfollowedthe
goldenmean,theirbrainslitupinadifferent
pattern;onepartofthebrainwheremore
activitywasobservedwastheinsula,anarea
responsibleformediatingemotions.Thisre-
actionwasjudgedtobeameasureofobject-
ivebeauty,thatis,beautynotinfluencedby
the individual’s own taste.
2
666/743

667. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use the
Golden Mean
It’ssignificantthatapositiveresponseto
specificallyproportionedshapesisbuiltinto
ourbrains.Thatdoesn’tmeanthateveryele-
mentoneverywebpageorprintadshould
haveawidth-to-heightratioof1.618.In
somecases,deliberatedeviationsmayhave
greaterimpact.Afterall,adsaren’tusually
intendedtobetimelessworksofart.Subject
matterandavailablespacemayimposeother
dimensionalconstraints.Nevertheless,
graphicdesignersandcommercialartists
shouldbeawareofourbrains’preferencefor
this proportion and use it when appropriate.
Particularlywhenweknowthatvisitors
makeajudgmentonawebsite’svisualap-
pealinatinyfractionofasecond(seepage
244),appealingtotheirbrain’sinnatesense
667/743

668. ofbeautywillhelpsteerthatultrafastde-
cision process.
Notes
2.“Is the Beauty of a Sculpture in the
Brain of the Beholder?”ScienceDaily,
November 24, 2007,http://www.scien-
cedaily.com/releases/2007/11/
071120201928.htm.
668/743

669. Chapter 94
Rich Media Boost
Engagement
Foryears,searchengineresultpages
(SERPs)consistedof10bluelinks,somead-
ditionaltextfollowingeachlink,andadsthat
werealsousuallytextlinks.Inthepastfew
years,though,we’veseentheintroductionof
universalsearchresultsthatincludeimage
andvideoresults.There’sneuromarketing
researchbehindthismovebythesearchen-
gines,andithasimplicationsnotjustfor
Google and Bing but for every website.
OnetoOneInteractive’sOTOinsightsunit
broughtthedisparatefieldsofsearchengine

670. optimization(SEO)andneuromarketingto-
getherbystudyinghowusersengagedwith
SERPs.Thisresearchexaminedtheeffectsof
universalsearchresults(whichincludeim-
ageandvideoresults)comparedwiththe
traditional text-only SERPs.
3
OTOinsightsusedeyetracking,biometric
monitoring,andquestionnairestogauge
userreactions.Thefindingsshowedthatthe
universalSERPsdidattracttheattentionof
theusersandwere,infact,moreemotionally
engaging.
Themediaresultswerelocatednearthe
topofthesearchresults,andtheytendedto
keeptheuser’sgazefocusedontheupper
partofthepage.Searchresultsandpaidads
thatwereloweronthepagegarneredlessat-
tentionwhenuniversalresultswerepresent.
Inaddition,overallengagementwiththe
searchpagewashigherwhentheuniversal
results were present.
670/743

671. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Add and
Optimize Other Media
Thisresearchhastwomainimplicationsfor
webdevelopersandsiteowners.First,it’s
apparentthatsearchersareattractedto
thesealternativemediaandthatcreating
brandedandoptimizedmediaisakeywayof
reachingthosesearchers.It’snolonger
enoughtorelyonatop10keywordranking
inthetextresults.Thesemediamaybeon
yoursite,oronspecialtymediasiteslike
YouTube,buttheyneedtoreinforceyour
messageandleadviewerstowardyourde-
siredgoal.Ideally,yourcontentcanappear
intheimageandvideoresultsaswellasthe
text listings.
Thesecondimplicationismoregeneral.If
peoplearemoreemotionallyengagedby
searchresultsthathavevideosandimages,it
671/743

672. standstoreasonthattheywillengagemore
withyourwebsiteifappropriatemediaare
present.And,beyondbetteruserengage-
ment,there’sapotentialrankingsbenefit,
too.MostSEOexpertsthinkthatsitesand
pagesthatincorporatenontextmediageta
ranking boost in Google’s algorithm.
Ifwecombinetheideathaton-pagemedia
isapositiverankingfactorwiththefindings
fromtheOTOinsightsresearchthatuniver-
salresultsaremoreengagingandmorelikely
todrawclicks,it’sclearlytimeforbothSEO
expertsandmarketerstostartthinkingout-
side the box—the text box, that is.
Notes
3.One to One;“Implications of User En-
gagement with Search Result Pages,” in
One to One,a blog by Jeremi Karnell,
July 3, 2009,http://www.onetooneg-
lobal.com/otocorporate-white-papers/
672/743

673. 2009/07/03/implications-of-user-
engagement-with-search-result-
pages-2/.
673/743

