A Branded Mind

A Branded Mind An analysis of emotion as a tool used my marketers to generate product sales and win in the marketplace

Yulia Aleksandrova

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD School of Art, Design and Architecture Department of Design

A Branded Mind

An analysis of emotion as a tool used my marketers to generate product sales and win in the marketplace

Yulia Aleksandrova

A Major Project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for BA (Hons) Fashion, Communication and Promotion.

Module THD1038 Fashion Communication Promotion Case Study The candidate confirms that the work submitted is their own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others.

The University of Huddersfield School of Art & Design Department of Design Huddersfield West Yorkshire ENGLAND 14.02.2014

Abstract In an ultracompetitive 21st Century environment, consumers are constantly bombarded with thousands of marketing messages making brands work that much harder to get their share of attention.

This case study looks at how both conscious and (even more importantly) unconscious emotional response consumers experience when exposed to various promotional messages illustrated with various examples from the fashion industry. It addresses the impact of emotion in marketing and branding messages, and explores the ways in which marketers tap into these emotional responses in order to generate a loving consumer-brand relationship. This, however, could result in marketers seeking to influence the complex processes of evaluation and selection by consumers, sometimes reverting to strategies and technologies that redirect decision makers and their emotions without their explicit consent.

Keywords: emotions, emotional marketing, advertising, consumer-brand relationship, brand love, brain, neuromarketing, ethics

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“When dealing with people, let us remember we are not dealing with creatures of logic.

We are dealing with creatures of emotion, creatures bustling with prejudices and motivated by pride and vanity.�

Dale Carnegie

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Acknowledgement A first special thank you is directed to my advisor, Charlotte Goldthorpe, who consistently provided insightful and critical advice, from the initial concept discussions and development to the conclusion of the project. Special thanks are also due to Stephen Wigley for his valuable suggestions and critical review, which helped me improve my case study.

I would also like to express my gratitude to the people who have been instrumental in the successful completion of the focus group.

Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the assistance of Graham Jones for his expert opinion and for providing me with inspiring ideas on the projection of theory and findings.

My gratitude also goes to Fran Carruthers, without our coffee dates, inspirational discussions and thoughts, I would have been lost!

Lastly, I would like to direct a warm thank you to my family and friends for their encouragement and sincere mentorship during this demanding period of time, and without whom this case study would have been completed at least a month earlier.

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List of Figures Figure 1 - Giorgio Armani’s lifestyle emporium in Tokyo - p. 21 Figure 2 - Burberry’s classic pattern modernised - p. 22 Figure 3 - Burberry Kisses campaign website - p.25 Figure 4 - Burberry Kisses campaign - p.26 Figure 5 - Burberry advertisement featuring Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge - p 26 Figure 6 - John Lewis Bear and Hare Christmas campaign - p.27 Figure 7 - Brands vs. Lovemarks characteristics - p.32 Figure 8 - Nike brand identity - p.33 Figure 9 - Chanel No.5 and Marilyn Monroe - p.35 Figure 10 - Model combining the brand love dimensions of Batra et al. (2012), Albert et al. (2008), and the concept of Lovemarks by Roberts (2005) - p.36 Figure 11 - Neuroimaging - p.45 Figure 12 - Dior J’adore campaign - p.51

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Contents

01 02 03 04 05

Chapter One p.7 Introduction p.9 Rationale p.11 Aims and Objectives Methodology p.15

Chapter Two - An examination the role of emotions as decision-drivers and how they are implemented in marketing communications strategies p.17 What does emotional marketing mean?

Appealing to the senses p.20 The role of emotions in print p.23 Emotion-evoking imagery p.23 Emotional digital marketing p.24 The case of Burberry p.25 The case of John Lewis p.27

p.19

Chapter Three - An investigation the importance of emotion in consumer-brand relationship p.29 The feeling of love in consumer behaviour Advocates p. 31 Lovemarks Strategy p.31 Brand Love Findings p.38

p.30

Chapter Four - An exploration of the ethics of giving marketers additional insight into the subconscious mind p.41 Where is the line drawn? p.43 Neuromarketing p.44 Advocates and Critics p. 46 When does influence become manipulation?

Measures p.48 Anti-Neuromarketing Campaigns p.50 Chapter Five - Conclusion

References p. 59

p.13

p.46

p.53

Bibliography p. 65

Appendix p. 67

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01 Introduction - Rationale - Aims and Objectives - Methodology

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Introduction People living in today’s almost demystified world of consumption are increasingly looking out for new opportunities to fill their lives with meaning.

Consumers often satisfy this deeply rooted desire through the consumption of material products or the possession of beloved objects. In this context the development of close emotional bonds between consumers and brands are paramount to the success of a company. In practical experience, the focus lies on creating and maintaining an emotional connection through marketing messages, generating in positive effects on consumer behaviour such as the willingness to pay a premium price or to spread positive word-of-mouth.

The aim of this case study is to analyse emotion as a tool used by marketers to sell product and win in the marketplace. A Branded Mind addresses these questions: how do emotions interact with and influence so-called “rational� processes; how do marketers trigger an emotional response in order to build a connection with their consumers; and how far are brands willing to go in order to generate those positive emotional responses?

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Rationale Marketing communications and branding strategies need to reflect the ways in which consumers have changed. Emotional intelligence is becoming more central to marketing development. As differentiation on functional benefits get closer and closer with technical advances in product performance, differentiation on emotional benefits becomes more and more crucial. Understanding the role of emotion in communication is critical to an understanding of advertising effectiveness, because emotion is an important mediator of how we process information.

Because most of today’s models of marketing were developed under the influence of mid-20th-century cognitive science, it is not surprising that many marketing experts and practitioners feel more at home with the conscious, cognitive aspects of behaviour than with the unconscious and emotional. The earliest models of how marketing worked often assumed a simple linear relationship between attention and action. Models such as AIDA (Attention – Interest – Desire – Action) hypothesised that, through the medium of a convincing message, information is consciously processed and can be accessed via the conscious. However, as renowned neurologist Donald Calne has established, “the essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions”.

Moreover, the world of consumer-brand relationships is changing in unprecedented ways. The brand’s equity has always been influenced by multiple factors, but today, the brand can no longer completely control its environment – it is being controlled by it. People participate in brand discussions like never before, and the stronger the bond between the brand and consumer, the more likely they are to engage with the brand through multiple channels. It follows that the stronger the engagement, the stronger the likelihood that the consumer will generate an emotional connection with the brand.

Additionally, as brands are seeking more effective methods to build closer connections with the consumer, boost recognition, build loyalty and sway the purchase decision journey, it is important to investigate how far they are willing to go to achieve this. Marketers have made staggering advances in their ability to study and understand what influences consumers, whether this be employing eye-tracking technology or using sophisticated data analytics to monitor real time consumer preferences. For better or for worse, this has resulted in the significantly increased prospects of influencing consumers without their full awareness.

In conclusion, understanding the role of emotion in consumer-brand relationships is crucial for consumer researchers since; “brands are omnipresent in the everyday life of consumers (Albert et al. 2008)”, increasing the need for brands to respond to consumer’s feelings and attitudes.

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Aim: Analyse emotion as a tool used my marketers to generate product sales and win in the marketplace

Objectives: •

Examine the role of emotions as decision-drivers and how they are implemented in marketing communications strategies

•

Investigate the importance of emotion in consumer-brand relationship

•

Explore the ethics of giving marketers additional insight into the subconscious mind

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Methodology Secondary research: A wide range of sources will be researched in order to develop a deep understanding and form an objective argument on the topic. These sources include: academic journals from the marketing, medical, psychology sectors; books by industry experts; online articles and interviews; magazine and newspaper articles.

Primary research: A qualitative strategy in the form of interviews with industry experts and a focus group will be implemented in this case study. Quantitative research was not suitable for this case study since, in order to find out about consumers’ perspectives and experiences, words are the most appropriate data collection for considering the intimateness of emotions.

The focus group will allow me to gain a clear insight into consumer behaviour by observing what people did and said. It will fit the research perfectly since it will enable me to investigate deeply, uncover new information, open up new attributes of the problem, and secure vivid and accurate descriptions based on personal experience.

The goal of the interviews with industry experts is to understand how consumers experience consumer-brand relationships by questioning the dimensions of previous studies.

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02 An examination of the role of emotions as decision-drivers and how they are implemented in marketing communications strategies

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In the beginning, products were just products. Making the right choice was easy. But now, in an ultracompetitive 21st Century environment, consumers are constantly bombarded with thousands of advertising and brand messages making brands work that much harder to get their share of attention.

This chapter discusses the potential of emotional marketing and how it improves the effectiveness of both commercial and cause-related marketing messages around the world.

The brain has been long described as the most complex structure in the universe (Penrose, M. 2012). Study after study has proven that human beings are powered by emotion, as opposed to reason (Calne, 2000. Damasio, 1999. LeDoux 1996.). As far as we know emotions are a stimulation of the brain’s ventral tegmental area in the caudate nucleus. These areas are also involved in major purchasing decisions. Although emotion and reason are intertwined, when conflict occurs—emotion triumphs every time.

Without the momentary and powerful stimulus of emotion, rational thought gradually collapses.

“The essential difference between emotion and reason is that emotion leads to action while reason leads to conclusions” (Calne, 2000).

“Over 85% of thought, emotions, and learning occur in the unconscious mind.... To put it simply our reasoning strategies are defective” (Damasio, 1999).

“The wiring of the brain favours emotion—the communications from the emotional to the rational are stronger than the other way round” (LeDoux, 1996).

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Emotions can be separated into primary and secondary. Emotions can inspire and excite us. They can also threaten and frighten us. Primary emotions are brief, intense, and they cannot be controlled, usually as a reaction to an outside stimulus, and are experienced similarly across cultures. Researcher Dylan Evans of King’s College London identifies them as: joy; sorrow; anger; fear; surprise; disgust. You can feel primary emotions alone. But what is striking about secondary ones is how social they are. Secondary emotions are love; guilt; shame; pride; envy; jealousy.

