Anne-Sophie Bayle-Tourtoulou - The Neuro-Consumer: Adapting Marketing and Communication Strategies for the Subconscious, Instinctive and Irrational Consumers Brain

Neuroscientific research shows that the great majority of purchase decisions are irrational and driven by subconscious mechanisms in our brains. This is hugely disruptive to the rational, logical arguments of traditional communication and marketing practices and we are just starting to understand how organizations must adapt their strategies. This book explains the subconscious behavior of the neuro-consumer and shows how major international companies are using these findings to cast light on their own consumers behavior.

Written in plain English for business and management readers with no scientific background, it focuses on:

• how to adapt marketing and communication to the subconscious and irrational behaviors of consumers;
• the direct influence of the primary senses (sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch) on purchasing decisions and the perception of communications by customers brains;
• implications for innovation, packaging, price, retail environments and advertising;
• the use of nudges and artifices to increase marketing and communication efficiency by making them neuro-compatible with the brains subconscious expectations;
• the influence of social media and communities on consumers decisions when collective conscience is gradually replacing individual conscience and recommendation becomes more important than communication; and
• the ethical limits and considerations that organizations must heed when following these principles.

Authored by two globally recognized leaders in business and neuroscience, this book is an essential companion to marketers and brand strategists interested in neuroscience and vital reading for any advanced student or researcher in this area.

Anne-Sophie Bayle-Tourtoulou is an Associate Professor of Marketing at HEC Paris where she holds academic responsibilities at the graduate and executive levels. Her interests deal with marketing strategy, retail and e-tail marketing, neuroscience and artificial intelligence. She is the co-author of Neuromarketing in Action.

Michel Badoc is an Emeritus Professor at HEC Paris. He gives courses on neuroscience, marketing and sensory marketing. He develops consultancy activities for companies in Europe and North America. He is the co-author of Neuromarketing in Action and many books on banking and insurance marketing.

First published 2020

by Routledge

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2020 Anne-Sophie Bayle-Tourtoulou and Michel Badoc

The right of Anne-Sophie Bayle-Tourtoulou and Michel Badoc to be identified as authors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.

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ISBN: 978-0-367-89590-7 (hbk)

ISBN: 978-1-003-01997-8 (ebk)

The authors would like to thank HEC Paris and the Ile de France Chamber of Commerce and Industry for their encouragement and support in writing this book.

They would also like to thank all the professionals who answered their questions and shared their knowledge and expertise.

Finally, they would like to thank their students and executive participants for their genuine interest in the field and their constructive interactions during class sessions.

Understanding the human brain in biological terms has emerged as sciences main challenge for the 21st century. This quote from Austrian neuropsychiatrist Eric Richard Kandel, awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2000, struck us not only on a personal level, but also in our professional capacity as marketing and communication professors. We asked ourselves whether it applies to the two subjects that we teach and research. To try and answer this question, over the last few years we have devoted some of our time to meeting during our lectures and at conferences, seminars and in individual meetings all over the world a large number of company directors, marketing and communication managers, neuroscientists and neuromarketing experts, etc. These many encounters have showed us how new ways of thinking and changes in practical applications are appearing.

In English-speaking countries particularly the United States and Britain and in Asia, the directors of big international groups are showing a real interest in applying neuroscientific research to the fields of marketing, sales and communication. On the other hand, however, those in southern countries, notably in France, are showing less interest.

On most continents, academic research in this field has seen quasi-exponential growth over the last few years. Using techniques drawn from neuroscience, consultants specializing in neuromarketing are becoming more numerous and meeting with real success. Most American companies use their services as are the advisers to certain American politicians and presidents.

These observations have encouraged us to try and better understand how the human brain functions and how it reacts when solicited by marketing, commerce and communication. In this, we have received much help from neurosurgery professor Patrick M. Georges. Our collaboration with him led to the joint publication of a first book, Neuromarketing in Action, which has met with international success.

In this book, we look at a different aspect of the question.

We have been surprised to discover that most marketing and communication are still based on the hypothesis that consumers are rational, both in their purchasing decisions and in their reactions to advertising. Much of the research and many of the surveys carried out today are limited to asking them what they think.

Research carried out using neuroscientific techniques shows that in fact the opposite is true. Neuroscientists, as we will see throughout this book, have shown that a great majority of our actions are directly governed by our brains, outside the conscious mind. When we get up in the morning, brush our teeth, drive to work, etc., we perform most of these actions without thinking. Nevertheless, millions of neurons, controlled by the brain, work to carry them out correctly without us being aware of it.

The same is true when we buy something. North American neuromarketing experts, such as A.K. Pradeep and Martin Lindstrom, go as far as to say that 70% to 80% of purchases are irrational. Their observation has led them to wonder about the incongruity of marketing and communication, where large sums of money continue to be spent, based on the supposition that the customer is rational, when in fact this is only true to an extremely limited extent.

This striking observation has led us to become interested in the brains modes of perception and subconscious behavior when solicited by marketing and communication.