674. Chapter 95
Reward Versus
Reciprocity
Manyofusworkwithwebsitesthatdepend
oncollectinguserinformation—leadgenera-
tionsites,charitysites,andsoon.Typically,
theoperatorsofthesesiteshavecontentuse-
fultothosevisitorsandwanttousethatcon-
tenttoencouragevisitorstosubmittheir
contactdata.Thisvaluablecontentcanbe
providedinanumberofforms,suchasa
whitepaper,apodcast,arecordedwebinar,
or a password-protected section of the site.
Themostcommonlyusedstrategycanbe
summedupas,“Forcevisitorstogiveup

675. theirinfobeforeweshowthemthegood
stuff.”But,there’sacatchtothisapproach.If
there’sanSEOpersonhelpingwiththesite,
theimmediateobjectionwillbe,“Youcan’t
putyourbestcontentbehindaregistration
form—itwon’tgetindexedbyGoogleoreven
linked to, and your traffic will tank!”
Thegoodnewsisthatthere’sastrategy
thatwillkeepboththeSEOexpertsandthe
numbers people happy.
Reciprocity Beats
Reward
Requiringausertogiveupcontactdatabe-
foreviewinggoodcontentisareward
strategy—giveusyourinfo,andwe’llreward
youbylettingyouseeourwonderfulstuff.
Thisisanappealingstrategyatfirstglance;
100percentofthepeoplewhousethecon-
tentwillhavecompletedtheform,andthe
675/743

676. valuableinformationshouldbeapowerful
motivator for visitors to comply.
Infact,mostusersconfrontedwithaform
won’tcompleteit.Iftheyarrivedatthesite
lookingforsomespecificinformation,they
willlikelyhitthebackbuttonandseeifthey
cangetsimilardataelsewherewithoutthe
aggravationofformcompletionandwithout
theriskofgettingunwantede-mailsor
phonecalls.(Ofcourse,ifallthegoodcon-
tentislockedawaybehindalog-in,thenum-
beroffreevisitorsarrivingbyclickingonor-
ganicsearchresultswillbealotlower
anyway.)
Itturnsoutthatareciprocitystrategycan
workbetter;givevisitorstheinfotheywant
andthenaskfortheirinformation.Italian
researchersfoundthattwiceasmanyvisitors
gaveuptheircontactdataiftheywereableto
accesstheinformationfirst.It’scounterintu-
itive,perhaps,buteventhoughthesevisitors
wereundernoobligationtocompletethe
676/743

677. form,theyconvertedatdoubletherateof
visitors seeing the mandatory form.
4
Not Just for Form
Completion
Ofcourse,thisapproachisn’tjustforform
completion.Thepsychologicalprincipleof
reciprocitysuggeststhatvisitorswhoarere-
wardedinadvancewouldbemorelikelyto
buyproducts,makedonations,andsoforth.
Inherbook,NeuroWebDesign,Susan
Weinschenksuggestsputtingacalltoaction
immediately after the good content.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Test the Re-
ciprocity Approach
677/743

678. Ifyouinvokereciprocity,you’llbeworking
withthewayourbrainsarewiredandwillbe
morelikelytogetyourvisitorstodowhat
youwantthemto.(And,asanaddedbonus,
yourSEOguywillbehappythatGooglewill
be able to see your content too!)
Aswithmostaspectsofwebdesign,you
shouldtestbothapproaches.It’spossible
thatdependingontheperceivedvalueofthe
content,thesimplicityofthesign-upform,
andotherfactors,therewardapproach
mightgarnermoreconversions.Butdon’t
assumethattheobvious“forcedinformation
capture”willautomaticallycapturemore
leadsthanrelyingonvisitorgoodwill;you
might be surprised!
Notes
4.Luciano Gamberini et al., “Embedded
Persuasive Strategies to Obtain Visitors’
678/743

679. Data: Comparing Reward and Recipro-
city in an Amateur, Knowledge-Based
Website,”Lecture Notes in Computer
Science4744 (2007): 187–198,ht-
tp://www.springerlink.com/content/
t3698286348v713n/.
679/743

680. Chapter 96
Exploit Scarcity on the
Fly
E-commercewebsiteshaveagreatopportun-
itytoexploitthescarcityeffect,primarilybe-
causetheycanprovideinstantaneousfeed-
backoninventorylevelsand,inacredible
way,letcustomersknowwhenproductsare
scarce.
Merchantsusescarcityaspartoftheircall
toactionindifferentways.Amazonknowsa
fewthingsaboute-commerce,anditwarns
consumerswhenstockisrunninglow.Atyp-
icalexhortationthatappearsasaprominent
partofthedescriptionis“Only4leftin

681. stock—ordersoon.”Combinethescarcityef-
fectwith,say,one-clickorderingandfree
shipping,andyou’vegotapowerfultoolfor
gettingvisitorstoclicktheAddtoCart
button.
Scarce Seats
Travelisanotherareathatseemstofoster
indecision.Thereareoftenaplethoraof
flightchoices,includingdates,times,air-
ports,connections,andintermediatecities.I
oftenhavemultiplewindowsopenfromdif-
ferenttravelsites,ineachcasetryingtofind
theperfectcombinationofpriceand
convenience.
What’sonewaytogetpeopletostop
dithering?Tellthemtheymightmisstheir
chancetobookaflightbecausetheseatsare
almostgone.Expediadoesthiswithaprom-
inentwarning,“1ticketleftatthisprice,”and
681/743

