what is unconscious mind in marketing research

Bm | Narrating the discussion

• Joel Weinberger
• 22 Jan 2014

Understanding the Conscious and Unconscious in Marketing

Human decision-making, i.e. purchasing, does not take place at only the conscious level as marketers often assume. Unconscious processing is at least as important and, conscious and unconscious values are often out of sync.

Unconscious mental processes are primal and basic, hard-wired into our brains, like the sex drive and security, which are both core unconscious values. Conscious processes represent higher order values such as caring for others and finding meaning in life.

Furthermore, conscious and unconscious processes predict different behaviors. Conscious values predict short-term, focused behavior and are limited in time and scope. Unconscious values are timeless ­–predicting both spontaneous and long-term behavior ­– and come into play when we are just being ourselves.

Impulse and Considered Behavior

Understanding how these processes impact behavior can help companies successfully market their brands and products. From this viewpoint, brands can be grouped into two categories ­– the impulse, often purchased product (e.g., detergent), and the considered, less frequently purchased product (e.g., a house or car). The former is better served by focusing messaging on unconscious processes; the latter requires more focus on conscious processing.

SEE ALSO: The New Power of Brand Design: Branding Roundtable No. 19

A marketer must first, decide on the goal for the brand. If purchase is usually a thought out decision that is not repeated often, messaging should focus on conscious values. If it’s something that tends to just happen, or is frequent, then focus messaging on unconscious values. But always keep both in mind because they are always, in some combination, play. This leads to a win/win: Always target both .

Mostly, market researchers can discover the conscious values that govern their category. But research is rarely directed at the unconscious. The failure of New Coke is an example of a market disaster that resulted from a failure to assess unconscious associations and emotions of an impulse purchase brand. All the taste tests, focus groups and surveys indicated that people were ready, even eager, for a change in Coke. However, no one thought to look at people’s associations and automatic emotional reactions to the brand and how a change would be perceived from that perspective. The New Coke debacle could have been avoided by measuring unconscious reactions.

“Just Do It”…or “Think Geico”

One unmitigated success is Nike’s slogan, “Just Do It.” What does this have to do with sneakers? Nothing. The slogan completely targets the unconscious. And think of the associations it triggers –success, perseverance, optimism, power– all in one three-word phrase. And the emotions generated by this phrase are unequivocally positive.

Now look at the tag “Impossible is Nothing,” by Adidas. It’s not nearly as powerful. Why? What do you associate with “impossible?” What do you associate with “nothing?” Both are negatives. Getting to the positive here requires conscious thought. By being completely positive, the Nike slogan outperforms the Adidas line. “Just Do It” recently celebrated its 25 th anniversary, while “Impossible is Nothing” has been replaced after a nine year run. Which one do you think will be remembered in 50 years?

If you’re having trouble thinking of a good example that targets both conscious and unconscious, think Geico’s “Fifteen minutes can save you 15% or more.” Savings is there for our conscious processing but it is stated associatively, making the connection between time and money. “Just a few minutes of your time can result in meaningful savings” would not have worked nearly as well at the unconscious level.

And just what does insurance have to do with a lizard? Nothing! But associatively the word ‘gecko’ helps you think of the name ‘Geico’ and by creating a lovable mascot leads to positive feelings. Now the soulless insurance company has a soul (albeit a cold-blooded one).

All one needs to know to market effectively are the conscious and unconscious attributes associated with the product/brand, as well as the unconscious emotions it generates. And, happily, both are measurable using implicit association methodologies. So how do we do it? Researchers can use reaction time measures to get at unconscious associations and even lay those associations out from strongest to weakest. We can use rapid presentation of stimulation to get at automatic emotional reactions and tell you how positively and negatively your potential customer is feeling toward your product/brand.

Once we know all of this, turn the data over to the creative department. They’ll know what to target.

Photo: Emilio Gracia /  Flickr

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Neuromarketing: What You Need to Know

• Eben Harrell

The field of neuromarketing, sometimes known as consumer neuroscience, studies the brain to predict and potentially even manipulate consumer behavior and decision making. Over the past five years several groundbreaking studies have demonstrated its potential to create value for marketers. But those interested in using its tools must still determine whether that’s worth the investment and how to do it well.

“Neuromarketing” loosely refers to the measurement of physiological and neural signals to gain insight into customers’ motivations, preferences, and decisions. Its most common methods are brain scanning, which measures neural activity, and physiological tracking, which measures eye movement and other proxies for that activity.This article explores some of the research into those methods and discusses their benefits and drawbacks.

Potential users of neuromarketing should be cautious about partnering with specialist consulting firms—experts warn that the field is plagued by vendors who oversell what neuromarketing can deliver. One neuroscience and business professor suggests using a checklist: Are actual neuroscientists involved in the study? Are any of the consultancy’s methods, data, or tools published in peer-reviewed journals? Is its subject pool representative—a question that is particularly important for global brands? Do the consultants have marketing expertise along with scientific knowledge? Do they have a track record of success? And can they prove when challenged that they will offer insights beyond what can be gleaned through traditional methods?

A report on the state of the art

Idea in Brief

The challenge.

Despite recent studies validating the use of neuroscience methods in marketing, marketers struggle with the question of whether neuromarketing is worth the investment, what tools and techniques are most useful, and how to do it well.