They are processed by a different part of the brain that requires higher order thinking; therefore, they are not spontaneous. These emotions develop over time, take longer to fade away, and are interpersonal because they are most often experienced in relation to others.

As scientists have known for decades now, there is the original sensory (reptilian) brain, and emotional (mammalian) brain and finally, a rational (human) brain, where our verbal abilities reside. With evergathering strength during the last two decades, advances in brain science have established that people are predominantly emotional decision makers.

(Hill, D. 2010) In marketing terms, this means that first-mover advantage rests overwhelmingly with the older sensory-emotive way in which marketing connects with consumers. Creating a strong sensoryemotive connection is at the heart of generating profit.

In contrast, a rational, on-message approach is vital, but secondary in that it provides the logical alibi, a method to add just enough facts that the rational mind, searching to validate a choice, and therefore, feel assured about the purchase.

Every year, billions of pounds are invested into developing products that will never see the light of day. Countless promotion campaigns fail to draw consumer attention and successfully influence our memory banks. It is asserted that of the billions spent on advertising globally, 37 percent of it is wasted, according to study by Briggs, R. and Stuart, G. 2006.

Twentieth-century marketing was mostly about being on-message, about getting talking points consistently right. In contrast, 21st century marketing is and will continue to be very different.

What does emotional marketing mean?

Emotional marketing is about creating the right emotions for a particular person, at the right time, and in the right way to fit the positioning of a given offer (whether it be a product, service or experience).

Feelings are natural, innate and organic to all of us.

So being on-emotion defines the new marketing era, which champions ‘pull’ instead of ‘push’. (Hill, D. 2010).

A study by the Onmicom Group (2008) stated that managing to emotionally engage the target market really does impact the sales figures. More specifically, the study found that engaging consumers resulted in a return of investment that is 15-20% higher than if only mere awareness was achieved.

Then, in early 2009, in an article titled “Why emotional messages beat rational ones”, Hamish Pringle and Peter Field reported that, based on their review of 880 case studies from the UK’s Institute of Practitioners in Advertising Effectiveness Awards, emotions win. More specifically, they found that ‘soft sell’ advertisements that inspire strong emotional responses in consumers make more money. In fact, they resulted in profit gains that were nearly twice as good as ‘hard sell’ ads with fact-based, rational arguments. Furthermore, Pringle and Field also learned that campaigns that leverage emotions excel at reducing price sensitivity, are superior at creating a sense of brand differentiation, and become more important as market sector matures.

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Appealing to the senses The connection between our senses and our brain is direct. Marketing professionals who build sensory features into their product and promotion can appeal directly to the emotions and stored memories of their customers. Marketing to all five senses has the potential to change weak brands and products into powerhouses. (Roberts, K. 2004) One of the strongest advocates for creating marketing that appeals to all five senses is Martin Lindstorm, author of both Buyology and Brand Sense: Build Powerful Brands through Touch, Taste, Smell, Sight, and Sound. Lindstorm’s main argument is simple: brands and campaigns that appeal to multiple senses will be more successful than those that emphasise on only one or two. Their applications can be part of the brand’s advertising, like using a distinctive colour and logo in a consistent manner, or be part of the product itself, such as the fragrance of a perfume product.

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A prime example of sensory branding is Giorgio Armani’s lifestyle emporium in Tokyo, a thirteenstory high-rise devoted to leisure and shopping. In the Armani/Ginza Tower every sense is activated, cared for, and trained within a retail environment that attempts to bridge a designer’s desire to forge a cohesive aesthetic brand identity while at the same time fulfilling the needs of and responding to the idiosyncrasies of a local culture (Potvin, J. 2012).

Figure 1 - Giorgio Armani’s lifestyle emporium in Tokyo

Another reason to engage people across the sensory bandwidth (Hill, D. 2010) is that the new generation of shoppers, especially those at the cutting edge, where so much of the spending power is located, will reject being mere consumers. They need to be advertising co-producers, people who evaluate the messaging of companies based on how it is shaped and experiences by them, in their own bodies, through their own senses.

In order to create a truly successful emotional connection, a marketing campaign should cater to the human senses. Consistency is crucial in structuring the sensory aspects of a brand. These elements should be the same across time, in any location, and in any use.

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Figure 2 - Burberry’s classic pattern modernised

Burberry is another example of a pinnacle in sensory branding.

The born-again checked pattern has become a worldwide luxury cult. From outfitting the military and intrepid explorers last century, Burberry has morphed into a high fashion staple.

The streets of London, New York, Tokyo, Milan or Sydney would not be the same without the trademark red, camel, black and white check. It is their powerful visual signature of quality.

Easy to see, easy to read (Roberts, 2006).

Emotion-evoking imagery Humans are readily able to interpret pictures as representations of reality, and that makes photos and illustrations powerful accompaniments to other advertising.

An interesting experiment (Raveh, D. 2008) showed that radiologists are more meticulous when a photograph accompanied a patent’s file. The doctors say they felt more connected to the patients. This goes to show how photos alter people’s behaviour.

The role of emotions in print Branding agency Millward Brown used fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) brain scans to show that brains process paper-based and digital based marketing in different ways and, in particular, that paper advertisements caused more emotional processing (2010). According to the study, physical media left a “deeper footprint” on the brain concluding that physical material (like paper) is more “real” to the brain, involving more emotional processing. The memories of the paper-based ads were likely to be more vivid and associated with emotion. This goes to prove why more and more fashion and lifestyle brands invest funds into producing a different texture and heavier weight paper advertisements in glossy and weekly magazines.

Dan Hill, in his book About Face: The Secrets of Emotionally Effective Advertising, suggests following five guidelines to achieve high emotional impact with images:

1. The most important image has more impact if placed front and centre. Consumers prefer to get oriented, which is energy efficient and emotionally comfortable. This placement makes sense because we process visual information far better when it is in the middle of our field of vision rather than on the periphery. Something that’s centre gets looked at by both eyes, each covering for the other eye’s blind spot.

2. The use of faces draws attention readily and constantly.

3. Other body parts attract attention – an outstretched hand, for example, or a person jumping in the air and caught freeze-framed draws our attention. People’s visual system is exquisitely tuned for biological motion because in general, stationary objects don’t signify either attacks or food, i.e. the risk of reward that are central to surviving and thriving on the planet from an evolutionary perspective.

4. People long for meaning and are constantly searching to support their lives with meaning and purpose. In regards to stopping power, that translates into risks and rewards.

5. The larger the size of something, generally the more important we consider it to be. The eye goes to what is proportionally dominant, or in other cases more brightly lit, more colourful and so on.

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Emotional digital marketing Graham Jones, author of Click.ology, believes that online, the same emotional triggers exist as in the “real world�, although many online businesses are not really using them in any meaningful way. Indeed, that is why the vast majority of online retail goes through such a small number of suppliers. According to him, the biggest emotional trigger is to make the product being sold a completely personal experience. Few online retailers power up their websites to provide an individualised, personal experience and as a result they are missing out on the main emotional trigger. Amazon, one of the most successful online retailers, provides as personalised an experience as it can, but compared with a real world store that is still far less emotive.

The implication of all this is that online retail has a long way to go before it reaches the impact of real world shopping. Even with trillions of pounds worth of sales each year online, it is all too easy to forget that over 90% of all shopping in the world is done in real bricks and mortar stores. Online is doing well, but it is a minority usage.

This is largely due to the fact that the only sense online triggers is a visual one. New technologies on the horizon will add touch and smell. It means that the opportunity for online retailers to really trigger our emotions is weak. And they do not exploit one of the best ways of triggering emotions - words. Online, people have to read the descriptions of products and when writing is done well it triggers emotions. Retailers need to write much better copy that get people to feel and understand their products inside their own minds. That is much more likely to trigger emotional connection - yet few online retailers use the opportunity. Words can also trigger feelings and sensations - use the right words and you can make people feel as though they are touching or smelling something - novelists do this all the time. (Appendix B)

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The case of Burberry UK fashion house Burberry has launched ‘Burberry Kisses’, a beauty-inspired partnership with Google that uses new technology to allow users to capture and send a real kiss to anyone in the world.

Designed to “entertain and engage global audiences through personalised and beautifully-rendered content” the alliance is part of Google’s ‘Art, Copy & Code’ initiative, “humanising technology through emotive digital experiences” (WGSN, 2012).

Hosted on a dedicated Burberry platform – Kisses.

Burberry.com –users can unlock the experience through ‘kiss recognition technology’, using a desktop camera or direct lip contact on their touch screen device to capture their real kiss. Before adding a personalised message, users can also select an optional Burberry Beauty lip colour for their kiss.

“We’re constantly thinking about how we translate the emotion of what we create and experience in the real world into the digital space, whether that’s capturing the energy and excitement of a live gig, the hum and

buzz of anticipation before a runway show, or just the feeling you get when you pull on your trenchcoat on a rainy morning,” says Christopher Bailey, the brand’s chief creative officer. He said Burberry Kisses began with the idea of “giving technology a bit of heart and soul and using it to unite the Burberry family across the world — by telling a story that makes the digital personal.” (Telegraph, 2013) It is clear that Burberry understands the importance of emotions by showing off their younger and more technology savvy side and as well as making its customers associate their product with the most common expression of love and affection – the kiss. They have recreated an emotional experience that comes to life on all screens, and helps connect consumers to the people important to them, wherever they are.

As consistency is key to a successful marketing campaign, Burberry has also followed its virtual kisses initiative with a romantic seasonal campaign starring real-life couple Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge. The actress and her actor fiancé are seen in a series of black and white images which create an even deeper emotional connection with consumers as they are automatically being associated with more than just actors.

Figure 3 - Burberry Kisses campaign website

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Figure 4 - Burberry Kisses campaign Figure 5 - Burberry advertisement featuring Sienna Miller and Tom Sturridge

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The case of John Lewis In November 2013, UK department store chain John Lewis released one of its most successful festive advertisements. They are known for the high production value of their annual holiday commercial produced in partnership with Adam&Eve/DDB. The ad was made using a blend of traditional hand-drawn animation and stop-motion sets.