682. morethanoncethatwasenoughtogetmeto
go ahead and book the flight then and there.
Overstock.com—The
Scarcity Trifecta
Perhapsthemostimpressiveuseofscarcity
I’veseenisOverstock.com.Ithasalayered
approachthatgivesconsumersseverallevels
of scarcity motivation.
First,Overstockoffersafairlygeneric
warningoflowstockonanitem.Noquantit-
ies,buta“sellout”alert,“SellOutRisk
High!”Thatmaybefairlyprosaic,butOver-
stockgoesastepfurtherbyprovidingan
alertontheirsearchresultspagethatreads,
“Almost Sold Out.”
Onapagefeaturingmanyproducts,I
thinkthere’slittledoubtthattheviewer’seye
wouldbedrawntothatflaggeditem.Butto
682/743

683. completethescarcitytrifecta,Overstockhas
onemorecardtoplay:itkeepssold-out
itemsintheirresultsandflagsthemas“Sold
Out.”
Somemightfindthatariskymove—show-
ingcustomersanunavailablebutinteresting
productmightcausethemtotrytofindit
elsewhere.Orcustomersmightdecidetobuy
nothingatallifanattractiveproductwas
soldout.Nevertheless,these“SoldOut”in-
dicatorsaddcredibilitytotheotherscarcity
warningsandaddasenseofurgencytothe
shopping process.
Daily Scarcity
Theexplosivegrowthofdailydealsiteslike
Grouponareinpartscarcity-based.They
combineshort-durationoffers(typically24
hours)withlimitsonhowmanyofferswillbe
683/743

684. soldtoencourageconsumerstoact
immediately.
Recently,I’vebeenreceivinge-mailsale
notificationsfrome-commercefashionmer-
chantRueLaLa.com.It,too,exploitsscarcity.
RueLaLasaleslastonly24hours,and,like
Overstock,sold-outmerchandiseislefton
thesite,althoughitispushedtotheendof
thelistingsandflaggedasnolongeravail-
able.Thiscombinationbuildsurgencyinto
the ordering process.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Use Scar-
city and Be Specific
Thebestwaytoimplyscarcityinacredible
wayistobespecific.Tellvisitorstothesite
howmanyyouhaveleft,ifyourtechnology
letsyoudothat.“Only2leftatthisprice”is
684/743

685. muchbetterthan“Limitedsupply.”Ifthe
volumeofyourofferingissuchthatyourin-
ventorychangesoften,adynamicdisplayof
scarcitywouldbeevenbetter.Ithinkareally
effectivemessagewouldbesomethinglike,
“Just sold another! Only 1 left!”
Thatmaynotworkforeverye-commerce
site,butjustaboutallsitescanboostsales
usingatleastonevariationofthescarcity
effect.
685/743

686. Chapter 97
Target Boomers With
Simplicity
Ifyouaremarketingtobabyboomersor
seniorswithyouradvertising,here’sonekey:
keepitsimple.Althoughthat’susuallygood
adviceforanykindofadvertising,brain
scansshowadramaticdifferenceintheabil-
ityofolderbrainstosuppressdistractingin-
formation.StudiesbyDr.AdamGazzaley
showedthatthesuppressiondifferencein
olderversusyoungerbrainswasthekey
factorinmemoryformationdeclineinolder
people.

687. UsingfMRIscanstoexamineyoungerand
olderadultbrainsduringmemorytasks,
Gazzaleyfoundthatbothyoungandold
brainswereabletoactivatetheirbrainsef-
fectivelyforbuildingmemoriesbuttheolder
brainswerefarworseatsuppressingirrelev-
antinformation.(AsimilarstudyusingEEG,
stillunderreview,suggeststhatthediffer-
enceinsuppressionisduetoadeclinein
neural processing speed.
5)
ThelatestresearchbyGazzaleyshowsthat
thelowerperformanceofolderbrainswhen
multitaskingisaswitchingglitch—ines-
sence,whendistracted,theolderbrains
switchedfromthememorytasktopro-
cessingtheinterruption,andthememory
was less likely to be stored.
6
687/743

688. Brainfluence
Takeaway: Keep It
Simple
InTheBuyingBrain,A.K.Pradeepcites
Gazzaley’sresearchandsuggeststhesetac-
ticsformarketershopingtoappealtobaby
boomers and seniors:
•Keep the message obvious.
•Useanunclutteredlayoutforcopy
and images.
•Includesomewhitespacearoundthe
message.
•Avoiddistractionslikerunning
screens, sounds, and animations.
Simplicityisanongoingthemeofmine;a
simpleapproachseemstoworkbestinmany
situations,whetherit’schoosingasimple
688/743

