Meet our Inspiring Minds speaker, Neuromarketing Specialist, Katie Hart MSc FCIM who is delivering the session on 17 September in Glasgow.
What’s the biggest misconception marketers have about how the brain actually makes decisions—and how can we start to correct that?
That is an easy one – the biggest mistake that we all make, marketers and consumers alike, is believing that we know why we make the decisions that we do. In reality, we are only aware of a tiny fraction of what goes into each decision that we make, the rest is all unconscious information which we can neither know nor share. Fully appreciating this fact, changes everything.
In your experience, which emotion is most powerful in influencing consumer behaviour, and how can brands ethically harness it?
In order to answer this, we need to understand more about the way neuroscience allows us to measure and compare emotions. Once we break each emotion down to its component parts, we can then me more intentional about how we use them and the results we will achieve. The specific aspects of this will change from one product to another, one customer segment to another, so there is not one ‘magic’ emotion which will deliver universal benefits for all products, services, industries, and customers. Sorry!
Can you share an example where a small change, informed by neuromarketing insights, led to a surprisingly big impact?
Google changed the colour of their hyperlinks, from the original vibrant, bright blue, to the more indigo shade that we have now. This one change, they claim, created an additional $206million of profit for them in its first year. All because they came to understand the way our brains process and respond to, the perception of colour.
With increasing concerns about privacy and manipulation, where should marketers draw the line when applying neuroscience in campaigns?
For me, neuromarketing is no less ethical than any other device we might use in marketing. Essentially, all marketing is about manipulating people (although I prefer to use the term ‘influencing’) and tyring to encourage them to make decisions in our favour. The application of neuroscience just allows us to be more scientific in our attempts, apply more robust insights and understand our customers in much greater depth. There is still nothing we can do to make someone purchase something if they are not interested in it in the first place. There is no ‘Buy’ button we have discovered within the brain. And, as a consumer, I say long may that continue!
Looking ahead, how do you see AI and neuromarketing intersecting to shape the future of consumer engagement?
There is a lot of noise at the moment about AI and its role within our profession. However, it is vital to remember that we are essentially still communicating to a human brain which is trying to make a decision. For me, AI is part of the toolbox of methods we can use to achieve that - it has a lot to offer in terms of helping us analyse data, spot trends, generate ideas etc, but it lacks the more human elements which many consumers crave. I am sure all neuromarketers use AI to support their work but, as human beings, we seek and value human connections, emotional expressions and authentic interactions. So the successful integration of them both, relies on recognising where the opportunities are, where they end and where the limitations begin.
You can connect with Katie on LinkedIn here.