The Solution

Marketers need to understand the range of techniques involved, from brain scanning methods to testing of physiological proxies; how they are being used in both academia and industry; and what possibilities they hold for the future.

The Benefits

By understanding the landscape, marketers can make better decisions about when to pursue a neuromarketing technique to gain insight into customers’ motivations and when and how to engage an outside firm as a partner.

Nobel Laureate Francis Crick called it the astonishing hypothesis: the idea that all human feelings, thoughts, and actions—even consciousness itself—are just the products of neural activity in the brain. For marketers the promise of this idea is that neurobiology can reduce the uncertainty and conjecture that traditionally hamper efforts to understand consumer behavior. The field of neuromarketing—sometimes known as consumer neuroscience—studies the brain to predict and potentially even manipulate consumer behavior and decision making. Until recently considered an extravagant “frontier science,” neuromarketing has been bolstered over the past five years by several groundbreaking studies that demonstrate its potential to create value for marketers.

• Eben Harrell is a senior editor at Harvard Business Review. EbenHarrell

Partner Center

Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward a new model of consumer behavior

• Original Article
• Published: 18 March 2011
• Volume 18 , pages 483–505, ( 2011 )

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• Neale Martin 1 &
• Kyle Morich  

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Theories of consumer behavior often posit that consumers are rational agents making conscious decisions about the branded products and services they purchase and use. It is assumed that consumer decisions are preceded by an explicit formation of attitudes and needs that determine the brand of choice. However, research from the domain of automaticity proposes that the majority, if not all, of human behavior either begins as an unconscious process or occurs completely outside of conscious awareness. These automatic processes, including behavioral mimicry, trait and stereotype activation, and nonconscious goal pursuit, also impact attitudes, beliefs and goals without engaging consumers’ conscious minds. Habits, a special type of automaticity, are behaviors completely controlled by contextual stimuli; habits occur outside of goals and intentions. In light of the evidence for the primacy of unconscious behavior, this article proposes a new model of consumer behavior that dynamically incorporates both conscious and unconscious mental processes to represent how consumers make brand decisions in the context of their daily lives.

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge and are grateful for the cooperation and encouragement of clients including Procter & Gamble and Campbell Soup in the development of this article and accompanying model. The authors alone are responsible for all limitations and errors that may relate to the study and the article.

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Martin, N., Morich, K. Unconscious mental processes in consumer choice: Toward a new model of consumer behavior. J Brand Manag 18 , 483–505 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/bm.2011.10

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What Freud Can Teach Us About Neuromarketing

Sigmund Freud, the Austrian neurologist and founder of psychoanalysis, would likely have something to say about neuromarketing. Freud’s theories have fallen out of favor with many academics and therapists. But, his practices and ideas can still form useful metaphors that help us understand how to connect with our customers.

Here’s how we can interpret Freud’s theories and apply them to marketing best practices today…

Encouraging people to talk freely

Freud was the father of psychoanalysis, also known as ‘the talking cure’. During psychoanalysis, patients would lie on a couch and talk freely about their thoughts. In doing so, Freud hoped to uncover the underlying reasons for their symptoms.

Indeed, some neuromarketing firms like Olson Zaltman still use in-depth interviews. While not therapeutic, they can be lengthy and are designed to identify underlying emotions and associations.

As business owners, one of our primary aims is to get customers talking about our products . Even today, word of mouth remains 92% more effective than all other forms of advertising. We want our customers to be engaging with us. We want them taking photos and videos, sharing on social networks, and recommending the brand to family and friends.

In other words, we must encourage people to talk freely, just as Freud did. Building customer reviews and forum functionality into your website is one way. Another is to be active on social media. This provides a space for visitors to interact with your brand (and each other).

Give your followers the right cues and incentives to get them to open up, and you will likely find not only positive responses but also areas for improvement.

Tapping into the unconscious mind

Freud would often use the analogy of an iceberg when it came to describing the unconscious mind. On the surface, you have the tip of the iceberg – or consciousness. But, the largest and most significant part is below the surface – the unconscious . According to Freud, the most important part of the mind is the part we cannot see.

In the early days of neuromarketing, nearly everyone included an iceberg image in their presentations or marketing. In more recent years, the iceberg metaphor has become a cliche. (Roger Dooley pointed this out in his “Obligatory Iceberg” slide, circa 2013.)

Freudian theory assumes the unconscious mind governs our behavior, probably more than people imagine. It’s not surprising that advertising strategies often appeal to both the conscious and the unconscious mind. There are all sorts of psychological triggers that influence where and how we choose to spend our money.

So perhaps Freud was onto something here. According to some scientists,  95% of our day-to-day decisions are made by the unconscious mind . Package design and store environment, color and tone of voice, and many other factors affect our non-conscious mind.  This impacts how we feel about a brand and its products.

Freud and your customers’ psyche

Later in his career, Freud came up with a structural model of the human mind. He proposed three distinct entities: the id , the ego , and the superego .

The first entity, the id, is present from birth. The id forms our most basic instincts, driving our need for pleasure and gratification. As we move past infancy, the ego develops. It teaches us to satisfy the demands of the id in a socially acceptable manner. Finally, the superego evolves, bringing with it our sense of morality.

It is widely acknowledged that to sell to the ego, you have to talk to the id . The best sales copywriters know this, and always write to the ids of their audience. They try to appeal to primitive drives, whether that’s seeking pleasure or avoiding pain.