689. fontorusingasimpleguarantee.Asagener-
alrule,Irecommendstrivingforsimplicity.
Evenyoungerbrainswilldoabetterjobof
processing your message!
5.Adam Gazzaley, “The Aging Brain: At
the Crossroads of Attention and
Memory,”UserExperience8, no. 1 (1st
Quarter 2009): 6–8,ht-
tp://gazzaleylab.ucsf.edu/files/
brain_ux81.pdf.
6.University of California San Fran-
cisco, “UCSF Study on Multitasking
Reveals Switching Glitch in Aging
Brain,” news release, April 11, 2011,ht-
tp://www.ucsf.edu/news/2011/04/
9676/ucsf-study-multitasking-reveals-
switching-glitch-aging-brain.
689/743

690. Chapter 98
Use Your Customer’s
Imagination
Inapreviouschapter,Idescribedastudyby
marketingprofessorsJoannPeckandSuz-
anneShuthatfocusedonhowtouchingan
objectincreasedfeelingsofownership(see
page231).Anadditionalfindinginthat
studyhasimplicationsforsellingonline.
Evenwhencustomerscan’ttouchaproduct,
itisstillpossibletoincreasetheirperceived
ownershipusingwhatPeckandShuterm
ownership imagery.
Theyaskedthesubjectsinthestudyques-
tionssuchas,“Imaginetakingtheproduct

691. homewithyou.Wherewouldyoukeepit?
Whatwouldyoudowithit?”Thedurationof
theimagerysessionwasamere60seconds.
Althoughitwastruethattheimageryhadan
impactonthefeelingofownership,there
wasabiggersurpriseinthedata:evenwhen
notouchingwasinvolved,thesubjectsex-
posedtoownershipimagerywerestill
influenced.
PeckandShuconclude,“Onlineretailers
whocanencourageownershipimagery
amongpotentialbuyersmaybeabletoin-
creasebothperceivedownershipandvalu-
ation.Intheno-touchenvironment,owner-
shipimagerywaspowerfulinincreasing
boththefeelingofownershipandthe
amount a consumer was willing to pay.”
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Help
691/743

692. Customers Imagine
Ownership
Ifyoucanhelpyourcustomersimaginethat
theyowntheproduct,yourchancesofmak-
ingasaleincrease.Thequestion,naturally,
ishowtodothatwithintheconfinesofa
website or mobile application.
Onesimple,low-costwaytodothiswould
betoaskleadingquestionsintheproduct’s
copy,muchasexperimentersdidinperson.
Ofcourse,unlikethein-personresearchcon-
dition,youhavelittlecontroloveryourcus-
tomersorthetimetheyspendonanygiven
activity.Inaddition,onasitewithmany
products,visualizationinstructionsoneach
one might seem a bit bizarre.
Still,insomee-commercesituations,the
copymightbeeffective.SomeInternetmar-
ketersuseasqueezepageforasingle
product—onelongpagefilledwithproduct
692/743

693. data,testimonialsfromsatisfiedcustomers,
answerstocommonobjections,andsoon.
Typically,thecustomerwhomakesitwellin-
tothepageisquiteengagedandmightbe
open to ownership imagery.
Oneofthebestownershipimageryex-
amplesI’veseenonlineisatTireRack.com,a
nationalsellerofautotiresandwheels.Cus-
tomersbegintheselectionprocessbyspe-
cifyingthemake,model,andyearoftheir
car.Thesitethenbringsupaselectionofap-
propriatewheelsandtires.Oncethecustom-
ersees,say,asetofwheelsthatareofin-
terest,heorsheclicks“ViewonVehicle.”A
pictureofthecustomer’sexactvehicleap-
pears,withadrop-downboxlistingtheman-
ufacturer’scolorsforthatmodel.Theuser
selectsthecorrectcolor,andpresto—thecus-
tomerseeshisorherveryownvehicle
renderedbeautifullywiththewheelsand
tires just picked out.
693/743

694. Forsomesites,itmightberelevanttoin-
cludeavideothat,alongwithadiscussionof
productfeatures,includedownershipim-
ageryprompts.Everysiteisdifferent,but
findingawaytobuildasenseofperceived
ownershipwillincreasetheconversionrate
and total revenue.
694/743

695. Chapter 99
Avoid the Corner of
Death
What’stheworstplacetoputyourlogo,and
wheredoadvertisersmostoftenputtheir
logoinprintads,TVspots,anddirect-mail
pieces?Theansweristhesame:thelower
rightcorner,anareadubbedthecornerof
deathbyfacialcodingexpertDanHill.
7Hill’s
commentsstemfromaninterestingeye-
trackingstudybySteveOutingandLaura
Rule.
8
Inarecentarticle,Hillsaysthatthelower
rightcorneristhesecondtolastplacepeople
look.Manymaynotgetthatfariftheyare

