Once upon a time there was free (purchasing) will
Neuromarketing: People make decisions unconsciously more often than not, especially at the point of sale. This is the conclusion of Hans-Georg Häusel’s *Brain Script*.
Neuromarketing People make decisions more often unconsciously than not, especially at the point of sale. This is the conclusion of Hans-Georg Häusel's "Brain Script." Neuromarketing has long been popular on the other side of the pond. Gradually, we are now also daring to take a look into our customers' brains. The NZZ Folio recently devoted three whole pages to this topic, and we have also already discussed "How Customers Think" here. What the author Gerald Zaltman is to the Americans, Hans-Georg Häusel has been to us for years: a prophet and propagandist of neuromarketing. He, too, seeks answers to the eternal question of what drives customers (hormonally or visually?), how they make decisions (consciously or not?), in short: why they reach for the shelf here and not there, but unlike Zaltman, who primarily wants to explain and sell his "Metaphor Elicitation Technique", Häusel does comparatively thorough groundwork. The psychologist and managing director of a management consultancy has been studying the biologically anchored motives of our purchasing and consumer behavior for ten years. He has discovered that chemical and electrical brain waves have a greater influence on us than we can or want to believe.
This realization means that
The end of some marketing myths. For example, that of the autonomous, rationally deciding customer. What we do or don't do has little to do with our conscious "brain scripts". According to Häusel, well over 70 percent of our decision-making processes take place unconsciously. And even the few deliberate decisions we make are not as free as we think, as they follow a genetic program that has proven successful in evolution.
The limbic system, one of the oldest parts of the brain, is primarily responsible for controlling instinct and intuition in humans. This system is the center of emotions and motives for action (balance, dominance, control, openness, revolution, stimulation) and, according to Häusel, must be addressed as directly as possible by advertising. To win customers, you have to appeal to their dominant motive and emotional field. The same applies to the benefit argument. An example: Dominant performers buy products that give them a competitive advantage and promote their career.
Häusel writes clearly and in German, despite the sometimes quite complex subject matter. However, for those who have already read his "Think Limbic" or "Limbic Success", "Brain Script" offers little additional information. For everyone else, it is worthwhile, not least because Häusel takes a self-critical look at the fundamental pros and cons of neuromarketing.
> Brain Script by Hans-Georg Häusel. Haufe Verlag, Planegg 2004. 239 pages, Fr. 44.40.
Roger Hausmann
This realization means that
The end of some marketing myths. For example, that of the autonomous, rationally deciding customer. What we do or don't do has little to do with our conscious "brain scripts". According to Häusel, well over 70 percent of our decision-making processes take place unconsciously. And even the few deliberate decisions we make are not as free as we think, as they follow a genetic program that has proven successful in evolution.
The limbic system, one of the oldest parts of the brain, is primarily responsible for controlling instinct and intuition in humans. This system is the center of emotions and motives for action (balance, dominance, control, openness, revolution, stimulation) and, according to Häusel, must be addressed as directly as possible by advertising. To win customers, you have to appeal to their dominant motive and emotional field. The same applies to the benefit argument. An example: Dominant performers buy products that give them a competitive advantage and promote their career.
Häusel writes clearly and in German, despite the sometimes quite complex subject matter. However, for those who have already read his "Think Limbic" or "Limbic Success", "Brain Script" offers little additional information. For everyone else, it is worthwhile, not least because Häusel takes a self-critical look at the fundamental pros and cons of neuromarketing.
> Brain Script by Hans-Georg Häusel. Haufe Verlag, Planegg 2004. 239 pages, Fr. 44.40.
Roger Hausmann