Edward Bernays , hailed in his obituary as “the father of public relations”, was one of the first to take Freud’s ideas and apply them to consumer marketing. Bernays, Freud’s nephew, became famous for his ability to manipulate the minds of American consumers.

Greed and sexuality

Freud believed that humans are intrinsically greedy. He noted that people could always justify their decisions – however ludicrous – with their own reasoning. In cognitive science, this is known as ‘ post-purchase rationalization ’ . As humans, we tend to retrospectively ascribe positive attributes to our choices.

To some extent, consuming products allows us to fill an empty space, at least for a time. And so, we often make impulse purchases driven (at least in part) by our subconscious.

Likewise, Freud also had a lot to say about our psychosexual lives. And it’s not altogether surprising to note that advertising often uses sexually charged imagery and language to drive its audience to make a purchase – because it (usually) sells . (Whether or not sexual imagery or content is appropriate in a given situation is a different topic.)

Freud and research bias

Finally, let’s consider how Freud himself conducted his research. There’s a reason many of his theories have since fallen out of favor.

First, Freud  would often base his conclusions on an unrepresentative sample of the population. His subjects were mostly his patients, one child, and himself. Therefore, his findings do not necessarily apply to a wider demographic.

The second is that he was known for showing research bias . Freud sometimes paid attention to evidence that supported his theories and dismissed less supportive data. This is not uncommon, even for scientists. Freud certainly won’t have been the first (or last) academic to allow cognitive bias to skew findings.

But, false beliefs can do us harm when it comes to marketing. Say you’re undertaking market research. If your data isn’t accurate, then you’re not going to take the most appropriate action for your business. Even good data can be abused by acting on findings you agree with while rejecting contrary data.

Cognitive bias can affect all of us,  almost always without our realizing it. It can be an issue of framing, social standing, feeling more comfortable with familiar options, or many more cognitive biases . Hence, it’s especially important to make business decisions – and customer research – with an open mind.

While we may not want to rely on Freud’s findings too heavily, we can still draw useful parallels. Whether that’s taking a more id-focused approach to content, being aware of the power of the unconscious to influence decision-making, or ensuring truly representative research, we can all do something to connect with our customers on a deeper level.

I love discovering what drives customers to make purchases. From content and branding to web design and social advertising, we all have much to learn about what the future of selling online will look like – and those with a firm understanding of neuromarketing will undoubtedly benefit.

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Hi Victoria as a sales trainer in Italy rentlessly used to say that 95% or so reps’ selling power is hidden into his unconscious… Great to find someone else sharing that…

great article, i love neuroscience, is something magical

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Unconscious

Unconscious branding, elucidating the unconscious mind helps marketers help consumers.

Posted November 12, 2012

• What Is the Unconscious
• Find a therapist near me

Every year an absurd tragedy occurs in our lagging market economies. Billions of dollars are wasted asking consumers questions they can’t answer. In the U.S. an abysmal 2 out of 10 product launches succeed because what people say in traditional market research surveys can’t reliably predict what they actually do. We’re all playing a game without knowing the rules.

That’s because humans, i.e., consumers, make the vast majority of decisions in life quite unconsciously. What is a no brainer to cognitive scientists remains mind boggling to marketers. Markets flounder because consumers can’t articulate their deeper desires and companies fail to reach these unmet hidden needs. The blind leads the blind.

Steve Jobs was the exception. When asked how much research was conducted to guide the launch of the iPad, he famously quipped, “None. It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want.” The iPad, according to some measures, would become the most successful consumer product introduction in history and Apple the most valuable company of all-time.

Businesses have been asking the wrong question. Instead of asking why consumers do what they do, we need to ask how. We need to shift from measuring the outward expressions of beliefs to better understanding the inward causes. That is, how do our minds process information and form the often- unconscious beliefs that drive motivation ? Fortunately there is a sequence and structure to this process and elucidating it will help both sides of the free market fence.

As a marketing strategist and researcher my frustration with the tools of my trade led me to search for better answers. I found them not in market research, but rather in the research of cognitive and behavioral authorities. I also became a behavioral change therapist and learned how to help everyday people who were interested in changing their lives…not because of emotional illness but for self-improvement and a more fulfilling life, the same things people seek in brands.

Through that work, I noticed first hand how the unconscious was the key to that change. So I began reverse engineering what I learned from neurobiology, evolutionary psychology and behavioral economics , starting with the things that were proven to yield real results quickly in real people. I created a seven-step process to change behavior, one that I have been applying to marketing strategies with remarkable success ever since.

These are the seven steps: 1) Interrupt the Pattern, 2) Create Comfort, 3) Lead the Imagination , 4) Shift the Feeling, 5) Satisfy the Critical Mind, 6) Change the Associations and 7) Take Action.

This new shift from a cultural to a biological view of behavior is one of the most promising opportunities in the history of humanity. There is so much fertile ground but woefully few farmers. We need an organizing framework to put these insights into practice. Because many of the most outward, pervasive and economically significant manifestations of our culture--such as the products and services we buy everyday and the advertising that moves us most —often have clearly explainable neurobiological determinants. Piggybacking culturally relevant messages atop these cognitive truths exponentially increases impact.