696. processingthepagequicklyoraren’ten-
gaged by the content they view first.
Despitethesefindings,thelowerright
cornerisbyfarthemostcommonsingleloc-
ationfortheprimarylogo/brandidentityuse
in all types of advertising, according to Hill.
Brainfluence
Takeaway: Put Your
Brand Front and
Center
Basedoneye-trackingresearch,where
shouldthelogoorbrandidentitybeplaced
sothatconsumersactuallyseeit?Hillsays
thatthebestplaceisthelowermiddlepartof
thepageorlayout,Atthatpoint,theviewer
willhaveengagedemotionallywiththelead-
ingpartoftheadandwillthenhavethe
696/743

697. opportunitytoassociatethebrandwithsolv-
ingaproblemorsatisfyingconsumers’
wants.
Notes
7.Dan Hill,About Face: The Secrets of
Emotionally Effective Advertising(Lon-
don: Kogan Page, 2010).
8.Steve Outing and Laura Rule, “The
Best of Eyetrack III: What We Saw
When We Looked Through Their Eyes,”
Eyetrack III,January 30, 2006,ht-
tp://www.uvsc.edu/disted/decourses/
dgm/2740/IN/steinja/lessons/05/docs/
eyetrack_iii.pdf.
697/743

698. Chapter 100
Computers as People
Forgettheturingtest!(Thattest,proposedin
1950,wasameasureofmachineintelligence
thatrequiredamachinetointeractwitha
personsoeffectivelythatthepersoncould
notdistinguishitfromahuman.)Butyou
don’thavetotrytofoolpeople;research
showswell-designedautomationcanmake
peoplefeelliketheyareinteractingwitha
real person even when they know they aren’t.
So,whatcanbusinessesdotomakecom-
puterinteractionsmore“human”?Itturns
outthatpeopledotendtotreatcomputers
likepeopleandthatchangingtheinteraction

699. canenhancethattendency.Hereareafew
ways to humanize your automation.
Get on the Same Team
It’swellestablishedthatpeoplewillform
teamallegiancesveryquicklyandwithvery
littleprompting.Studiesshowthatpeople
canbondwithcomputersinmuchthesame
way.StanfordUniversityprofessorClifford
Nassarbitrarilydividedsubjectsintotwo
groups.Halfweretoldtheywereontheblue
teamandworeabluewristbandwhilework-
ingonablue-borderedmonitor.Theother
halfusedagreen-borderedmonitorand
weretoldthattheywereabluepersonwork-
ing with the green computer.
Eventhoughtherewasnodifferenceinthe
detailsofthehuman-computerinteraction
betweenthetwogroups,theparticipants
whoweretoldtheywereonateamrated
699/743

700. theircomputerassmarterandmorehelpful.
Theyalsoworkedharder,apparentlybecause
of the “bond” formed with their computer.
9
Canyoufindsomecommongroundwith
yourusers?Doyouhavesomeindividual
userdatathatwouldletyou,say,tailoranin-
terfacetoeachuser?(Onetrivialexample:if
youknowauser’sfavoritesportsteam,you
couldembellishtheinterfacewiththat
team’s colors.)
Nasspositsthatonecanusejustabout
everysocialsciencefindingaboutpeople-to-
peopleinteractionsandapplyittopeople
and computers.
“I’m onYourSide!”
Oneofthemostreviledcomputercharacters
inPChistorywasMicrosoft’sClippy,acar-
toonpaperclipthatseemedtodelightinask-
ingusersinaneandrepetitivequestions
700/743

701. aboutwhattheyweredoingina(usually)
vainattempttohelp.Clippywassoannoying
thathatesites,fangroups,andvideostarget-
inghimspranguparoundtheweb.Nass
foundthatallthisemotioncouldbenegated
easily.
Heandhisteamre-createdaClippythat
madeitsoundlikeClippywasontheuser’s
sidebysayingthingslike,“Thatgetsme
reallyangry!Let’stellMicrosofthowbad
theirhelpsystemis.”Ifausercreateda
complainte-mail,Clippywouldprovidead-
dedencouragement:“C’mon!Youcanbe
tougher than that. Let ’em have it!”
ThesechangesturnedClippy-hatersinto
Clippy-lovers.Everyuserinthetestliked
Clippy,withoneexclaiming,“He’sso
supportive!”
Gotafeedbackfunction?LikeClippy2.0,
positiontheinterfaceasbeingontheuser’s
side,notyours.(Goodhumansalespeople
knowthisworks.Whenthingsgowrongwith
701/743

702. anorder,theypositionthemselvesascus-
tomeradvocatesratherthancompany
apologists.)
Specialized = Smart
Peopleaccordmorewisdomtodevicesthat
specialize.NassfoundthatpeopleratedTV
newsprogramsmorehighlyonmultiplecri-
teriawhentheythoughttheTVtheywere
watching showed only news content.
Makingyourcomputerinterface“anex-
pert”willincreaseitscredibility.Peoplewill
trusta“BusinessLaptopConfigurationWiz-
ard” more than an “Order Form.”
Brainfluence
Takeaway: It’s Not a
702/743