The £7 million Christmas campaign is set to a cover of Keane’s “Somewhere Only We Know” with vocals

by Lily Allen, and the advert follows the story of a hibernating bear, and his friend the hare who is sad to hear he will sleep through Christmas. The hare decides to bring the sleeping bear a present, and he soon perks up to join the other woodland animals around the Christmas tree. The advert ends with the strapline “Give someone a Christmas they’ll never forget.”

The secret to the success of this John Lewis ad, in the words of Craig Inglis, its marketing director, lies in “ambition to connect emotionally with our customers.

There is a unifying theme. If you want to find a gift for someone you love that they would love then come to John Lewis.” (BBC, 2013)

The opening scene elicits an intense approach reaction, i.e., a positive emotion. It means that the ad has strong potential to stand out in a commercial block. Just a moment later, beautiful animation and the accompanying music, a bit melancholic, calm the viewers’ emotional responses (which, however, remain positive). This positive attitude remains stable until a point where a genuine outburst of emotion is observed. The emotional climax comes in the bear rises up from hibernation and joins in the woodland fun to enjoy its first Christmas. This generates a strong positive response that lasts throughout the rest of the spot, i.e., during the presentation of the brand.

What the advert does is tell a story to create an emotional connection. It’s not all about glitz and glamour, it’s all about animation and the brand.

The store evokes the importance of friendship and thoughtfulness and links those feelings straight to the retailer. If you watch the ad on YouTube and click on “follow the story” you’re directed to a page where you can buy Lily Allen’s single, the bear, the hare and Christmas cards of the bear and the hare, among other products related to the ad, therefore further buying into the emotional contentment the story aims to elicit.

Figure 6 - John Lewis Bear and Hare Christmas campaign

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03 An investigation of the importance of emotion in consumer-brand relationship

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As consumers’ choices grow wider their loyalty towards brands that do not deliver a personal and emotional connection only weakens. Consumers nowadays recognise how brands and their campaigns work and, most importantly, how they are intended to work on them. In a world in which numerous products offer the same high level of performance, brands that reach your heart as well as your mind, create an intimate, emotional connection that consumers cannot live without.

This chapter discusses the use of emotion by brands as a tool to achieve the highest form of loyalty based on love and suggests it has the potential to significantly improve the effectiveness of both commercial and cause-related branding messages around the world.

Although for decades researchers have studied how consumers form “like–dislike” attitudes toward brands, the past few years have seen a burgeoning interest among both practitioners and academics in consumers’ “love” for brands. Research into consumerbrand relationships has proposed and tested various relational concepts, including brand trust (Hess, 1995), brand commitment (Fullerton, 2005) and brand identification (Escalas and Bettman, 2003). The brand relationship paradigm has been successful because of its relevance for understanding brand loyalty, conceptualised as long-lasting relationships with the brand that rely on deep, underlying feelings towards it (Fournier, 1998). More recent studies also demonstrate that consumers can experience a feeling of love for their brand (Albert et al., 2010; Batra et al., 2013).

The feeling of love in consumer behaviour In the psychological literature, definitions of different types of interpersonal love (e.g., romantic, compassionate/altruistic) abound, many of which mention affection, attachment, intimacy, caring, intense longing, passion, and so on, depending on the specific type of love (Fehr 2006). Consistent with research on interpersonal love (Fehr 2006, 2009), it is found that brand love, as consumers experience it, is best represented as a higher-order construct including multiple cognitions, emotions, and behaviours, which consumers organise into a mental prototype.

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These include, but go beyond, brand attachment (Thomson, MacInnis, and Park 1995) and self–brand connections (Escalas and Bettman 2003). The brand love relationship is deep and lasting (beyond simple affect), such that the loved brand is thought of as irreplaceable. The consumer grieves when deprived of the brand for a long period of time. Brand love also leads to biased, positive perceptions of the brand.

Some studies propose several backgrounds of brand love, such as status as a hedonic brand (i.e. brands for which fun, pleasure or enjoyment are primary benefits) or a self-expressive brands (i.e. the brand enhances the social self or reflects the inner self; Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006), brand quality (Batra et al., 2012) and brand identification (Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen, 2010).

Other research offers a few consequences, including influences on brand loyalty (Batra et al., 2012; Carroll and Ahuvia, 2006; Bergkvist and Bech-Larsen, 2010 or active participation in a brand community (Bergkvist and Bech- Larsen, 2010).

Batra, R., Ahuvia, A. and Bagozzi, R. identify consumers’ love towards brands in their Brand Love study (2012).

These types of love include a sense of natural comfort and fit, a feeling of emotional connectedness and bonding, a deep integration with a consumer’s core values, a heightened level of desire and interaction, a commitment to its long-term use, attitude valence and strength. They find that brand love, as consumers experience it, is best represented as a higher-order prototype that includes, but goes beyond, brand attachment and self–brand connections. Using survey data, they then develop a valid and structural equation model of brand love based on this prototype. This multicomponent model of brand love offers greatly expanded understanding of the degree and drivers of brand love consumers feel toward a brand.

Brand love creates positive word of mouth, repeat purchase intention, increased brand loyalty, and resistance to negative information about the brand (Batra et al. 2012). In addition, brand love also further increases consumers’ willingness to pay a price premium (Thomson et al. 2005 & Batra et al. 2012:1) and forgiveness of brand failures (Bauer et al. 2009 & Batra et al. 2012:1).

Advocates A vocal advocate for emotional branding is Marc Gobe, chairman and chief executive of Desgrippes Gobe New York, the design and brand consultancy, and author of Emotional Branding (2010) and BrandJam (2007). For a brand to be successful, Mr Gobe believes an emotional bond must be developed between the buyer and the product. His thesis is straightforward: build emotions in brands and you will be loved and well-known, too. Emotional branding brings a new level of credibility and personality to a brand by connecting powerfully with people on a personal and holistic level, and elevates purchases based on need to the realm of desire. Central to the concept, he says, is that companies have to make an effort to ensure the values communicated to the consumers are consistent with their internal values.

Lovemarks Strategy

“If you look at powerful emotional brands they are from companies that favour inspiration and prioritise the look and feel of the brands and deliver consistency in their products,” Mr Gobe says (FT, 2010). “The people who are driving those brands have a tremendous desire to use the brands not just for commerce but also to influence the world around them. It is important to humanise brands the idea is not just to create pretty pictures but to communicate a more profound truth about the company or the brand.” To successfully “humanise” the brand, says Mr Gobe, a company must “have the humility to be able to observe and understand people, not from the way we are doing research in focus groups but by finding ways to observe them in the reality of their lives”. Second, it has to be “courageous enough to also create the type of products and brands that motivate people and in a way stimulate their minds.”

Kevin Roberts, author of Lovemarks: Future Beyond Brands (2006), is arguably the most vocal proponent of emotional branding. “If you look at the purpose of marketing it has gone beyond price and distribution,” he says. “The task now for marketers is to connect emotionally with consumers by making their brand irresistible. Before the mantra was to make the brand irreplaceable, however, that is not enough today, it has to be irresistible.” He believes the power has to be switched from the brand to the consumer. To successfully create an emotional bond, the brand “has to give itself to the consumer and let the consumer own it”. Emotions, Mr Roberts says, “are a serious opportunity to get in touch” with people. Moreover, the goal of any company should be to become a “lovemark” which means it has won love and respect. With both attributes, a product has an emotional connection that leads to a long-term relationship with customers.

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The appreciation of consumers’ needs and desires can deliver great experiences that make a brand become a beloved part in consumers’ lives. Therefore, creating a Lovemark can be possible by understanding consumers’ dreams, finding out what they want and when they want it. (Roberts, 2006) Besides, a solid foundation of respect, performance, innovation, reputation, and honesty is essential for a Lovemark to become established (Roberts, 2006).

Batra et al. (2012) reinforces this by presenting brand qualities as a brand love dimension in their prototype (e.g. performance, trustworthiness, beauty, innovation).

Emotional branding is more durable than other forms of branding because consumers are emotional people. Consumers are not driven by rational data. Roberts says the fact is brands are being adopted everyday by people with their wallet, therefore the brand has to continue to surprise and evolve and bring new solutions to consumers.

Loyalty cannot be bought for money, but it can be for love. Lovemarks, as described by Roberts, are “super-evolved brands,” which maximise their connection with consumers by creating strong emotional bonds. A strong emotional bond reinvigorates loyalty and creates advocacy.

It transforms the competitive context and places Lovemark brands in a category-of-one.

Lovemarks transcend brands. They deliver beyond expectations of great performance. Like great brands, they sit on top of high levels of respect, but there the similarities end. Lovemarks reach the heart and gut, as well as the mind, creating intimate, emotional connections.

Herskovitz and Crystal (2010), and Gobe (2003) confirm Roberts’ point by stating that loyalty and trust need to be developed over a long time, resulting from many well-performed acts, in order to create a crucial, intrinsic, and implicit emotional connection.

Figure 7 - Brands vs. Lovemarks characteristics

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BRANDS

LOVEMARKS

Information

Relationship

Recognised by consumers

Loved by people

Generic

Personal

Presents a narrative

Creates a love story

The promise of quality

The touch of sensuality

Symbolic

Iconic

Defined

Infused

Statement

Story

Defined attributes

Wrapped in mystery

Values

Spirit

Professional

Passionately creative

Advertising agency

Ideas company

The importance of a strong brand identity - An example of Nike For a Lovemark to get established, a solid foundation of respect, performance, innovation, reputation, and honesty is needed (Roberts, 2006). Nike makes it clear how important these foundations are for a brand to be loved.

The brand identity of Nike stands for triumph and performance. Both their slogan “Just do it�, and their logo, the swoosh, are immediately recognisable. However, ultimately, Nike succeeds not because of its memorisable slogan or logo, but because it forms longlasting associations between its products and the atmosphere of glorious performance that surrounds those who use them, whether amateurs or professional athletes.