Take for instance an ad we created at Deutsch LA for Volkswagen, which leveraged Star Wars fame and the first of my seven steps: Interrupt the Pattern. The pathway to our unconscious best begins by galvanizing our conscious attention . But awareness of our surroundings occurs only when the things we perceive violate our expectations. We only really notice the car driving in front of us when its’ brakes are slammed. Our mind is a prediction machine that works via pattern recognition . When something unexpectedly defies our prediction, our expected pattern, we are forced to take notice. This is the biological basis of how consumers learn and how marketers break though clutter.

The commercial we created interrupted perceptions of the concept of the evil Dark Lord by featuring an adorable pint-sized version that quickly became a global phenomenon. In the ad, mini-Darth Vader is seen in a series of unsuccessful attempts to use “the Force” on various household items, each time predictably failing, until he encounters the new 2012 Passat. This time the pattern is interrupted as the car comes to life by the power of his little raised hands after his dad secretly starts the engine using the remote start feature on the key fob.

“The Force” generated a staggering 54 million views on YouTube and a reported 6.8 billion impressions worldwide and more than $100 million in earned media. We were merely building upon Volkswagen’s great legacy of using pattern interrupts. In 1959 they introduced “Think small”, a refreshing campaign counter to an industry of conspicuous consumption that boasted big. A zig among zags that Advertising Age ranked the top ad campaign of the century.

“The Force” also generated an outpouring of support from delighted brand fans inspired by the charming tale and a magical moment in the life of an imaginative little boy. And the Volkswagen brand enjoyed a remarkably successful sales year, achieving its highest market share in decades. A “win win” for both company and customer.

If you'd like to learn more, visit my website at: www.unconsciousbranding.com

Douglas Van Praet is the author of Unconscious Branding: How Neuroscience Can Empower (and Inspire) Marketing . He applies unconscious behaviorism, neurobiology, and evolutionary psychology to business.

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How Customers Think - The Subconscious Mind of the Consumer (And How To Reach It)

Harvard Business School professor Gerald Zaltman's latest book, How Customers Think: Essential Insights into the Mind of the Market, delves into the subconscious mind of the consumer—the place where most purchasing decisions are made. The question: How can marketers understand unconscious consumer thinking? HBS Working Knowledge staffer Manda Mahoney questioned Zaltman about the new book, published by Harvard Business School Publishing.

Mahoney: You state that 95 percent of all cognition occurs in the subconscious mind. How can marketers begin to understand behaviors and attitudes of which customers themselves are not aware?

Zaltman: There are several helpful approaches. One is to double check stated beliefs with actual behavior. For example, many consumers report handling competing brands and comparing prices at the point of purchase. However, observations of these same consumers often reveal that they don't even look at alternatives to the chosen brand. Another option uses physiological or response latency measures. These often reveal that what consumers actually believe or think, as measured by unconscious physical reactions, contradicts what they say when asked directly. Another very productive approach is to study the metaphors consumers use to express their thoughts and feelings. This involves in-depth probing in one-on-one interviews for the hidden meanings contained in their metaphors.

Q: The idea of exploring the subconscious of the customer is traditionally linked to advertisers. Is this an expanding advertising strategy, or something different?

A: Probing the unconscious mind of the consumer has tremendous value beyond advertising. For example, learning that a communications device or even a personal care product invokes deep thoughts and feelings about social bonding can be very helpful to R&D experts. In the case of a communications device, this suggests that tactile experiences of social bonding be "engineered in" through the design of how the product is gripped in the hand and in the choice of finish in the device's housing material. In the case of a personal care product, colors and scents known to be evocative of social bonding experiences can be used. In both cases, the basic idea of connection is central to the product's value proposition and becomes a more profound basis for developing marketing strategy than, say, technical superiority or long-lasting benefits. While the latter attributes are important, it is because they serve the deeper needs of connection or social bonding.

Q: Your research points to the ineffectiveness of focus groups. What techniques should managers be employing to elicit information from customers?

A: Many researchers tell us that one-on-one interviews are superior to focus groups. That is, even a few conventional one-on-one interviews yield essentially the same data as several focus groups. Additionally, there is now a lot of evidence that personal interviews yield deep insights that can't be obtained from focus groups. So, my preference is to conduct in-depth, one-on-one interviews that are enriched by using various techniques from clinical psychology and sociology. Often, the results of such interviews can be used to design more comprehensive surveys. And properly designed surveys, when subjected to careful statistical analyses, can yield further insights into unconscious consumer thinking.

Q: At what point in the product life cycle are these insights most helpful? Is this a product planning strategy?

A: The insights offered by methods that probe the unconscious mind are relevant at all stages of the product life cycle. For instance, when introducing a radically new product, it is necessary to understand how consumers currently frame their experience of the problem addressed by the new offering. That is, no matter how radical a new product is, it will always be perceived initially in terms of some frame of reference. It is essential that this frame be understood, especially if it is an inappropriate one detrimental to early trial of the product. For a mature product, insights about the category or a specific brand can lead to modifications that will extend its life and sustain its economic value to the firm. One firm with a very "tired" brand explored consumers' hidden thoughts and feelings and discovered a relevant, basic emotion that had been overlooked by all brands in the category. They were able to connect this emotion with their brand giving it a major sales boost. Other firms use the hidden treasures of the unconscious mind to identify new product opportunities. Using metaphor-elicitation techniques, firms providing farming supplies, home appliances, office systems, and beauty care have identified important unmet needs. R&D departments use information about the architecture of these needs to identify opportunities for new products and services.

