Ever wish you could get inside the heads of potential customers to find out what really makes them tick?

The new and somewhat controversial field of neuromarketing uses brain scans to unlock the subconscious thoughts, feelings and desires that drive purchasing decisions. Researchers show their subjects ads, images, logos, etc., and see, literally, which parts of their brain light up.

Scary? Perhaps. But the results of a three-year, $7 million neuromarketing study reported by Martin Lindstrom in his book Buy.ology also offer fascinating glimpses into how humans behave in a world where they are bombarded 24/7 with marketing messages in myriad formats.

BUYING IS EMOTIONAL

Many of the findings are relevant for our industry, the most important being – despite what prospects tell you – people make almost all buying decisions emotionally, not rationally. And they make them quickly.

How else does one explain brain scans done on students offered either an immediate $15 reward or a $20 reward in two weeks? Both offers triggered activity in the area of the brain that generates emotion. But, Lindstrom reports, the $15 now offer caused an unusual flurry of stimulation in the limbic area – a whole grouping of brain structures primarily responsible for our emotional life as well as the formation of memory. The more the students were emotionally excited about something, the greater their chances of going for the immediate offer. Rationally they knew $20 was a better deal, but their emotions won out.

How does this translate to kitchen and bath firms? For one thing, it tells you that if promotional offers are part of your strategy, you should make them immediate – not a discount in two months on installation or a rebate, but a free sink base today. If you don’t get a positive reaction to the immediate offer, it could be that the prospect “just isn’t that into” the project or purchase.

But don’t get promotional too quickly. When subjects were shown the same wine twice, once with an expensive price, the other with a normal price, there was increased activity in the area of the brain that perceives pleasantness, indicating that the higher price of a product enhances enjoyment of it.

REPETITION HELPS

Brain studies show that seeing a new product repeatedly in magazines, on the Web or on TV makes it more desirable. Consumers see beautiful kitchens or baths over and over…and decide that’s how they want to live.