Nike’s brand personality is built on various accomplishment stories, comprising of small and large victories. However, when there is no longer a link between a brand (Nike) and its brand identity (triumph and performance); there is a chance that customers disconnect from the brand (Herskovitz & Crystal, 2010). This happened when skier Bode Miller, one of the athletes sponsored by Nike during the Olympic Winter Games in 2006, fell short in all five of his medal attempts. However, because of the impressive loyalty Nike enjoys from its consumers and its strong persona, the brand did not suffer lasting harm from the disappointed achievements of a single athlete.

Figure 8 - Nike brand identity

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Roberts’ basic argument is that in the future the successful marketing of products and services will provoke a genuine, emotional, consumer connection to the product. A successful emotional connection will be denoted a Lovemark. According to Lovemarks, any product or service can be evaluated by its location on a love/respect axis. Goods and services with low love, low respect ratings are commodities; those with low respect and high love are fads, and those with high respect and low love are brands. But a product that is high in love and high in respect has the status of Lovemark (Roberts, 2004, p. 146-9).

To create a Lovemark marketers need to build not just respect but to overlay onto that a loving and close relationship. Lovemark high love is infused with three intangible, yet very real, ingredients: mystery, sensuality, and intimacy. And although they do not sound like traditional brand characteristics, they capture the new emotional connection consumers are seeking.

Mystery consists of great stories which tap into dreams, myths and icons, and mystery provides inspiration.

Mystery keeps you going back for more and “keeps you guessing” (Roberts, 2004). Great relationships thrive on learning, anticipation, and surprise. When you know everything there is to know, there is nothing left to discover. No more wonder, no more opportunities.

No more relationships.

According to the Lovemarks concept, people love being told stories and when stories are related to their consumer experiences, it reinforces brand love and thus the relationship itself. In other words, mystery achieved through storytelling strengthens brands and drives consumers to develop feelings towards them. Although this is a practical perspective of understanding the effects of stories on consumerbrand relationship, storytelling has also become appealing to academic researchers (Boje, 1995; Boyce, 1996; Jensen, 1996; Hill, 2003; Kaufman, 2003; Sametz, Maydoney, 2003; Zaltman, 2003; Herskovitz, Crystal, 2010).

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Some companies make the most of their heritage and can still draw brilliantly into the present. They understand that their emotional legacy can inspire passion and loyalty. Tapping into dreams is a powerful way of showing consumers that their desires are understood and transformed into delight.

A perfect example of integrating mystery to a brand is Chanel with their iconic scent Chanel No. 5 “A perfume such as had never before been made – a woman’s perfume with a woman’s scent.” - Coco Chanel The story of the legendary Chanel No. 5 (which also happens to be the world’s best-selling fragrance) has been told time and time again, but the mystery behind the scent and the name of the perfume remains and will probably never be solved. There are different versions about the origin of the scent and several hypotheses about the meaning behind the name of No. 5.

Charged with their energy, the perfume lives its own independent life full of risks, adventure and admiration of generations of women around the world. With simple but powerful advertising, the brand makes the most of celebrity endorsement by iconic characters throughout the years, with their most recent campaigns featuring screen icon Marilyn Monroe.

“I only wear Chanel No.5,” revealed the star when famously asked, “What do you wear to bed?” The late Monroe was a powerful marketing tool for the fashion house, and 72 years on, the brand wants more of the same.

Figure 9 - Chanel No.5 and Marilyn Monroe

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Sensuality is “the fast track to human emotions” (Roberts, 2006) and the sensual design elements of objects, scent, texture and flavour, overtly exaggerated beyond the use aspects of the object, will influence response over and above the more “rational” product arguments.

A crucial problem for brands in their battle against commodification is their growing apart from consumers. Distant, undifferentiated, unremarkable.

Removing themselves from the people who gave them their life – consumers – they fixed on another audience: shareholders.

Intimacy consists of commitment, empathy and passion. For a Lovemark to have the capacity to bring intimacy to its relationship with the consumer the organisation must demonstrate commitment, empathy and passion and touch “directly on the personal aspirations and inspirations of consumers”.

Intimacy has got to be a two way process – listening as well as talking. Not to abandon the mass market, but to transform it with multiple emotional connections. It is only through intimacy that the barriers of reserve will dissolve and brands can become Lovemarks.

BRAND LOVE PROTOTYPE

Figure 10 - Model combining the brand love dimensions of Batra et al. (2012), Albert et al. (2008), and the concept of Lovemarks by Roberts (2005)

BRAND ATTRIBUTES: 1. (Sensory) Qualities E.g. design smell, sound, performance, trustworthiness, and/or innovation 2. Extrinsic and Intrinsic Rewards Functional rewards vs. happiness and pleasure 3. Brand-Personality Match (bonding) Natural fit, or match between self-image and brand image PERSONAL INTENTIONS: 4. Frequent Thought and Use Caused by active engagement while integrating the brand in everyday life 5. Positive Affection Direct touch on personal aspirations, caused by affection, intimacy, great stories, and/or mysterious elements 6. Duration of Relationship Caused by a long history with th brand 7. Willingness to Invest Paying price premium, time

OUTCOMES

Brand Love

• Brand Loyalty • Positive Word of Mouth • Resistance to Negative Brand Information • Repeat Purchase Intentions • Increased willingness to pay a Price Premium • Forgiveness of Brand Failures

Allen Bonde, partner and principal analyst, Digital Clarity Group, and brand advisor proposes a new way to design products, retail experiences, and marketing campaigns that build brand love and loyalty through “designed serendipity.” (Forbes, 2013) Digital Clarity Group believes that great brands put designed serendipity into practice by providing customers with innovative products, extraordinary service, and unique experiences when they least expect it.

The Serendipity model identifies a number of core facets including: (1) A New Twist: Transformation of the ordinary and expected into an innovative and evolved experience; (2) Shared Connection: Meaningful experiences between the brand and the individual that feel personal.

When consumers receive acknowledgement – no matter how big or small, that positive mutual exchange leads to a deeper connection that creates emotional relationship to the brand; (3) Magic: A service experience that delivers unexpected authenticity, expertise, and a genuine sense of connection that is memorable. Brand recall starts with making an impression; (4) Jackpot: Integrating brand “sparks” that add dimensions of newness and discovery wherein customers feel as if they are winning, without risk, for just being a customer.

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Brand Love Findings Primary research in the form of a focus group was conducted to determine the drivers generating brand love. Most of the interviewees really liked or loved a brand for a long time because the brand provided them with positive cognitive, sensory, and emotional experiences.

Three primary themes emerged associated with the participants’ cognitive experiences with those brands: 1) positive present experiences, 2) positive memories from past experiences, 3) future aspirations. Positive present experiences were more frequently discussed than the other two themes. The three themes (i.e., positive present experiences, positive memories from past experiences, and future aspirations) are consistent with mystery sub components proposed by the Lovemarks theory.

First, it appeared that positive present experiences with products and brands increased liking or loving of the brand. Participants shared personal stories of experiences with the brand. For instance, one participant loved Nike as a result of their well-known brand ethos which translates into her motivation to perform better, thus evoking love.

“For me, it will always be Nike. I like wear Nike sport shirts and running shoes. They are light, very comfortable, and cool. The design is simple but elegant. When I use it, I feel like I will do sport better than anybody. Even when I don’t have the money, I’ll find it for a Nike product that I really want. Because wearing it makes me feel like I can, and motivates me to, ‘Just Do It’.” (Appendix C) Second, positive memories from past experiences influenced liking or loving of the brand. All participants had positive memories associated with brands that lead to a feeling of nostalgia, which created a deep emotional bond or attachment to the brand. For instance, one participant had a 26-year relationship with Chanel No.5. She stated that the good memories associated with her first perfume, Chanel No.5, made her continue to purchase items from the brand:

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“This was my first perfume - my mum gave me one of those small sample bottles when I was eight. Every time I smell it, it reminds me of how naughty and grown-up I felt the first time I carefully I took of the lid and dabbed on the scent, with my eyes closed, thinking that someone was going to fall in love with me the moment they smelt me. Romance, glamour and hope in a bottle.” (Appendix C) Third, aspirations for future experiences were associated with deep emotional attachment to the brand. A few participants loved a brand because it reflected their ideal image and future desires, and believed that their personality, character, and/or social status were closely connected to the brand image: “Chanel is a dream for me, it’s classy and elegant.

Although Chanel products are expensive, I believe they are worth buying, and for me, it completes my style. Chanel makes me feel happy and satisfied, especially if I have a Chanel bag. The more Chanel products I have the happier I am. I have no doubt I am in love with this brand!” (Appendix C) In addition, participants reported that they are willing to spend premium for the brands they love. Their strong aspirations to own them, which reflect their goals and social class created love toward the brands.

In summary, positive present experiences and positive memories from past brand experiences evoked a deep emotional attachment, led to trust, and built a positive reputation for a brand. Future aspirations and self-congruity enhanced the emotional connection to the brand. Thus, pleasant cognitive experiences may contribute to creating a highly loved and respected brand.

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04 An exploration of the ethics of giving marketers additional insight into the subconscious mind

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Marketers seek to influence the complex processes of evaluation and selection by consumers, sometimes reverting to strategies and technologies that redirect decision makers and their emotions without their explicit consent. This chapter discusses the potential of emotional marketing and neuromarketing, and to what extent marketers are willing to engage in activities that lack transparency. Thus, the focus of this chapter centres on ethical questions involving consumers’ awareness, consent, and understanding to what may be viewed as invasion of their privacy rights.

Morals direct people as they make decisions in both their personal and professional lives. Ethics help create boundaries regarding what is acceptable and what is not, as these behaviours are related to moral feelings about right and wrong. Over the years advertising and marketing communication messages have encouraged a series of debatable ethical issues, as a result of the public belief that marketing nowadays has an intense emotional impact the way people perceive themselves and the world surrounding them, including crucial actions and behaviours. Ethics issues in marketing are vital, considering that marketing is expected to identify, predict and satisfy customer requirements commercially.