Q: What do you say to those who may be upset by the idea that businesses are privy to the inner workings of the human mind?

A: All knowledge can be used in constructive, socially responsible ways just as it can be used harmfully. The more knowledge we acquire, the more we are faced with this dilemma. If we want the opportunity to use knowledge to benefit consumers we should not shy away from learning more about the inner workings of the human mind. This also runs the risk that some people might use that same knowledge in ways we consider inappropriate. Here I think all of us have a special responsibility to making clear, to consumers and managers alike, what we consider appropriate and inappropriate uses of knowledge. This at least will help lessen inadvertent misuse of knowledge.

Q: Are there companies that are ahead of the game? How do these companies use these techniques effectively?

A: There are several companies that are ahead of the game in terms of acquiring advanced knowledge about consumer behavior and in using that knowledge to benefit consumers. These firms include McNeil Consumer Health Care, McCann-Erickson, Procter & Gamble, Hallmark, Bank of America, Kraft, Samsung Electronics, IBM, Pfizer, J. Walter Thomson, and General Motors among others. Their use of these techniques range from the development of new product ideas all the way to the repositioning of established brands. One of these firms just recently used the techniques mentioned above to identify an opportunity for a new product line and to guide the actual design of products within that line. The same research was helpful in crafting a communication strategy for the new line and in selecting a name for this new offering.

Q: We hear a lot about how technology is revolutionizing our ability to understand customers. Is this aspect overrated? Is science the future of marketing?

A: Technology is indeed revolutionizing our ability to understand customers. Insights about the workings of the cognitive unconscious including memory, attention, information processing, the nature of human universals, and socially shared cognitions, and the neurobiology of figurative thinking, for instance, have already outdated most thinking and current practices among managers. Many of these advances are the product of advances in research techniques. Still, the use of scientific advances requires the imaginative translation of scientific findings into effective practice in the marketplace. This is the art that goes hand-in-hand with science. Imaginative thinking by managers and market researchers is required to successfully apply insights from metaphor-elicitation and neuro-imaging techniques, for example, to generate helpful new products, more informative communications, and more rewarding in-store experiences.

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Values-Cues Research

General Motors uses metaphors in its Value-Cues Research program for designing vehicles, advertising, and dealership appearances. In a recent study, GM hired researchers to ask consumers to bring objects expressing "optimism" to a one-on-one interview. One participant brought an image of a champagne flute. The interviewee explained that the flute's simple, open design expressed many things, including the dawning of a new day. GM's designers then used this understanding to convey optimism in their car designs. One design-team member remarked, "It would be impossible to do this relying only on verbal cues. Getting customers to express themselves in the same design vernacular we use goes right to the heart of how we connect with them."

In another metaphor-elicitation project, General Motors' designers asked consumers to show them photos of "friendly" watches. Respondents chose watches that were easy to read and could stand up under abuse. The dominant design features of these watches included a large face, easily legible numbers, and a low-tech, nonindustrial "feel." Study participants also chose watches that appeared "fun." "Fun" was expressed through color; "innocent, silly" shapes; a round face; and designs "that make you smile," look comfortable, and invite comments from others.

To its amazement, the design team also learned that "slight changes in design can drastically change the metaphor conjured up by customers." With watches, as with human faces, the difference between a mean and friendly look can be very subtle indeed. That's why the Value-Cues Research program uses "in-depth one-on-one interviews rather than focus groups to probe deeply and figure out why a subtle change in design produces a major change in the metaphors used to describe one design option versus another," according to Dr. Jeffrey Hartley, a psychologist and manager of Brand Character and Theme Research at General Motors.

By asking consumers to use nonautomobile examples, the researchers gained a more complete understanding of the diverse meanings of "friendly" as potentially relevant to automobiles. In fact, in most of its metaphor-elicitation research, Olson Zaltman Associates asks consumers to bring in pictures that don't show the product in question, but depict their thoughts and feelings about that product, service, or experience. Thus, in a study of the essence of Mickey Mouse, OZA asked consumers not to choose pictures relating to or including Mickey or Disney in general. As a result, consumers thought more deeply about the topic and produced more valuable insights that a company's competitors can't easily access through traditional research methods.

Metaphors involve mental models Metaphors do not exist as words in memory, but as networks of abstract understandings that constitute part of our mental imagery. 23 We call these networks consensus maps when a group of people shares them. Figure 4-1 shows a simple consensus map of consumers' understandings of Chevrolet trucks in terms of a rock, in response to Chevy's "Like a rock" advertisement, one of Chevy's most successful. The company designed it based on metaphor-elicitation research with consumers; as a result, it effectively identified the associations present in the thinking of dedicated Chevy truck owners and then, through advertising, established these associations in the thinking of a broader truck-buying public (see figure 4-1 ).

The phrase "like a rock" inspires four basic associations in consumers' minds: "rock" with "take abuse"; "Chevy" with "reliable"; "Chevy" with "rock"; and "take abuse" with "reliable." When consumers make a connection between the idea of a Chevy truck and the idea of a rock, they attribute certain rocklike qualities, such as the ability to take abuse, to Chevy trucks and translate them into notions of reliability and ruggedness. Figure 4-1 shows how these qualities enter consumers' awareness directly through advertising or other marketing decisions.

