品牌管理的鏈接話題Brand+Blink

BrandBlink:UnderstandingtheMindtogettotheHeartofBuyingDecisions

ByDarylTravis,CEO,Brandtrust

MalcolmGladwellenlightensourthinkingwithhisbookBlink,afascinatingexplorationofhowdecisionsaremadeintheblinkofaneye,beforeconsumersevenrealizethey’remakingadecision.Hesuggests“wethinkwithoutthinking.”

Gladwell’sefforttoshareemerginginsightsintohowourbrainsworkistimely.Inthisdecade,wearelearningmoreabouthowhumansthinkandfeelandwhatdrivesourbehaviorthanthewholeofourdiscoveriesinthetimesinceSigmundFreuddreamtuptheideaofpsychoanalysis.Thishasprofoundimplicationsformarketingandbrandprofessionals.Asitturnsout,thesedevelopmentsarerevealingjusthowfaultyandinadequateconventionalresearchmethodsarewhenitcomestotrulyunderstandingconsumers.

WHAT’SBEHINDBLINK?

InBlink,Gladwellurgesthatpeoplemakedecisionsthroughrapidcognitionandaconceptknownasthin-slicing—theabilityofourunconscioustofindpatternsinsituationsandbehaviorbasedonverynarrowslicesofexperience.Morethanwerealize,weevaluateasituationorabrandandframeourresponsebeforeweeverconsciouslythinkaboutit.Whenwethin-slice,werecognizepatternsandmakesnapjudgments,wedothisprocessofeditingunconsciously.Wefirstseeandperceiveacolorseveralhundredmillisecondsbeforewecanthinkorsay“redlight.”O(jiān)urfootseeksthebrakelongbeforeweactuallythinkaboutstopping,thatis,ifwethinkaboutitatall.

AsGladwellwarns,“whilepeopleareverywillingandverygoodatvolunteeringinformationexplainingtheiractions,thoseexplanations,particularlywhenitcomestothekindsofspontaneousopinionsanddecisionsthatariseoutoftheunconscious,aren’tnecessarilycorrect.Findingoutwhatpeoplethinkofarocksongsoundsasifitshouldbeeasy.Butthetruthisthatitisn’t,andthepeoplewhorunfocusgroupsandopinionpollshaven’talwaysbeensensitivetothisfact”(Gladwell,2005,p.155).

FINDINGBLINK

Brainsarepatternmachines.(HawkinsandBlakeslee,2004)Thesepatternsmakeblinkmomentspossible.But,ifyouareamarketerlookingtocapitalizeonablinkphenomenon,beawarethebraincannotcommanditselftogointo“thinkblink”mode.Instead,itinvoluntarilyretrievesfrommemorythefeelingsthatdriveblinkencounters.Ourbraindoesnotrememberexactlywhatitsees,hearsorfeels.Wedon’trememberorrecallthingswithcompletefidelity—notbecausethecortexanditsneuronsaresloppyorerror-prone,butbecausethebrainrememberstheimportantrelationshipsintheworld,independentofdetails.(Hawkins,2004)

Therelationshipswefeelareimportantinourworldarestoredasimagesinourunconsciousmindandarelinkeddirectlytoouremotions.Infact,wedon’treallythinkinwords,butmoreinpicturesorimages.Thebrainiselegantlydesignedtostorewholeconceptswithinanimage.

Westorememoriesasimagesbecausetheyaremoremeaningfulandeasiertoaccessquicklyandautomatically.Emotionsarelargelyresponsibleforcreatingthesememoriesandarethekeytounlockingthemeaningwithin.

Itiscriticalformarketerstounderstandtheroleofemotionsinhumandecisionmakingandbehavior.RaisedinWesternculture,wearewellindoctrinatedintheforcesoflogicandreason,butwe’velostsightoftheessentialroleemotionsplayindetermininghumanbehavior.Infact,allhumanbehaviorisdrivenbyemotionalinputderivedfromthesestoredvisualizations.Therearetwosystemsinthebrain.Oneisforlogicandreason.Itresidesintheneocortex,theouterlayer.Theotherisfoundinthelimbicsystem,theemotionalpartofthebrain.Theemotionalcomponentsappearinverydiscreet,well-identifiedandinterconnectedregionsofthebrain.Theinterconnectionoccursinahandfulofbrainsitesthatarecollectivelyknownasthelimbicsystem.Onesiteinthesystem,theamygdala,isthebrainregionresponsibleforthesubjectiveexperienceoftheemotion.Anothersite,thehypothalamus,isresponsiblefortriggeringthephysiologicalresponseoftheemotion.Thehypothalamus,amygdala,andcortexallfeedbackoneachotherinacomplexalchemyofemotionandreasontocoordinatetheappropriatebehavioralresponse.Thisinformationisalsosavedandstoredbyathirdmemberofthelimbicsystem,thehippocampus.Allofthesebrainregions,fromthehighercortextolowerlimitsystems,convergeinasinglebrainregionknownasthecingulatecortex.Itisinthecingulatecortexthatdecisionsaremade.Reasonandemotioncommingleandweareabletocoordinateouremotionalresponsetodirectouractionsandthoughts.