Where is the line drawn?

Brands are forever seeking more effective methods to build closer connections with the consumer, boost recognition, build loyalty and sway the purchase decision journey. Marketing Ethics (2008) states that manipulation of the emotion occurs when brands creates and rearranges a set of conditions such that they can motivate consumers to feel, believe, or act in certain ways that they would not otherwise have felt, believed, or acted in. Manipulation of emotions is not simply directed at getting the consumer to do certain things, but rather at getting them to feel, believe, and have certain attitudes towards particular products or product lines such that they later are more inclined to act in ways that the marketers seek. In these cases, the person’s own decision and motivational structures for acting are altered or overridden. When a consumer purchases a product based on a decision in which marketing stimuli unrelated to product characteristics

cause affective neural systems to override cognitive processes, the final purchase outcome may not always be in the best interest of the consumer.

Marketers have made staggering developments in their ability to study and understand what influences consumers, whether this be employing eye-tracking technology or using sophisticated data analytics to monitor real time consumer preferences. For better or for worse, prospects of influencing consumers without their full awareness have increased significantly as a result of research on brain activity (Wilson 2008). It was almost twenty years ago when consumer scholars suggested using brain wave measures to examine the impact of promotions on buyer behaviour (Young 2002). This perspective was controversial, especially given restrictions and difficulties interpreting data from electroencephalograms (Stewart 1984, 1985). However, over this period, the disciplines of neuroscience and cognitive psychology advanced and joined forces to provide an entirely new model for understanding ways consumers develop, store, retrieve, and use information (Gordon 2002). Neuroscience methodologies, especially non-invasive neuroimaging technology, now enable researchers to probe brain activity at the basic neural level of functioning (Shiv et al. 2005). The use of data obtained from brain imaging poses ethical dilemmas for marketers. Potential moral issues emerging from neuroscience applications include awareness and understanding of individual consumers.

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Neuromarketing The term ‘‘neuromarketing’’ was recently invented. The Economist (2004) credits Jerry Zaltman with first proposing a unification of brain-imaging technology with marketing in the late 1990s, and when the Atlanta marketing company, BrightHouse, opened a neuromarketing division in 2001, the fusion of neuroscience and marketing began to attract attention in science, business, and journalism (Wilson 2008).

Neuromarketing has been described as ‘‘applying the methods of the neurology lab to the questions of the advertising world’’ (Thompson 2003). International Journal of Psychophysiology termed neuromarketing ‘‘the application of neuroscientific methods to analyse and understand human behaviour in relation to markets and marketing exchanges’’ (Lee, Broderick, & Chamberlain 2007). Indeed, advances in neuroimaging technologies have and will carry on improving our understanding of how people make decisions and how marketers can influence those decisions.

The use of one non-invasive neuroimaging technology, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), has experienced especially rapid growth. fMRI enables researchers to isolate systems of neurons associated with functions of the brain. For example, when a person looks at a print advertisement, light activates some of the 125 million visual neural receptors, rods and cones, in each eye. Nerve signals travel to the midbrain, which focuses the pupils and coordinates eye movement over the marketing message. Other signals from the rods and cones pass through the optic nerve fibres, some of which cross-over to the other side of the brain so that the left half of the advertisement is perceived in the right hemisphere of the brain and the right half in the left hemisphere (Carey 2005; Dubuc 2007).

Camerer, Lowenstein, and Prelec (2005) define the roles of emotional and cognitive processes, acting either together or independently, during decision making. The mind identifies almost every concept and object with a positive or negative emotion that is automatically brought to mind when triggered by an appropriate symbol.

Even if consumers are made aware of the affective response, it is very difficult for them to override the influence with cognitive reasoning. The authors speculate that cognitive processes may not be able to finalise a decision without a ‘‘go/no go’’ message from an affective function of the brain.

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Figure 11 - Neuroimaging

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Advocates and Critics

When does influence become manipulation?

Regardless of the plethora of prospects neuromarketing opens up, reading consumers’ emotions through is a highly controversial subject. It has been recognised as such a contentious issue, that the British ethics group, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCB), has already launched an investigation into the ethical dilemmas and potential threats of such technology, the global market for which it says is worth £5bn and growing fast. (Guardian, 2013)

If corporations can know more about what and how consumers think than they do themselves, these companies also gain the power to control consumers’ perceptions and even behaviour in ways they will not be able to detect. If neuromarketing achieves even part of its potential, it promises to tip the balance of power in the marketplace from the buyer to the seller (Forbes, 2012).

The media has sensationalised many of these investigations, alleging that marketers found the ‘‘buy button in your brain’’ (Dias 2006) and that the population is about to be ‘‘brain scammed’’ (Brain Scam? 2004). As a result, use of neuroscience in marketing has both advocates and critics. Advocates (Erk, Martin, and Walter 2005; Singer 2004; Thompson 2005) propose that the combination will allow consumers and marketers to better understand what products are desired—a win/ win for both parties.

Critics (Herman 2005; Huang 1998; Lovel 2003; Thompson 2003) warn that consumers’ ability to make logical, informed decisions about purchases will be compromised. Whether an advocate or a critic, many believe that neuroimaging methods will bring significant changes to marketing persuasion.

Although neuroscientists have made substantial developments in linking brain activity to blood response, much remains to be learned about the relationship between a task-related thought or emotion and neuronal activity (Heuttel, Song and McCarthy 2004, Raichle and Mintun 2006). Nevertheless, it seems likely the new technologies will enable neuroscience and marketing researchers to better understand the role of emotions in decision making, to develop more effective methods of triggering those emotions, to build greater trust and brand loyalty, to measure intensity of an individual’s likes and dislikes, and, in general, to be more persuasive marketers.

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Earlier discussion of neuroscience shows that our biology has an overwhelming impact on decision making and action, suggesting that even morality may be outside our purview (Fukuyama 2002). Implicit to this belief is that knowing what portions of our brains are stimulated may expose the nature of resulting behaviours. Also noted previously, technology required to generate visual and dynamic depictions of such processes is developing quickly, and equipment that is both portable and discreet may soon be available for use by researchers and marketers. Such equipment could allow monitoring of consumers with or without their awareness, consent, or understanding. Not only has neuroimaging the potential to allow researchers to ‘‘read the minds’’ of test subjects more precisely, it also permits them to define which stimuli activate excitement, trust, pleasure, i.e., the emotions that lead people to buy. If these stimuli are unrelated to product characteristics, the result is an attempt to manipulate the consumer’s purchase decision.

Professor Fabio Ancarani at SDM Bocconi, Italy, talks about the ‘dark side’ of information transparency represented by internet companies’ ability to track users’ behaviour. Suzanne Lace of the UK National Consumer Council wrote in her recent book: ‘We are all ‘glass consumers’. Organisations know so much about us, they can almost see through us’.

Anti-commercialism lobby group Commercial Alert argues that neuromarketing presents three potential problems: (1) increased incidence of marketing-

related diseases (such as addiction or conspicuous consumption); (2) more effective political advertising; and, (3) more effective promotion of degraded values (such as materialism, addiction and anti-social behaviour). It gives “unprecedented insight into the consumer mind,” enthuses Adam Koval, the former chief operating officer at the BrightHouse Institute for Thought Sciences. “And it will actually result in higher product sales or in getting customers to behave the way companies want them to behave.”

Graham Jones, author of Click.ology (2013), argues that people are manipulated all the time without their realisation. He gives an example of when, years ago, Waterloo Station in London did not have the access it now has, commuters had to be made to move quickly from the trains to the underground otherwise the station would get blocked. Therefore in the mornings they would to play military marching music and people briskly walked off their trains to the tube station. He questions whether that had been unethical because their behaviour was being manipulated without their conscious awareness, or had it been sensible and acceptable. (Appendix D) Some marketers also worry about the Big Brother implications—and, indeed, many companies experimenting with neuromarketing prefer to stay below the radar. Martin Lindstrom, brand futurist, acknowledges that some CEOs have been concerned about having their brands associated with brain manipulation. But in defence of the field he notes, “Observing brain activity and setting up models for behaviour is not the same as forcing a brain into making a consumption decision.” (Appendix E)

could improve advertising ethics. “What if you could, for example, show a company that their moral and ethical behaviour has a bigger influence on consumer preference than the colour of their packaging or current tag line?” This responsible spin on neuromarketing may be more a response to negative press than a sincere hope for a more ethical advertising industry, however. As a result, BrightHouse has recently altered its aggressive tactics, removing the term neuromarketing from their website and substituting it with the milder “neurostrategies”. And it has changed its former Orwellian logo of two eyes piercing a brain to a harmless image of the BrightHouse building.

Critics such as Ralph Nadar and Consumer Alert fear some Orwellian future where unscrupulous marketers can induce consumers to make bad purchasing choices by exploiting the biologically determined structure of the brain. Seemingly, visual images and emotions could impact consumers to willingly react to marketing influences that they themselves are unaware of and cannot control (Fugate 2012). Currently, there is no evidence that this has or will happen. Many observers are willing to take a “wait and see” attitude.

Some even predict a more consumer-friendly future where neuroscience will be able to protect the socially desirable domain of free will; visibly demonstrate the value of socially responsible corporate behaviour; or augment public policies.

Caught between sceptics and downright opponents, Kilts and Joey Reiman, BrightHouse’s founder and CEO, claim that rather than calculating an individual’s shopping behaviour, neuromarketing will assist them to understand how consumers develop preferences.

“Our goal is to change company, not consumer, behaviour,” says Reiman. He adds that this philosophy

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Measures Just as copyright and various intellectual property laws established prior to the Internet fail to serve present legal needs, so the thinking about lack of transparency associated with promotional activities should be modernised to include neuromarketing techniques. Many within the academic and specialist communities may suggest that the natural scepticism of consumers developed over centuries of dealings in the marketplace will provide a natural barrier to potential harm (Wilson 2008). Nonetheless, distrust is only activated in ways that are relevant to accumulated experiences, and this ‘‘brave new world’’ (Huxley 1932) indicates new transparency concerns that may have insidious effects as well as unknown consequences.