Marketing to the Mind ‐ Right Brain Strategies for Advertising and Marketing

Journal of Consumer Marketing

ISSN : 0736-3761

Article publication date: 1 June 1998

• Advertising
• Consumer behaviour
• Consumer marketing

Smart, D.T. (1998), "Marketing to the Mind ‐ Right Brain Strategies for Advertising and Marketing", Journal of Consumer Marketing , Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 297-299. https://doi.org/10.1108/jcm.1998.15.3.297.1

Emerald Group Publishing Limited

In a very fundamental way psychologists and marketers are interested in the answer to the same question: what motivates people to behave in a certain manner? For the psychologist it is behavior in the world in general. For the marketer it is behavior as it relates to the consumption of goods and services.

Trying to uncover what motivates people has been the focus of research efforts in both fields through the years. In marketing, motivation research techniques have run the gamut from in‐depth interviews and focus groups to the more controversial physiological tests such as the galvanic skin response and the electroencephalographic response. The limitations inherent in most current approaches inspire continued research to find a way to overcome a subject’s inability or unwillingness to explain his or her behavior.

A recent Wall Street Journal article entitled, “Marketers seek the ‘naked’ truth in consumer psyches” talks about the challenges of trying to uncover what were called “unguarded reactions” from consumers (May 30, 1997, B1, p. 13). It was suggested that they often have to do with emotions that necessitate examining the unconscious.

Marketing to the Mind speaks to this critical area. It presents an in‐depth examination of concepts, theories and research about the right side of the brain, the unconscious mind. Authors, Maddock, a practicing psychologist, and Fulton, a corporate president and management consultant, together provide a unique perspective drawing on research from medicine and clinical psychology, as well as from their own experiences with marketing research and practice.

Based on this analysis of the literature, coupled with their own observations from interviews with over 5,000 consumers involving over 200 product categories, they have developed a diagnostic technique which they believe will provide advertisers with an approach for creating successful creative strategies and marketing plans.

Marketing to the Mind is based on an integrated three‐dimensional approach to advertising and marketing which includes rational or logical reasons for buying a product, the memory aspects of the advertising message and the emotional or motivational reasons for the purchase. From this framework the authors go on to develop a new hierarchy of motivational groups and subgroups that they suggest apply to all consumer and human behavior. These groups are based on the belief that the unconscious is relatively simple and consists of a limited number of motivators. Those groups identified are:

(1) Orientation Motives, and subgroups Orientation to Person, Place, Time and Circumstances.

(2) Survival Motives, and subgroups Spiritual, Physical, Territorial and Sexual Survival.

(3) Adaptation Motive.

(4) Expectation Motive.

Orientation motives are important, but the spiritual survival motive, containing the basic elements of right and wrong, is thought to be in a marketing and advertising context probably the most powerful and motivating of all. Spiritual survival is psychologically rather than religiously based and is manifested in attempts to achieve perfection in certain areas such as sports, in being dedicated to an issue, in the need to be right, to gain knowledge, and to attain love.

Throughout the book the authors provide many examples of products and messages that speak to the spiritual nature of consumers’ needs. For example, McDonald’s success is attributed to their having changed the reason for eating out from physical survival to a spiritual level. That is, it has to do with family values and what “good” parents do for their kids.

After the initial explanation of the right brain approach and consumer motivation hierarchy, the authors describe the research technique that can be used to uncover consumer motivations. To tap the unconscious side of the mind, a two‐phase approach is suggested.

Phase one involves an in‐depth “visualization” interview that probes areas related to product motives, emotions, features and benefits. Interviewees are asked to use their photographic memory, which involves picturing something that has happened previously as opposed to “remembering” it. This technique aids in helping recall details and in bringing emotions associated with products to the surface. Because there are a small number of motivations that are involved, a small sample is thought adequate for this initial phase.

Once the operative motives are isolated, the second phase using large samples and more traditional quantitative marketing research studies is undertaken. The purpose of this phase is to determine the degree to which the various motives identified in phase one are relevant in the target market. Through a pre‐quantitative step, a set of beliefs and implied motive statements are developed which are used in the final phase along with measures of attitudes and behavior.

The last part of the book describes how the marketing to the mind approach to the unconscious can be applied to various consumer products. Chapters are devoted to examining such diverse areas as casino gambling and wagering, fashion marketing and merchandising, and marketing professional and non‐profit services.

One of the most interesting chapters is entitled, “Why people still visit Elvis and Graceland”. Based on research utilizing their visualization technique, the authors conclude that, “The Elvis Presley phenomenon demonstrates the overwhelming importance of spiritual survival in human behavior, specifically in the areas of advertising and marketing and in its overall contribution to the economy...The point is that he elevated a curse (sex) to the level of a blessing (spirituality) and in so doing he took something that he believed to be wrong and made it right. This is marketing to the unconscious mind” (p. 237).

Certainly this book offers a variety of information and an interesting perspective. Whether readers necessarily agree with every conclusion is not imperative to get benefit from reading the book. It is thought‐provoking and does provide many intriguing examples (e.g. why defense attorney Johnny Cochran was successful in defending O.J. Simpson). It also fills in some historical details that may not have been remembered (e.g. psychologist Ernst Dichter suggested to home builders that they use large dish‐style doorknobs so that consumers could “hug” their homes).

