How the Findings of Neuromarketing Affect Your Corporate Web Design
“Dude, I’m not a mind reader! Sometimes, I wish I was.” Do you feel this way when you try to figure out what to put on your website that will generate leads? Don’t you wish you could see into the brain of your customers and figure out what makes them tick?
Well, you’re not alone. Others have felt the same – so much so that a team of Harvard psychologists developed the concept of neuromarketing back in 1990, as a combination of neuroscience and marketing.
The findings of neuromarketing research have a significant impact on corporate web design, as well as affecting other types of marketing collateral and everyday sales tools.
The Science
The science of neuromarketing examines responses from the human brain to marketing messages, such as branding, advertisements and other communications. Data from the responses is recorded, analyzed and taken into account along with relevant target marketing demographics and website analytics. Once you have this information, you build your corporate web design and content around what the customer wants to hear. Roger Dooley, the author of the neuromarketing book Brainfluence, believes that each section of the brain has an individual purpose, such as rational thought, motor skills and feelings. Sophisticated technology has identified three fundamental findings affecting the way we buy:
Finding #1: The impact of brands on purchasing decisions.
Brand loyalty has a profound impact on the purchasing decisions customers make. In the well-known neuromarketing experiment, the Pepsi Challenge, the company conducted an experiment against its rival, Coca-Cola. In spite of Coke’s impressive array of sales tools, taste participants chose Pepsi more than half the time over Coke. In the second test, participants knew the product names, and Coke won by a three-quarters margin. The brain monitoring equipment used in the study showed the participants’ brains responded differently once their selections involved the brands. This showed clearly that companies with a strong brand element included in their corporate web design are likely to influence purchasing decisions over those that don’t.
Finding #2: The brand consists of much more than just the logo design.
In another neuromarketing experiment, researchers showed a group of smokers two different sets of images. One set involved pictures of people smoking, as well as a variety of Marlboro brand images. The other set included pictures that suggested the brand, such as cowboys, a red Ferrari and a sunset in the desert, but didn’t contain explicit Marlboro brand elements or images of smoking. While the first set of images caused the participants to crave smoking, the second set triggered even stronger cigarette cravings and specific Marlboro desires.
Researchers interpreted the results as indication that the less blatant advertising was, the more powerful the feelings and emotions were that it invoked. This is critical learning for marketers who often believe that a corporate web design, while one of their most important sales tools, must be logo-heavy. One of the most common website mistakes marketers make is to include a blog that is overly commercial and functions as an advertising medium.
Finding #3: Mirror neurons make people buy.
One of the most interesting findings of the neuromarketing experiments is the mirror neuron, which scientists have observed in humans, primates and other animals. The cognitive psychology view of the mirror neuron is that these neurons govern our desire to imitate others, triggering impulses like “keeping up with the Joneses.” The mirror neuron uses our desire to fit in and be liked to make us want what others have.
Translated into your corporate web design, this means that a company website that suggests like-minded individuals have bought or used the product will increase interest among potential customers.
Your corporate web design is often the first image your business shows to the world. It’s one of the most important sales tools and an opportunity you can’t afford to risk. Download our 7 Tools for Making Your Website a Lean, Mean, Traffic Generating Machine today for some real, practical help.