Regardless, the potential limit of free will and privacy invasion made possible by neuroimaging technology requires consideration by governmental and academic communities. The rapid collection, evaluation, and deployment of brain scanning data expose a new landscape for researchers and legislators interested in the protection of consumer rights. Enquiries as to who owns such information, how it may be shared with other databases in order to grow more sophisticated and targeted marketing strategies, and under what circumstances it may be sold or traded with others, represent areas that will require attention.

Undoubtedly, enhanced explanations of consumer decision-making behaviour of any kind can only support segmentation and targeting methods and possibly support those looking for more rigorous evidence of marketing and advertising efficiency. For instance, if a specific advertising campaign or brand image can be shown to have generated measurable biological alterations in the brain, as well as better sales, something must indeed be happening, and regulating attitudinal scales in this way may permit explanation and potential replication of the effects (Wilson 2008).

Moreover, we have always acknowledged that emotion acts as a difficult to measure role in specific types of

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decision-making, and have developed suggestions to accommodate these roles. If a better understanding can be gained, the way in which consumers scan and read text, advertisements and images on web pages marketers can improve web marketing effectiveness.

For legal reasons, French marketers don’t have ready access to fMRI and EEG devices, which are classified as medical equipment. However, consultancy Impact Mémoires, founded in 2001 by advertising executive Bruno Poyet and neuroscientists Olivier Koenig and Bernard Croisile, has developed a diagnostic tool called the “IM Index” that uses 200 questions to assess perception, attention, unconscious impact, and emotion. The resulting score indicates the efficacy of a given advertising message.

Impact Mémoires has done work for Gaz de France, Renault, Peugeot, and plenty of other French corporations. “We are able to predict what consumers will experience, and from there whether there are positive or negatives consequences,” says Poyet. “Will the consumer want to buy this product; will she or he feel a greater loyalty to the brand?”

(Forbes, 2012) The techniques helped Christian Dior test everything from music and colours to ad placement and context before launching a high-stakes campaign for perfume J’Adore featuring Charlize Theron. Although the company would not discuss what it learned from Impact Mémoires—and whether it modified the ads as a result—J’Adore has been one of the most successful launches at Christian Dior in many years.

Figure 12 - Dior J’adore campaign

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In The Neuroethics of Neuromarketing, Emily Murphy, Judy Ules, and Peter Reiner, three world leaders in the area of neuroethics, present a strongly argued case for the primacy of ethical considerations in the conduct of both academic and commercial neuromarketing research. Beginning with an interesting and illuminating parallel with the idea of subliminal advertising, Murphy et al. focus on the idea of obtaining information from, or manipulating the behaviour of, consumers without their knowledge, which has clear ethical implications. Following this, they deal with the critical issue of subject vulnerability, which has implications for those involved in commercial and academic research. Perhaps most interesting is the discussion of the “seductiveness” of neuroscientific findings, and the temptation which many researchers have to provide very simple answers to what are complex questions.

Murphy et al. conclude with an early version of a code of ethics for what they term the neuromarketing industry.

Anti-Neuromarketing Campaigns EthicMark is an advertising award with a purpose to serve as “a powerful way to address the role of advertising in creating a culture of consumption that is depleting the earth’s resources and destroying the planet”. EthicMark’s main aim is not to provide an awards show – it is to call attention to the consumer-brainwashing techniques. Many of the criteria for the EthicMark contest demand that entrants not use “subliminal messages, brain science, fMRIs or endocrinology as tools to manipulate consumers for marketing purposes.” (Crain, 2013) The World Business Academy has also created an anti-neuromarketing video called “Spellcasters,” which “reveals how companies and political candidates are using MRIs, EEGs and other brain-scan technology to craft irresistible media messages designed to shift buying habits, political beliefs and voting patterns.”

The “Spellcasters” video explains that “because of advances in neuroscience and medical technology, the Spellcasters are now able to accurately pierce the human subconscious and unconscious veil. It’s an ‘Orwellian’ action which has the potential to inhibit human beings’ conscious choosing, whether you’re selecting a product, a service or a politician and turn us into a human-like Pavlov’s dog.” (Crain, 2013)

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05 Conclusion

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The aim of this case study was to analyse emotion as a tool used by marketing experts to generate product sales and win in the marketplace. In order to achieve this, a plethora of issues were researched and documented and three main objectives were identified and explored in depth.

Research from various psychologist, neurologists and industry experts confirmed the paramount role emotions have in product purchasing decision making. Emotions are omnipresent throughout marketing. They influence information and decision processing, mediate responses to persuasive appeals, and measure the effects of marketing stimuli.

Three key advances were then made: (1) a demonstration of the ways in which brands create emotional connection with their consumers, that combines qualitative insights with quantitative statistical confidence. (2) An understanding of consumers’ love for brands is developed based on previous research in both practical and theoretical fields combined with findings from qualitative primary research in the form of a focus group. (3) The ethics of emotional marketing and neuromarketing are discussed, identifying to what extent marketers are willing to engage in activities that lack transparency. The case study utilised research from academics and practitioners and offered examples from the fashion and apparel industry.

Although more research needs to be conducted with regard to this topic, this case study describes the benefits for practitioners as an opportunity to create a competitive market position, enhance brand equity, and increase profit margins. As discussed, several academics state that positive emotional influence in marketing can lead to positive word of mouth, brand loyalty, resistance to negative brand information, and forgiveness of brand failures (Carroll, Ahuvia 2006; Fournier, 1998; Thomson et al. in Batra et al. 2012).

Hence, more importance is directly linked to the establishment of emotional bond between brand and consumer. Especially nowadays when it is getting more challenging for brands to be mysterious; it becomes beneficial for brands to understand the new emotional consumer who develops feelings towards brands (Roberts, 2005).

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Consumers are not just passive recipients unlike any other time in history (Gummesson, 1998 in Vesel and Zabkar, 2004), but are willing to interact with the brand. Academic theory describes that positive emotions towards a brand can result in various benefits related to the enhancement of brand equity. Seeing the outcomes of brand love, both academics and practitioners signal that it is time for companies to enforce their marketing communications strategies with emotional power.

Creating positive emotional relations with a brand is more extensive than just positive feelings; it includes a sense of attachment and an instinctive feeling of rightness about the brand. This may be achieved by endowing the brand and its marketing strategy with a sense of authenticity from its origin and history, the vision of its founders, and its commercial culture, so that the consumer feels a sense of affinity towards it. As demonstrated by the focus group, brands and their campaigns that appeared to come from the heart of their producers had a better chance of finding a place in the hearts of their consumers. Examples include Nike and the Body Shop. (Appendix D) Successful brands have confirmed those that represent or assist self–brand integration, including not only the usual characteristics, such as a brand’s capacity to express the consumers’ present and aspirational personalities, but similarly the ability to connect to consumers’ deeper meanings and key values. In summary, positive present experiences and positive memories from past brand experiences evoke a deep emotional attachment, led to trust, and built a positive reputation for a brand. Future aspirations and self-congruity enhanced the emotional connection to the brand. Thus, pleasant cognitive experiences may contribute to creating a highly loved and respected brand.

Can this new understanding of emotional marketing and branding also be relevant to more mundane brands? Although this question requires further exploration, findings suggest that facilitating an emotional consumer-brand connection may indeed be a valuable concept in many situations.

Examining a number of ethical considerations, it was determined that, in order to create an emotionally driven consumer-brand relationship, marketers sometimes reverted to strategies and technologies that redirect the decision-making process

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and consumers’ emotions without their explicit consent. The third chapter mainly examined the potential neuromarketing, and to what extent marketers are willing to engage in activities that lack transparency. Thus, the focus of this chapter discussed ethical questions involving consumers’ awareness, consent, and understanding to what may be viewed as invasion of their privacy rights.

Numerous pieces of evidence advocate that the potential limit of free will and privacy invasion made possible by neuroimaging technology requires consideration by governmental and academic communities. The rapid collection, evaluation, and deployment of brain scanning data expose a new landscape for researchers and legislators interested in the protection of consumer rights. Enquiries as to who owns such information, how it may be shared with other databases in order to grow more sophisticated and targeted marketing strategies, and under what circumstances it may be sold or traded with others, represent areas that will require attention.

Despite the controversy, as neuroscience and our knowledge of the human brain develops to a whole new level of usability, it is inevitable that it will become an increasingly sought-after tool amongst the marketing industry. The ability to access consumers’ inner emotions and act upon them is set to revolutionise marketing and change consumers’ relationship with advertising forever. However, ethical considerations need to be placed far above any desire for commercial gain. The science needs refining, the practice controlled and its eventual implementation made entirely transparent and optional.

To conclude based on a wide range of secondary and primary research and analysis, this case study confirms the presence of what may be the most powerful marketing tool – a brand-passionate consumer who will enthusiastically advocate the brand’s behalf. Eliciting a positive emotional relationship, indeed, leads to brand advocacy, which consequently results in positive commercial outcomes for the brand. Conversely, inability to understand and provide on the consumer’s tangible and intangible needs will certainly alienate the customer and, in many cases, result in reduced customer base and negative association with the brand. Given the increasing importance of emotional marketing and branding strategies, these current contributions are only a beginning, and a great deal of work remains.

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Appendices

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Appendix A ASBCI Conference notes The ASBCI 2013 Student Conference “Fashion Perspectives” was held at the University of Huddersfield on 6th November Graham Jones is an Internet Psychologist who studies the way people use the online world, in particular how people engage with businesses. He uses this knowledge to help companies improve their online connections to their customers and potential customers and offers consultancy, workshops, masterclasses and webinars. He also speaks regularly at conferences and business events. Graham is an award-winning writer and the author of 29 books, several of which are about various aspects of the Internet.

