marketingmag.com.au34 INTERVIEW
trials must be performed. “Then
you realise that you really can’t
get a personal reading, because
everyone’s brain is different.”
As for eye tracking – another
popular piece of technology
wheeled out by those claiming to
be on the cutting edge of marketing
science – it “defi nitely doesn’t do
what you think it does,” says Cooney
Horvath. It turns out it doesn’t have
much to do with the brain anyway.
But more on that later.
Everyone’s brain is different
Findings from one brain scan
cannot easily be applied to other
people, let alone groups of people.
Measuring one person’s brain,
followed by that of another could
show something entirely different,
or it could look the same. So,
explains Cooney Horvath, the
next step would be measuring
multiple people hundreds of times
to reach some sort of average. The
problem (besides the cumbersome
diffi culty and heavy investment of
managing such a task) is, once you
get that average, it doesn’t refl ect
everybody.
“Just because I know this part
of the brain lights up when these
people did this on average, does
that mean I can predict [someone
else’s] behaviours? Nope. Because
their brain is going to be slightly
different as well.
“Not only is the measurement
beyond diffi cult, the analysis is
beyond diffi cult. The conclusions
you can draw from them are so
far removed from ‘will you buy a
product or not?’ it’s silly.”
Adding to the diffi culty here
is that not only is everyone’s
brain different, they are also all
changing in different ways all
the time.- IRRATIONAL,
EMOTIONAL BEINGS
THE STORY: human beings are
irrational and make purchasing
decisions based on emotions,
so for better marketing, start
tugging at those heartstrings!
The truth: no, we’re not
Of course, there are times when
our emotions do override logic,
like having a stress response or in
situations of ‘fl ight or fi ght.’
“But these are random, few and
far between moments,” Cooney
Horvath says, and for the most part
they’re very short. The one exception
would be in instances of prolonged
stress, but, ideally, as he points
out, that shouldn’t come into your
marketing.
“I don’t think you’re going to
stress your customers out for two
years before you sell them the
product.”All the feels
Nostalgia, pity, guilt, happiness,
sadness? “All of that is great,” says
Cooney Horvath of emotions that
may drive decisions, but none of
this negates logic. “Just because
I feel something, it doesn’t make
me illogical.”
The fact is, emotions and logic
cannot be separated. “Just to say‘we want to tap into your emotions
because you’re not going to think
your way through a purchase’? No.
Tapping into the emotions feeds into
the logic and adds to the decision
they ultimately make.”
The idea that people will behave
irrationally rather than rationally, and
are therefore more likely to follow
emotions is true only in the incredibly
short term, “so if a bear pops up and
scares you now, yes, you’ll be more
likely to be completely reactive. But
next week when you think about that
moment, guess what? You’re going
to be highly rational about it.”
“So if a commercial I’m seeing
for Coke shocks me or moves me
enough and I just happen to be
putting a hand on a Pepsi can...” it
may be enough to change one’s mind.
“Unless I can catch that moment,
it becomes nonsense.”
Based on this, effective in-store
advertising at point of selection, as
well as personally targeted online
ads served at the right moment, may
have some infl uence.- MIRROR NEURONS
THE STORY: by activating a
consumer’s mirror neurons,
we can convince them to mirror
our activity. Show someone
sipping an icy cold beverage,
and consumers will crave that
beverage.
The truth: they don’t exist
There’s no magic neuron that fi res
when one person sees another
doing something. It’s worth taking a
look into ‘covert activations’ though.
“What mirror neurons really are, are
what we call covert activation: when
I see somebody doing an action, I
mentally imagine myself doing thatMARKETING 2019If they don’t
know and they’re
not going to tell you,
you’re not going to
fi nd out.