703. Computer; It’s a
Person!
Ifyouaregoingtostructureahuman-com-
puterinteraction,assumethatpeoplewill
thinkofthecomputerasaperson!That
meansincorporatingtherightsocial
strategy:imaginethatyouweretryingto
trainanew(andslightlydense)employee
howtointeractemotionallywiththecustom-
erandbuildthatlogicintotheautomated
system.
Thethreeapproachesoutlined,eitherindi-
viduallyorincombination,willdramatically
improvethewayyourcustomersfeelabout
your automated processes.
Notes
9.Clifford Nass, “Sweet Talking Your
Computer,”Wall Street Journal,August
703/743

704. 28, 2010,http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB10001424052748703959704575453411132636080.html .
704/743

705. Afterword
What’s Next?
I’mexcitedaboutthefutureofmarketing,
advertising,andbranding.Withoutlosing
theartofthesedisciplines,weareonthe
threshold of adding the missing science.
Everyoneinvolvedinmarketinghasseen
baddecisionsthatledtofailedproductsand
ineffectivecampaigns.Someofthesewere
predictable,likeatrainchuggingtowarda
collapsedbridge.Othersappearedtobe
promisingtoallinvolved,butthenwerere-
jectedbyseeminglyficklecustomers.Re-
sourcesweresquandered,careerswerede-
railed,andinsomecases,thecompanies
themselves foundered.
Neuromarketingtechniquesarenopan-
aceaformarketingfailure,butinsomecases,
theycanidentifyproblemproductsand

706. ineffectiveadsbeforetheyarelaunchedat
greatexpense.Moreimportantly,perhaps,
theycanprovideobjectivesupporttothose
marketerswhoreallydounderstandtheir
customersbutwhoaren’ttheultimatede-
cision makers.
AlthoughIexpectneuromarketingstudies
usingbrainanalyticsandbiometricstobe-
comeincreasinglyaffordable,noteverypro-
jectwillbeabletojustifythattypeofap-
proach.Eveninthosecases,though,behavi-
oralstudiesandmoregeneralneuroscience
andneuroeconomicsworkcaninformmar-
keting decisions.
That’sthepointofthisbook—knowhow
ourbrainswork,andyou’llhavebetter
productsandbettermarketing.Andthebest
is yet to come!
706/743

707. Index
Absolut
Ackerman, Joshua M.
Adjectives
Advertising.SeealsoBranding;Commer-
cials; Copywriting
assumptions about
effectiveness of
emotion in
and in-person interactions
logos in
money-related images in
spokespeople for
Advertising psychology
Amazon
Anchor prices

708. Anderson, Chris
Andrews, Markita
Apologizing
Apple
Appointment request letters
Ariely, Dan
anchor prices research
on customer attitudes
on decoy marketing
free product research
and short-term gratification
AT&T
Audio branding
Augenblick, Ned
Autism
Babies, pictures of
Baby boomers
Background music
708/743

709. Banner blindness
Bargh, John
Barnes & Noble
Beauty
Ben & Jerry’s
Berkshire Hathaway
Berridge, Kent C.
Beverages
Biederman, Irving
Bijenkorf
Birthday numbers
Blindsight
Blink(Gladwell)
Body language
Books.See alsoPrint media
Brafman, Ori
Brafman, Rom
Brainfluence,Seespecific headings
709/743

710. Brainscans.SeealsoFunctionalmagnetic
resonance imaging (fMRI) research
The Branded Mind(du Plessis)
Brand imagery
Brand Immortality(Pringle & Field)
Branding.See alsoAdvertising; Copywriting
adjectives used in
assumptions about
audio.See alsoSound
by employees
enemies in
fragments of brand
getting attention with
and neuroplasticity
olfactory.See alsoSmell(s)
and sensory awareness
with sponsorships
on website
Brand Sense(Lindstrom)
710/743

711. Breeze, James
Brown, Millward
Brut effect
Buffett, Warren
Bundling
Business cards
The Buying Brain(Pradeep)
Buying pain:
and anchor prices
avoiding
overview
of tightwad customers
Caffeine
Caples, John
Carnegie, Dale
Chabris, Christopher
Chan, Elaine
ChildFund
711/743

712. Choices
Cialdini, Robert
Cigarette packaging
Clark, Brian
Coca Cola
Coffee
Cognitive dissonance
Comfort
Commercials.See alsoInfomercials
Computers
Confidence
Confirmation bias
Conscious mind
Consumers
decision making by
expectations of
feedback from
imagination of
infovore
712/743

713. participation in contests
and personalization
spendthrifts
surprising
tightwad
want vs. should conflicts of
Contact information, obtaining
Cooperation
Copywriting
effectiveness of
functional shifts in
and importance of words
for men
product naming in
promoting free products in
promoting new products in
simple slogans in
stories used in
713/743

714. surprising the brain with
testimonials used in
useful adjectives for
use of percentages in
Counterfactual scenarios
Cramer, Jim
Credibility
Credit cards:
purchasing with
reward programs with
spendthrifts’ use of
CRM(customerrelationshipmanagement)
software
Cruises
Cues:
avoiding business
money-related
and neuroplasticity
Customer brain.See alsoConsumers
714/743