Internet Marketing Psychology is the concept of understanding how your customers think and behave so that you can engage with them better, please them greatly and ultimately sell more. The idea of using psychology to sell more is not new. Retailers in traditional stores, for instance, use psychological techniques – major supermarkets even employ psychologists to work out where to stock products to gain our maximum attention and how to layout a store so that we fill our trolleys with even more products. So, online, you can use similar techniques to make that what your business offers is more appealing, more interesting and more “buy-able”. Plus you can use psychological methods to get more visitors, gain more attention and keep people interested.

Ultimately people buy products for two reasons – because they have to and because they want to.

The “have to” products such as food, drink, housing, heating and so on are still open to psychological persuasion though. Just because you need water does not mean you “have to” buy it from one specific supplier. True you might only get water from your local water company – but you can also get it from dozens of different mineral water suppliers and brands. In other words, you do have a choice even about the most basic of your purchases. And choice can be influenced psychologically. When it comes to products and services which are not essential to our survival, the potential for psychological influence grows massively. After all, you don’t really need the latest smartphone, not really…!

So, what can you do to sell more of the products and services you offer via your websites?

Step One – Understand Your Customers Before you can try out any techniques of psychological persuasion you need to understand who you are dealing with. What works for one kind of person, does not work for another. True, there are some basics which every sales person can rely on, but each audience you are targeting will have different ways of thinking which you need to know about to maximize your chances of success. You need to understand what your audience does with your website; how long do people look at anything, where do they look, what things do they click on and so on. Your website analytics can provide you with plenty of psychological groundwork. Plus, ask them – conduct regular surveys which find out about the hopes and desires of your customers and potential clients.

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Step Two – Focus For Speed Unlike a traditional store, people can visit a website and depart again within seconds. If they don’t see what they want straight away they leave your site and try to search for another website which will give them IMMEDIATELY what they want. Far too many sites present everything, leaving it for the visitor to hunt down what they want. Online, attention spans are very low indeed – measured in fractions of seconds. If you don’t make it completely obvious what’s on offer, people will wave you goodbye. For many businesses this ultimately means you need a combination of well-crafted “landing pages” for specific products and services as well as a range of “micro-sites” which focus solely on one single product you sell.

Step Three – Engage The one thing that ultimately drives people is the knowledge that other people like them; we all want to be loved. If you ignore your customers, if you don’t show them you love them, they’ll engage less – even ignore you too. Just imagine yourself walking into a traditional store. You look around, show obvious interest in what you are looking at but the sales staff just carry on, standing in the corner discussing their love-lives. You probably walk out, annoyed and frustrated. When your online visitors are paid no attention by you, they do the same. So you need to respond to comments, emails, social media mentions and so on as quickly as possible. Preferably, if possible, have a “live chat” system and dedicated phone lines which are clearly displayed. Make it clear to your potential customers that you want to talk with them. Don’t ignore them.

These are the essential components of Internet Marketing Psychology, but there are many more things you need to consider such as the colors you use on your web pages because color influences purchasing likelihood. Also, consider things like the direction people are looking in any pictures you have on your pages. Your visitors will follow their eye-lines, meaning if the images look in the “right” place, you can get more buyers. People looking the “wrong” way in your website images can reduce sales because it forces your website visitors to look away from important and relevant information.

You also need to consider memory triggers, to help increase word of mouth marketing, cognitive factors like the readability of your fonts and the reading age of the text you use, and several other psychologically important elements which in combination will boost your sales. As you can tell, there is a great deal to consider if you wish to sell more online.

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Appendix B Graham Jones Interview

Following the ASBCI conferenced, Graham Jones was approached via LinkedIn for a more in-depth interview.

Q: As brain science has proved over the years, human beings are powered by emotion as opposed to reason. How are emotional marketing techniques applied in the digital world? What are their implications compared to traditional promotional techniques?

All marketing is emotional - even if the people doing it are not focusing on that or even realising they are doing it. All purchasing decisions people make include an emotional element so the effective marketing triggers the right emotions to get the sale. Online, the same emotional triggers exist as in the “real world”, though many online businesses are not really using them in any meaningful way.

Indeed, that’s why the vast majority of online retail goes through such a small number of suppliers.

The biggest emotional trigger is to make the product being sold a completely personal experience.

Few online retailers power up their websites to provide an individualised, personal experience and as a result they are missing out on the main emotional trigger. Amazon, of course, provides as personalised an experience as it can, but compared with a real world store that is still far less emotive.

The implication of all this is that online retail has a long, long way to go before it reaches the impact of real world shopping. Even with trillions of dollars worth of sales each year online it is all too easy to forget that over 90% of all shopping in the world is done in real bricks and mortar stores. Online is doing well, but it is a minority usage.

Q: Sensory features and promotion can appeal directly to the emotions and stored memories of customers. How do you incorporate marketing to the senses into digital?

The only sense that online triggers is a visual one. New technologies on the horizon will add touch and smell. It means that the opportunity for online retailers to really trigger our emotions is weak. And they don’t exploit one of the best ways of triggering emotions - words. Online, people have to read the descriptions of products and when writing is done well it triggers emotions. Get someone to read a thriller novel and say they don’t get excited by certain parts, or someone to read a crime novel and not get annoyed when the police almost catch their man, then miss him. Words trigger emotions. Yet online the level of copywriting if frequently poor and doesn’t trigger emotions. Retailers need to write much, much better copy that get people to feel and understand their products inside their own minds.

That is much more likely to trigger emotional connection - yet few online retailers use the opportunity.

Words can also trigger feelings and sensations - use the right words and you can make people feel as though they are touching or smelling something - novelists do this all the time.

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Q: Is there a magic word for luxury e-commerce? (Based on research, I have found ‘FREE’ to be the strongest motivator but luxury brands may need to be cautious about any kind of discount strategy that might cheapen their image) The word FREE does appear to be a strong motivator online. Chris Anderson’s book “Free” (strangely costing £6.47 on Amazon...!) explains why. You might like to read my blog post about the issue of free: http://www.grahamjones.co.uk/2012/blog/web-business/free-products-are-not-valued-less-than-paidfor-ones.html Q: What is your opinion on the ethics of appealing to the emotions of consumers without their full awareness?

As for ethics, no retailer should do anything unethical which could include deliberately manipulating people. But the difficulty is where do you draw the line? For instance, is choosing the colour of your shopping cart background unethical? Studies show that people spend more money when the background is appealing to them - red, for instance, appears to trigger more sales to men in Western cultures. If you coloured your shopping cart red is that unethical because it is making things more tempting to buy or is it acceptable?

People are manipulated all the time without their realisation. Years ago, when Waterloo Station in London did not have the access it now has they needed to get commuters to move quickly from the trains to the underground. Otherwise the station would get clogged up. So in the mornings they used to play military marching music and people briskly walked off their trains to the tube station. Is that unethical because their behaviour was being manipulated without their conscious awareness, or was it sensible and acceptable?

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Appendix C Focus Group - 18.01.2014 Participants: Kate Age: 26 Occupation: Project manager in banking Adam Age: 31 Occupation: Graphic designer Emma Age: 25 Occupation: Primary school teacher Sophie Age: 34 Occupation: Sales manager

Questions: 1.

What is your favourite brand? It can be anything… technology, lifestyle? Something that you wouldn’t think twice about buying.

Kate: For me, it will always be Nike. I like wear Nike sport shirts and running shoes. They are light, very comfortable, and cool. The design is simple but elegant. When I use it, I feel like I will do sport better than anybody. Even when I don’t have the money, I’ll find it for a Nike product that I really want.

Because wearing it makes me feel like I can, and motivates me to, ‘Just Do It’.

Adam: Oooh Apple, your design and functionality is so irresistible. Love you. Love the Macbook, iPhone 4, iPhone 5S (it’s killing me), iTouch, the apps, iTunes, iPad. All of the products that you create make me want to have it all.

Emma: I love all of the products from The Body Shop. Besides being made from natural ingredients, The Body Shop takes seriously their Go Green program, so it’s environmentally friendly. Not only creating products for your face, The Body Shop offers treatment products from head to toe. All my skin problems are solved because of The Body Shop’s products. Thank you Body Shop. Their best product is compact powder; it’s not oily on my sensitive skin.

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Sophie: Does Whole Foods count? I was trying to think of my favourite brand and I think this might be it. It’s like a whole shopping experience if you know what I mean. Never has buying daily basics been so… delicious. The presentation of the food, knowing that they try to put the best produce in front of you, the colours, smells, even the weight of vegetables, packets and cans! Whole Foods, yeeaah!!!

2.

What makes you so fond of it? Is it their campaigns, heritage, something they have been involved in, or a personal reason?

Kate: There are the second tier brands like Adidas and RBK, but Nike - with its goddess of victory symbolism, its ‘get your stuff together’ and ‘Just Do It’ mantra, and its broad association with the pinnacle of human physical performance - makes me feel like the pro runner I aspire to be when I pull on my Nike Pro gear.

I bought my first pair of Nike trainers when I was 10 years old. Almost 16 years later I have bought at least one pair of Nike trainers every year. Even when it’s raining and my legs are aching, with the swoosh on my shoes and on my chest, it genuinely makes me feel like I can run a personal best.

Adam: As a graphic designer, the Macbook is my best friend, I feel proud and prestigious for using it.

It has the best graphics, a wonderful logo, the best design, and the best features to make things simpler for users. Macbook helps make my jobs easier, and Steve Jobs is my biggest inspiration. After using Macbook for years, when I found out he passed away, I was deeply sad. I felt like I knew Steve Jobs and felt his passion through my Macbook.

I used to make everything using PC for years. I was hardly exposed to or even understood this amazing brand until I graduated from university. Today, it never occurs to me to change to PC anymore. While many have said that Apple is great only because of its brand value, I prove that those comments are simply not true. Apple products help me double my productivity. Its simplicity is just perfect. The ease of usage makes computers personal again. I dare you to try experience Apple products, but be prepared to fall in love with the brand.

