Patel Harish - The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind

Secrets for Selling to the

Subconscious Mind

D R . A. K. PRADEEP

Founder & CEO, NeuroFocus, Inc.

THE BUYING

BRAIN

THE BUYING

BRAIN

Secrets for Selling to the

Subconscious Mind

Dr. A.K. PRADEEP

John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Copyright Q C 2010 by Dr. A.K. Pradeep. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Pradeep, A. K., 1963

The buying brain : secrets for selling to the subconscious mind / Dr. A.K. Pradeep. p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-0-470-60177-8 (cloth) ISBN 978-0-470-64684-7 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-470-64678-6 (ebk) ISBN 978-0-470-64661-8 (ebk)

1. Neuromarketing. 2. Consumer behavior. 3. ShoppingPsychological aspects.

4. MarketingPsychological aspects. I. Title. HF5415.12615.P73 2010

658.8 342dc22

2010003830

Printed in the United States of America.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

For my dear children, Alexis, Shane, and Devin, whose intelligence and laughter light up my life.

Foreword ix

Acknowledgments xi

Part 1

Introducing the Buying Brain

Chapter 1

$1 Trillion to Persuade the Brain 3

Chapter 2

Neuromarketing Technology 7

Chapter 3

Your Customers Brain Is 100,000 Years Old 17

Chapter 4

The Brain 101 33

Chapter 5

The Five Senses and the Buying Brain 41

Chapter 6

The Boomer Brain Is Buying 55

Chapter 7

The Female Brain Is Buying 65

Chapter 8

The Mommy Brain Is Buying 79

Chapter 9

The Empathic Brain Is Buying 93

vii

viii Contents

Part 2

Engaging the Buying Brain

Chapter 10

Neuromarketing Measures and Metrics 103

Chapter 11

The Consumer Journey 113

Chapter 12

The Buying Brain and Brands 119

Chapter 13

The Buying Brain and Products 135

Chapter 14

The Buying Brain and Packaging 155

Chapter 15

The Buying Brain in the Aisle 171

Chapter 16

The Buying Brain and Advertising 193

Chapter 17

The Buying Brain, Screens, and Social Media 219

Chapter 18

Vision of the Future 231

Notes and Sources 237

Index 247

A s a professional marketing strategist, my entire career has been about getting into the heads of buyers. Ive used tools that are familiar to generations of marketers, conducting primary research about my buyers by interviewing them, and drawing on secondary sources such as analysts opinions and studies. Then, armed with that information,

Ive directed my teams of both staffers and agencies to create advertisements, websites, or trade show booths and tested these efforts via a focus group or A/B testing.

Damn, I thought I was really doing it rightuntil I read The Buying Brain , that is.

In these pages, I learned that Ive been focused for all these years on just a tiny part of my buyers brains! Like most marketers, Ive been obsessing over the tip of the icebergthat part of the consumer that we can see, touch, and hear.

Ive asked questions designed to probe consumers conscious minds. But the answers to questions like Do you like this ad? and When I mention this brand, what animal do you think of ? and Would you prefer red or green for that button? seem downright quaint when compared to the potential fruits of probing the enormous activity in buyers subconscious brains.

In this remarkable book, Dr. A. K. Pradeep shows us that as many as 95 percent of buyer decisions are made by the subconscious mind. Yes, you read that correctly!

Use of the word secret in many marketing book titles is an exaggeration at best and a fabrication at worst. But that accusation is absolutely untrue of The Buying Brain: Secrets of Selling to the Subconscious Mind , because this book unlocked mysteries for me (a reasonably knowledgeable marketing author and practitioner) in every chapter. I learned that there are differences between male and female brains that have profound importance to marketers. I learned that your brain changes with age, and knowing the nature of this transition can make your marketing to various age groups come alive. I even learned how to market effectively to new mothers (yup, her brain changes, too).

ix

Because Pradeep is the guiding force behind the worlds top neuromarketing lab, many of the worlds largest and most sophisticated companies are using his ideas. These companies are applying the latest advances in neuroscience to create brands, products, websites, package designs, marketing campaigns, store environments, and more.

Now these powerful neuromarketing ideas are available to you in this en- gaging and easy-to-digest book.