715. Customerinteractions,seeIn-person
interactions
Customerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)
software
Daily deal sites
Daly, Martin
Decision making:
fMRI research on
lags in
and simple marketing
Decoy products
Demand curve
Dempsey, Melanie
Differentiation
Digital media.See alsoInternet
advantages of
capabilities of
font effects for
Dinner seating
715/743

716. Direct mail
Direct marketers
Discounts:
price and product brainfluence
for tightwads
Dollar General
Dopamine
Doubletree
Dress code
du Plessis, Erik
Ear preferences
Economist
Efficiency
Electroencephalogram (EEG) technology:
function of
measuring event-related potentials
Electronic loyalty programs
Emotion
716/743

717. Emotional Design(Norman)
Empathy
Employees
Enemies
Energy drinks
Entrepreneurs
Ersner-Hershfield, Hal
E-Trade
Etsy
Event-related potentials
Evolutionary psychologists
Expectations, customer
Expedia
Exposure
Eye-tracking technology
Fairness
Falk, Armin
Familiarity, product
Fast-forward branding
717/743

718. Favors, asking for small
FedEx
Felons
Fibonacci sequence
Field, Peter
First impressions
Flagship stores
Flattery
fMRIresearch,seeFunctionalmagneticres-
onance imaging research
Font effects
Foot in the door approach
Framing strategy
Freud, Sigmund
Functionalmagneticresonanceimaging
(fMRI) research:
on branding
on buying pain
on decision making
718/743

719. on emotional processing
function of
on human response to beauty
on memory
on rewards
on stories’ effects on brain
on wine tasting
Functional shifts
Gasoline
Gazzaley, Adam
Gender
and mating
and sales
and simplicity
women’s effect on men
Generosity
Gershwin, George
Gifts
719/743

720. Gladwell, Malcolm
Goal gradient hypothesis
Gobe, Marc
Godin, Seth
Golden mean
Golfing
Google
Group membership
Groupon
Heath, Robert
Hebb, Donald
The Hidden Persuaders(Packard)
High-endproducts.SeealsoLuxury
products
Hill, Dan
Hippocampus
Hole-in-one golf fundraisers
Hollister
Hot beverages
720/743

721. Iacocca, Lee
IKEA
Imagination
Implicit egotism
Infomercials
Information technology (IT)
Infovores
Injured people
Innerscope Research
In-person interactions
asking for small favors
benefits of
beverages for
candy in
comfort in
confidence in
flattery in
handshakes for
721/743

722. and paying attention
role of articulate salespeople in
smiling during
speaking into person’s right ear during
talking too much in
Instant gratification
InstituteofPractitionersinAdvertising
(IPA)
Insurance
Interactions,in-person,seeIn-person
interactions
Internet
first impressions on
gathering contact information on
and golden mean
and humanizing computer interactions
logos on
ownership imagery on
scarcity effect on
722/743

723. search engine result pages on
targeting baby boomers on
Involuntary memory
IPA(InstituteofPractitionersin
Advertising)
iPhones
IT (information technology)
It’s a Wonderful Life
J. Peterman
Janiszewski, Chris
Jobs, Steve
Jones Soda
Kalin, Rob
Kelly, Spencer D.
“Knowledge addiction”
Laird, Donald
Language processing
Language skills
Laran, Julio
723/743

724. Lexus
Life insurance
Lindstrom, Martin
Loewenstein, George:
and buying pain
and disguising pain points
and real estate prices
and short-term gratification
Logic
Logos
Loyalty.See alsoTrust
building
and goal gradient hypothesis
as important tool
rewarding
Luntz, Frank
“Luxury” messages
Luxury products
724/743

725. McCain, John
McDonald’s
Magazines.See alsoPrint media
Magicians, strategies of
Magnetoencephalography (MEG) research
Mailing lists
Marketing:
assumptions about
for complex products
decoy
establishing credibility in
impact of
mobile
nonprofit,seeNonprofit marketing
Marlboro
Marzoli, Daniele
Massages
Medina, John
MEG (magnetoencephalography) research
725/743

726. Memory:
caffeine for boosting
fMRI research on
and print media
of smells
Men:
effect of women on
preference for simplicity
romantic priming for
Mere exposure effect
Michelin
Microsoft
Milkman, Katherine
Miller, Geoffrey
Mind meld
Mirrors
Mirror neurons
Mirsky, Steve
726/743

727. Mitchell, Andrew A.
Mobile marketing
Money
Montague, Read
Montgomery, Nicole
Moore, Don
Motion
Multitasking
Music
Muzak
Nass, Clifford
Nespresso
Nestlé
Netflix
Networking events
“Neuro-engagement”
NeuroFocus
Neurological iconic signatures (NISs)
Neuromarketing.See alsospecific headings
727/743

