Lately I have been looking at a lot of data on neuroscience. I find it extremely interesting, however, I am not convinced it's completely practical yet. Marketers and scientists are very interested in finding the "buy" button that's inside our brains; for obvious reasons. There is just so much we don't know about how the brain works and why people make the choices they do...but they are getting closer.
I guess my question is what happens when they actually do figure it out. What would that mean? How would that change the way marketers position their products? How would that change the way consumers look at brands, messages and products? Their integrity? Would it create a need for consumers to come up with some anti "buy" button counter-warfare thing-a-magig? I don't know. I imagine, for all of the research and effort marketers and scientists put into finding the "buy"button, at it's best, would only be able to slightly influence us into making an actual purchase. I can't imagine opening up a magazine and looking at an ad and being involuntarily moved to stop what I am doing and go down to the mall and buy a specific item. That's a very scary thought. I just don't think it will ever get to that point...and perhaps that's a good thing. For now I am still in control of my brain.
There is a recent interview with Martin Lindstrom (www.martinlindstrom.com) on the Tom Peters blog that many of you might want to check out as well as some other recently published books relating to this topic.
I would also suggest taking a look at True North Performance. They are doing a lot of marketing research into emotions with neuroscience. Created by Dr. Stephen Curtis, his research provides a very unique look into how emotions impact the decision making process from a neuroscientific perspective. www.truenorthperformance.com
Books to look at:
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