Readers who would get the most from the book are those involved in marketing research, especially advertising professionals. Having experience reading articles written for academic journals and audiences would also be helpful, as the book contains a fair amount of detailed documentation. And, because so much information is contained in its 23 chapters and some of it is quite complex, occasionally it is somewhat difficult to follow. Some of this has to do with the variety of terms used, many with the same or similar meanings; some because so many topics are covered and it is not always clear how one follows from another, and some because the authors have a tendency often to insert “will be discussed later in chapter x ” which can be a cause for confusion.

The search to undercover the unconscious mind and what motivates consumers continues. Marketing to the Mind brings together a mix of psychology and marketing perspectives into an approach that merits consideration.

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Unconscious Consumer Behavior in Marketing

By Amy N. Dalton, Associate Professor, Department of Marketing, HKUST Business School

Simply asking consumers how they are influenced by different elements of the marketing mix, including products, brands, retail stores and salespeople is a largely ineffective approach.

That’s because consumers are often unwilling or unable to describe the nature of the influence with any degree of accuracy. Indeed, we know that marketing - and other aspects of our environment - can affect psychological experiences and behavior so subtly that individuals can fail to realise what is happening. Moreover, a sizeable body of research, conducted over several decades, now suggests that much consumer behavior happens unconsciously and is something they can’t control.

If that is the case, though, how can we know they are being influenced at all? To study that, we rely on priming , the technique researchers use to track unconscious effects in the laboratory and in the “real world.”

The technique is based on our understanding of how the mind processes and responds to aspects of the environment. The basic theory is that mere exposure to these aspects temporarily activates, or primes, associated mental concepts. These can include memories, emotions, attitudes, goals, stereotypes, and character traits.

For example, you might walk through a shopping mall and pass the retail store H&M. This mentally activates the concept “H&M” and others associated with it, such as “trendy” and “inexpensive.” In this way, primed concepts influence our immediate thoughts, judgments, feelings and behaviors.

So, if just after passing H&M, you are asked to estimate how much you will spend next time you buy clothes, you will probably mention a low figure, given that activating “H&M” has also brought to mind the associated concept “inexpensive.”

In fact, this is precisely what my colleagues and I found in a series of field studies where we spoke to consumers in shopping malls. We also found the opposite occurred when we stopped people walking past relatively expensive stores. The latter group estimated they would spend significantly more on their next clothing purchase. Importantly, in all these studies, the consumers were unaware that the store they happened to be walking past was influencing the amount they were apparently willing to spend.

Such effects are an example of supraliminal priming . It describes how priming occurs in the real world, where people are consciously aware of an environmental cue - a retail store - but unaware of its influence on them.

In contrast, laboratory research often relies on subliminal priming . That is where people are unaware of an environmental cue, yet still influenced by it. For example, we see this if test subjects are seated in front of a computer monitor which flashes an image of a brand of drink for fractions of a second, while they are working on an ostensibly unrelated task. The image is below the radar of conscious perception, but this subliminal exposure to the brand increases the likelihood that, subsequently, it will be selected ahead of others.

Researchers rely on subliminal priming techniques for a simple reason: if participants can’t consciously detect an environmental cue, then they certainly won’t be aware of its effect. Therefore, subliminal priming is the “gold standard” for demonstrating that marketing cues can affect consumers unconsciously.

We relied on these techniques in a series of laboratory studies to compare the unconscious influences of brand logos and slogans. We conjectured that a key difference is that slogans are seen as “persuasion tactics” and, consequently, should not produce a typical priming effect.

This hypothesis was based on some of my earlier research. It showed that subliminal exposure produces so-called reverse-priming effects if people perceive a threat to their autonomy. For example, consider a student whose mother is always encouraging her to work hard at school. If this student is subliminally exposed to the word “mother” while simultaneously working on a test or assessment, she will persist longer and perform better.

Suppose, though, that the student perceives her mother as highly controlling. Rather than boosting performance, subliminally priming “mother” will cause performance to drop significantly, even below baseline levels. Because her mother is perceived as a threat to autonomy and freedom, the subliminal priming triggers oppositional behavior.

The critical thing is that this behavior is dictated by psychological processes which operate entirely unconsciously. The student is unaware that the concept “mother” is active, that concepts related to her personal autonomy are too, and that she is behaving in an oppositional manner.

Building on this research, we predicted two things. The first was that consumers unconsciously respond in an oppositional manner to brand slogans, which they perceive as persuasion tactics. The second was that they respond in an assimilative manner to brand logos, which they fail to perceive as persuasion tactics.

That is, we predicted that slogans produce reverse-priming effects , while logos produce priming effects . Consistent with this, it was found that subliminal exposure to the logo for “Walmart,” typically associated with saving money, reduces consumers’ subsequent spending. But exposure to the company’s “Save money. Live better” slogan increases subsequent spending. The same pattern holds true when we compare logos and slogans associated with luxury brands, but with a twist. There, subliminal exposure to logos increases spending, while exposure to slogans reduces it.

Our research relies on subliminal priming techniques to show that unconscious influences can be based on many different aspects of an environmental cue. Therefore, the can affect consumers in ways that marketers may not intend.

When it comes to brands versus slogans, the key point is that “the medium is the message.” This may be bad news for marketers, but it is good news for consumers, who are exposed to countless marketing messages on a daily basis. Even the simple act of entering a supermarket can involve an untold number of cues and potential priming effects, ranging from brand displays to discount signs and even the cashier’s friendly smile.

