Strong marks elicit strong brain reactions. Radiologists are demonstrating what marketers have been preaching for decades.
Dr Christine Born, a radiologist at the Ludwig-Maximillians University in Munich, performed a series of MRI scans exposing 20 adults (high-income and educational) to strong and weak German brand logos. The results, published in the Wall Street Journal, were that bigger brands produce bigger brain waves. This is in addition to previous data indicating that shopping can alter blood pressure, heart rate, and respiratory rate.
Apparently, well-known brands fire synapses associated with positive emotions, self-identification, and rewards. Weak marks do not register or cause activity in parts of the brain associated with negative emotion.
The surprising conclusion was that interest in big brands exists regardless of category. Dr. Born found that the reaction to an automotive brand like Volkswagen, which has significantly higher media weight and probably stronger creative executions, was as strong as the reaction to Allianz, an insurance brand. Both leading brands elicited far greater reactions than the logos of smaller, lesser-known competitors.
The implication is that investing in building a strong and memorable brand pays off. What is not clear is how to do it and which components of the brand give you the best investment.
The other evidence, not so surprising, was that strong brand recognition did not stimulate the decision-making centers in the brain. So now we have scientific evidence that purchase awareness and motivation are two separate things and that purchasing is a hybrid of rational and emotional processing.
And although the sample is small and biased, it is comforting to have data that validates our experiences. Now the debate on how to move customers from awareness to buying to loyalty can continue with new ammunition.
Danny Flamberg is a veteran marketing consultant and
author of the blog http://www.manhattanmarketingmaven.com.