728. advancements in
defining
and search engine optimization
Neuromarketing blog
Neuroplasticity
Neuroscience
Neuro Web Design (Weinschenk)
Newlin, Kate
New products
Newspapers.See alsoPrint media
Nextel
N400 negative peak
Nicholson, Scott
Nike
NISs (neurological iconic signatures)
Nocera, Christopher C.
Nonconscious mind,seeSubconscious mind
Nonprofit marketing
728/743

729. asking for big donations in
avoiding business cues in
and cooperation
and generosity
gifts in
mirrors in
personalization in
pictures in
visibility of
Norman, Don
Obama, Barack
Olfactory branding.See alsoSmell(s)
One to One Interactive (OTOI)
Online retailers.See alsoInternet
Outing, Steve
Overstock.com
Ownership
Oxytocin
Packard, Vance
729/743

730. Pain, buying,seeBuying pain
Pain avoidance
Panera Bread
Parthenon
Passion brands
Pavlov, Ivan
Peck, Joann
Pepsi
Percentages
Per-item pricing
Perot, Ross
Personalization
Photo business cards
Pictures
of attractive people
of babies
focusing eyes on
increasing empathy with
730/743

731. sexy
Pradeep, A. K.
Preconscious mind,seeSubconscious mind
Predictably Irrational(Ariely)
Premium pricing
Price and product brainfluence
anchor prices in
and buying pain
cutting choices for
with decoy products
and discounts
with high-end products
precision in
pricing models
role of priming in
Pricing:
models for
per-item
precision in
731/743

732. Priming:
by order
overview
romantic
subliminal
Pringle, Hamish
Print media
expressing emotion with
font effects for
and memory
need for
weight of
Procter & Gamble
Product(s).SeealsoPriceandproduct
brainfluence
decoy
familiarity with
free
high-end
732/743

733. luxury
naming of
new
packaging of
pairing of
selection of
smell of
touching
Proust, Marcel
Rajagopal, Priyali
Ralph Lauren
Rasputin
Rats
Rationality
Real estate prices
Reciprocity
Relativity (decoy marketing)
Retail environments:
733/743

734. products in
smells in
Rewards
Rhapsody in Blue
Rice Krispies
Roberts, Neil
Rogers, Todd
Romantic priming
Ross
Roth, Al
RueLaLa.com
Rule, Laura
Sales office layout
Salespeople
Sales psychology
Sampling
Samsung
Sands, Stephen
Sands Research
734/743

735. Sanna, Lawrence
“Savings” messages
Scarcity
Scent,seeSmell
Schwarz, Norbert
Search engine optimization (SEO)
Search engine result pages (SERPs)
Sears
Seating
Segmentation
Self-service help
Sengupta, Jaideep
Sensory brainfluence
of brands
of coffee sellers
smell
sound
using all senses
735/743

736. yogurt products
SEO (search engine optimization)
SERPs (search engine result pages)
Sexy pictures
Shakespeare, William
Shatz, Carla
Shipping upgrades
Shiv, Baba
Shopping
and apologizing for failures
and customer feedback
for luxury products
and pairing products
power of touch in
Shu, Suzanne
Sight
Simons, Daniel
Simonsohn, Uri
Simplicity
736/743

737. Singapore Airlines
Slovic, Paul
Smell(s)
bad
Brut effect
distinctive
memorable
overview
Smiling
Smith, Fred
Social identity
Software
Song, Hyunjin
Sound
Spendthrifts
Sponsorships
Sprint
Starbucks
737/743

738. Statistics
Sticker price framing
Stories (copywriting):
effective
negative
Subconscious mind:
decision making in
and flattery
percent of brain activity in
Sushi
Switching costs
Taglines
Taijfel, Henri
Taste
Telemarketing
Television
Testimonials
Thaler, Richard
738/743

739. THOMAS(thehumanoxytocin-mediatedat-
tachment system)
Thomas, Dave
Thomas Pink
Tightwads
Timing
TireRack.com
Tommasi, Luca
The Tonight Show
Touch, sense of
Trademarking
Travel
Trump, Donald
Trust.See alsoLoyalty
contact time for building
in customers
as important tool
language for creating
Tunnel vision
739/743

740. Ultimatum game
Uncertainty
United Airlines
The Upside of Irrationality(Ariely)
Uy, Dan
Vaccines
Venture capitalists
Vohs, Kathleen
Walmart
Wansink, Brian
“Want vs. should” conflicts
Web design
Websites.See alsoInternet
branding on
first impression of
and golden mean
Weinschenk, Susan
Williams Sonoma
740/743

741. Wilson, Margo
Wine
Winkielman, Piotr
Wiseman, Richard
Wittmann, Bianca
Women:
effect on men
and in-person interactions
language processing by
romantic priming for
as salespeople
Women Make the Best Salesmen (Brem)
Words That Work (Luntz)
Wray, Herbert
Yogurt
Your Money and Your Brain(Zweig)
YouTube
Zajonc, Robert
Zak, Paul
741/743

742. Zaltman, Gerald
Zappos
Zweig, Jason
742/743

743. @Created byPDF to ePub