Oneveryimportantscientificaspectofthiswholeprocessisthatweknowthedecisionmakingprocessdoesnotworkintheabsenceofanemotionalsignalfromthelimbicsystem.Lefttoitsowndevices,theconsciouslythinkingpartofthebrainisincapableofmakingadecision.Theimplicationsofthisformarketersareinescapable.

FROMTHEHEADTOTHEHEART

RevealingpatternsinthebrainthroughamethodologycalledEmotionalResearch,apsychoanalytic-basedtechniquedesignedtotapintomemories,makesitpossibleforconsumerstoaccessemotionsthatdrivetheirbehaviors.Throughdirectedrelaxationandvisualizationexercises,consumerscanrecallexperiencesandrevealunderlyingemotionsthatcannotbeaccessedviaconventionalresearch.Visualizationiscriticaltounlockingtheemotionaldrivers.JimHawkins,creatorofPalmandHandspringandthefounderoftheRedwoodNeuroscienceInstitute,discussedthisinhisprovocativebook,OnIntelligence.“Thenexttimeyoutellastory,stepbackandconsiderhowyoucanonlyrelateoneaspectofthetaleatatime.Youcannottellmeeverythingthathappenedallatonce,nomatterhowquicklyyoutalkorIlisten.Youneedtofinishonepartofthestorybeforeyoucanmoveontothenext.Thisisn’tonlybecausespokenlanguageisserial;written,oralandvisualstorytellingallconveyanarrativeinserialfashion.Itisbecausethestoryisstoredinyourheadinsequentialfashionandcanonlyberecalledinthesamesequence.Youcan’tremembertheentirestoryatonce.Infact,it’salmostimpossibletothinkofanythingcomplexthatisn’taseriesofeventsorthoughts”(p.70).

YoucaneasilyexperiencefirsthandhowEmotionalResearchworksasyoureadthis.Followthesestepsasdescribed.First,thinkaboutatimeandplacewhenyouwereveryrelaxed.Closeyoureyessoyoucanseeitbetter.Inyourmind,gotothattimeandplace.Now,scanthesceneveryslowlyfromlefttorightanddescribewhatyouareseeing.Noticeallthelittledetails.Whoistherewithyou?Whattimeofdayisit?Whatcolorsdoyousee?Whatisthelightlike?Whatareyouthinkingabout?Whatareyoufeeling?

Now,didyougotothebeachorsomebodyofwaterasweseemostofthepopulationdoinourresearch?Thisisbecausethedesiretobenearwaterisveryprimalhumanbehaviorandaclearindicationhowthisresearchcanpowerfullytapintotheunderlyingemotionaldrivers.

FINDINGBRANDBLINK

EmotionalResearch,likeinBrandtrust’sEmotionalInquirysm,revealstheelementsthatcreateabrandorablinkexperience.Thedirectedvisualizationsoftheexperiencesthatfirstencodedtheemotioninaperson’smemorybanksareessential.Thisunlocksthememories,theemotionsandthefeelingsthatinfluencepeople’sbehaviorwhenfacedwithasimilarexperience.Forthepurposeofbrandresearch,imperfectrecallisnotanissue.Wearesimplytryingtouncoverhowthesubjectfeelsaboutaparticularexperiencerelatedtothebrandbecausethosefeelingsdrivehisorherbehavior.

Wediscoverthespecificthingsthatactuallycauseanemotionalresponserelatedtoblinkorbrandexperiences.Thesoundofyourmother’svoice,apictureofyourgrandmother’shouse,thememoryofthelossofalovedone,thearomaofafavoritefood,andthousandsofotherexperiencestriggeremotionalres