Emma: I love The Body Shop because it is really concerned with the environment and they mean it!

This brand is totally different from other beauty brands. When I look at their campaign, they offer big discounts for customers who bring bottles back for recycling. Amazing! And they make products that help people in Africa. When I use the product, I donate to help them. This brand also doesn’t do animal testing. I really love it! The shop is also my favourite place, because it is a magic world for my senses!

The variety of smells makes me feel wonderful, as I travel with my imagination in far tropical islands...

Sophie: The first time I remember walking into a Whole Foods store it was a day off and I was simply passing time before a meeting with Kate I think. I was looking for a good, tasty cheese. (You know me and my cheese!) It was a slow morning and not many people were around. I got myself into a conversation with the cheese fella. We talked cheeses and such for a good 10 minutes. He was super friendly and knowledgeable. The reason he knows his cheeses? He’s been sent around the world by the company to learn! There are samples as you walk through the store, a place to eat and never a long line.

I love it with a passion! One day a week they have food samples and free wine tasting, on that day my boyfriend and I have a free dinner date at Whole Foods. Also, they occasionally offer yoga lessons.

Whole Foods has so many quality products from around the worls. I will always be a loyal customer!

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3.

What is your favourite fashion brand? What is the key reason for shopping there (location, trend-oriented, celebrity endorsement…)?

Kate: I would have to go with Zara. It’s been my favourite brand for some time now and there hasn’t been a collection of theirs I haven’t liked and bought something from. The dresses, shoes… and those beautiful coats! You can find a trendy cocktail dress or a smart but cute work one – they have everything!

The store atmosphere could get slightly hectic, especially in the stores on Oxford Street, which I find off-putting but there is always online for one of those days you don’t want to fight over crowds. The one in Sloane Square is really good too, I once saw someone from Made in Chelsea there!

Emma: It’s not a particular brand but I really enjoy shopping at House of Fraser. The brands they stock there always have the thing I need and it’s really easy to navigate between different brands without having to go to different stores. I always seem to stumble upon friendly a shopping assistant which is a huge plus.

Adam: Vans. The only shoes that matter. I love them. I once had to hunt down a pair of Vans skate shoes hundreds of miles from my home when I was 15, just to be able to feel as if I could identify myself as a skateboarder. Haha that was a long time ago… I also love them because of the first Vans ad I saw.

It featured a drawing of a little old shoemaker sweating to hurriedly stitch up a pair for a skater in the background eager to go skate in them.

Sophie: Chanel is a dream for me, it’s classy and elegant. Although Chanel products are expensive, I believe they are worth buying, and for me, it completes my style. Chanel makes me feel happy and satisfied, especially if I have a Chanel bag. The more Chanel products I have the happier I am. I have no doubt I am in love with this brand! And, of course, Chanel No. 5! This was my first perfume - my mum gave me one of those small sample bottles when I was eight. Every time I smell it, it reminds me of how naughty and grown-up I felt the first time I carefully I took of the lid and dabbed on the scent, with my eyes closed, thinking that someone was going to fall in love with me the moment they smelt me. Romance, glamour and hope in a bottle.

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Appendix D Martin Lindstorm Q&A Press Release

Martin Lindstorm is a brand futuring and author of Brandwashed. The following press release was sent from Martin Lindstorm’s team when he was approached for an interview by email

What did you learn on your “brand detox”?

That it’s painfully difficult to resist the temptations of brands! After challenging myself to spend a year without buying a new branded product, I learned that brands shape our identity more than we’ll ever admit, making us feel safer, more attractive, and even more popular.

In fact, one of the studies we conducted shows a direct correlation between brand addiction and selfconfidence. The less self-confidence we have, the more we depend on brands.

Brands have become so integrated into our lives that it is just as hard for a brandaholic consumer to quit a brand as for a heavy smoker to quit smoking. Yet I actually felt relief—something I would never have guessed—to be able to tell myself that “it’s okay not to buy the latest and greatest brand.” It was like a burden had suddenly vanished, giving me an indescribable sense of freedom. So the detox was both painful and liberating at the same time.

With consumer confidence way down in today’s economy, every shopper is looking to save money.

In what ways are marketers preying upon thrifty shoppers to fool them into wasteful spending?

Think about how often you’re informed that you need to act quickly in order to secure a certain product.

The tactic of scarce resources is something we all fall for because, “What if it sells out?” That’s the reason many websites tell you “You have only 3 minutes left before the offer will be canceled” (the truth is that this rarely is the case), or that something will go on sale at midnight—“so hurry, be first!” All this is meant to generate a sense of urgency and thus make us react faster and less rationally. When we are emotional we’re much more inclined to act irrationally and thus spend more money.

What should parents do to protect their kids?

Before kids even start school, their parents need to educate them on what brands are all about before they’re captured by the never-ending machine of seduction. I often explain it by asking a child what he’d be willing to pay for an ordinary rock. When he says it’s worth nothing, I’ll tell him that it is from outer space, and ask what he’d now be willing to pay for it. It’s often a lot more! Then I’ll explain that 10 percent of all rocks on planet Earth are from outer space, and thus it is just my story that made him change his mind, since the rock didn’t change at all. The same is the case with two nice shirts—one with a logo and one without. In principle there’s no difference; in fact they’re most likely produced in the same factory. Yet the feeling we suddenly have when we see the logo makes it seem different and persuades us to pay more for it. That’s branding.

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I would also arm kids with responses they can use when suddenly teased in school because they’re not wearing the latest and greatest item of clothing. Often when kids have their arguments ready and can fire them back, it puts them in a strong position to avoid peer pressure.

Does the rise of online social networking and the Internet leave us more vulnerable to getting brandwashed?

Due to our obsession with digital media, companies are now able to data-mine our behavior, map our purchase patterns, frame our profiles, and track our moves even before we’re aware of what we want to buy. Take the latest trend of “history stealing”—a new technique recently discovered by several Stanford professors that has now become common practice in the commercial world, often (ironically) without senior management’s knowledge. History stealing is possible because of what they call a “supercookie”—a small invisible file on our computers that tracks every move we make online. Even if a consumer deletes all the historical data on his computer by deleting the regular cookies (small codes that track our moves), the supercookie will recover that data and share it with advertisers. This technique was introduced by Microsoft and spread on their entire network of websites worldwide, enabling companies to track every move you make and then target ads at you based on what they learn. It’s also happening on our iPhones, iPads . . . well, everywhere.

What should shoppers know the next time they walk the grocery aisles?

Beware of the grocery store as a dangerous scene of seduction. It’s a theater that has only one purpose— to convince you to buy more. For example, one thing supermarkets are working very consciously with is the concept of “priming.” They set the stage by leading us to believe that whatever you’ll see in the store is fresh, natural, or cheap by strategically placing goods that send these signals right at the entrance.

Once we are convinced at a subconscious level that “Oh, it’s all so fresh (or cheap) in this store,” we believe that’s the case for the entire store, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Imagine what would happen instead if I placed only tins, cans, and products with a very long expiration date in the main entrance to the store. Suddenly you’d probably believe that everything in the store would be packed with preservatives and unhealthy stuff, and most definitely would be seriously unhealthy and far from fresh. Now what if I placed a greenhouse in the entrance and two gardeners cutting fresh flowers and chopping vegetables? What if I placed a waterfall and tons of vegetables in large cardboard boxes with “Maggie’s Farm” written on the side? Would it be fair to say that you’d then most likely conclude that everything in the store is fresh, and see it as worth spending more during your forthcoming trip inside this store? If you agree, you’ve just discovered the principle behind Whole Foods.

What should shoppers beware of this holiday shopping season?

Temptation! Retailers have learned what works to persuade us to buy more, so just as they’ve become more clever in the way they display, promote, and sell their products, you need to become more clever in the way you shop. Here’s some insight: • An investment and not a cost. Retailers know that when we see the product we’re about to buy as an investment (like buying art), we believe we’ll always get our money back, and thus are allowed to spend a bit more. So they’ll position the products as something you’ll have for life, when the reality is that you’ll throw it out within a year when a more exciting product appears. One recent study showed 76

that out of all the stuff you buy for your home, you’re happy with only less than 3 percent after one year.

So what about the other 97 percent you thought you couldn’t live without when you were buying it?

•Last chance. The scarcity of a product is one of the most used and abused tricks, and even though we know it probably is a lie, we still fall for it. Ninety-two percent of all products that are claimed to be a “limited” offer can be bought weeks later . . . at a 30 percent price reduction!

•Celebrate the “good old days.” Nostalgia is huge, especially when our lives aren’t currently what we hoped for. Retailers will do whatever it takes to make you feel that you can “buy the good old days back,” though that is of course impossible.

What’s the most shocking and extreme marketing trick you’ve come across?

A coffee company in the Philippines that primed babies still in the womb to love their product—and thus make them addicted to the brand upon birth. Or the makers of Carmex lip balm inserting addictive chemicals into it to make us use it more (because it eats the skin on the lips).

Brands have always used celebrities to market brands, but does this really work?

Even though most of us would claim that we’re not affected by celebrity endorsements at all, 94 percent of the respondents we’ve tested over the years are in one way or another affected by commercial celebrity messages. Our neuroscience studies using fMRI show that we’re hardwired to be seduced by celebrity messages, so this is not something we can simply avoid.

Didn’t you do an interesting experiment that found something even more influential than celebrities?

Yes! Our fMRI neuroscience studies revealed that the power of celebrities is lower than the power of ordinary people.

We did an experiment in which we hired an undercover fake family, the Morgensons, to move into a house and see how much they could influence the purchase behavior of their neighbors.

By scanning the brains of people who were involved in the experiment, we learned that when a person we know is recommending a brand, it in fact will have a stronger effect on our brains than if it is a celebrity. Simply put, our brain categorizes someone based on whether or not we’ve had a physical interaction with them. If not, the credibility of that person is somewhat lowered. This might explain why we all evaluate one another on the strength of our handshake.

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