Much research remains to be done in the area of unconscious consumer behavior. So far, though, our results suggest that people develop defence mechanisms that also operate automatically, without the need for conscious guidance. These mechanisms protect consumers against the effects of persuasion tactics by unconsciously triggering oppositional responses.

We are currently working to extend these findings by examining the role of brand liking. Early results suggest that subliminal exposure to a brand one dislikes also produces a reverse-priming effect .

How advertisers seduce our subconscious

Associate Professor of Advertising Theory, University of Bath

Disclosure statement

Robert George Heath does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of Bath provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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In 1957 Vance Packard’s book The Hidden Persuaders shocked the world by revealing that messages exposed subliminally, below our level of perception, were able to increase sales of ice cream and Coke. The experiment he cited was later shown to be a hoax, but one of Packard’s other assertions, that advertising can influence us below our level of awareness, is absolutely true.

In fact, rather scarily, the vast majority of advertising’s influence on us is subconscious. My own research has shown how the emotive content of advertising enables it to break almost all the rules which we believe govern our own susceptibility to adverts.

For example, we believe that ignoring ads stops them working, oblivious of the fact that emotive content requires no attention at all in order to be effectively processed . We also think that if we can’t recall an advert’s message, we cannot have been influenced by it. However the truth is that emotional influence lodges deep in our subconscious and is almost impossible to recall.

Above all, we believe that our brand choices are logical, and driven by our rational thinking, whereas the greatest driver of brand decisions is actually our emotional predisposition.

Consider this example. In 2001 the struggling communications network, Cellnet, was relaunched as O2 using a campaign with the vacuous message ‘O2: see what you can do.’ The advert featured blue water with bubbles bubbling through it, people flirting and floating around, fluttering doves, a dog catching a ball, and some lilting music in the background.

There was absolutely no mention of the network quality or coverage or tariffs or handsets, because O2 was no better than anyone else on these. Yet despite being a failing brand, and having absolutely no performance advantage, O2 went from last to first in the market in just four years.

More importantly, an industry analysis of this launch concluded their success was entirely due to the ads, which had encouraged people to feel that O2 was “calm and serene, the antithesis to clutter and chaos, a contrast to the often frenetic world around mobile phones”.

How can advertising do this? It’s very simple. Our brains have a primitive defence mechanism called the limbic system , which is permanently alert, perceiving stimuli and assigning meanings to them. It is this system which wakes us if our baby cries, or makes us jump back onto the pavement if we see an approaching car in the corner of our eye.

The limbic system works regardless of whether we are paying attention, and works at a far greater speed than our thoughts. And unfortunately for our consumer selves, it is the system that processes emotional stimulus.

So when we perceive an ad for a brand, we make an instant judgement of its emotional value and store this subconsciously as a marker for future reference. If the emotional value is positive (kind, warm, sexy, cool, successful and so on) we are subconsciously “conditioned” to invest the brand with this positivity. We are not aware this happens, which means we can’t argue against it. But when we come to making a decision involving the brand, we find ourselves “seduced” in favour of it, and provided there is no strong reason not to, we buy it.

Of course if someone then asks us why we bought it, we invent all sorts of rational reasons for ourselves to do with price, features, performance, of the item in question.

Gorilla marketing

In the last ten years I’ve conducted several experiments which prove this is what happens. In 2005 I showed that ad recall doesn’t correlate with ad effectiveness ; in 2006 I discovered that the message in advertising has hardly any influence on brand favourability , which is driven almost entirely by emotive content; and in 2009 I demonstrated that ads high in emotive content, despite being shown to be consistently more effective, are invariably paid less attention than ads with evident messages .

Why is this? Well, we tend to like ads that are emotive and creative, and so we don’t see them as a threat. Because they are not a threat we don’t feel the need to pay attention, and because emotion operates subconsciously, paying less attention actually makes the ad even more effective.

My research has led me to conclude that brands as diverse as Renault, Andrex, Nike, Stella, McDonalds, Audi, Bosch, Coke, BMW, VW, Tesco, M&S, British Airways, McDonalds, and, most controversially, Marlboro, have all employed subconscious seduction to create huge business successes.

But perhaps the best example of subconscious seduction came from a famous advert which had no message whatsoever, didn’t even show the product, yet managed to achieve a 10% increase in sales across the firm’s entire range. That’s millions of chocolate bars sold to customers – all subconsciously seduced by a gorilla playing the drums.

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CoolTool Blog

What is Unconscious Insight in Marketing?

From research , we know that 95% of purchase decisions are made on the subconscious level. Still, the majority of marketing campaigns appeal to our logical, conscious mind responsible for solving complex issues. Traditional marketing efforts appeal to our reasoning as if marketers expect that consumers will adopt the purchase decision based on the chain of logical conclusions. Emotional connections  with the product and brand - that's what really matters.

Think about the following: you can explain step by step how you arrived at a particular formal conclusion, but can you as easily explain why and how you started feeling a particular emotion or developed a particular attitude towards a product or brand? In the majority of cases, the answer is “No”, as emotions are driven by the unconsciousness and people can’t control its emergence. Let’s see how it can be beneficial for your marketing strategy by answering 3 main questions: What? How? Where?

What is an unconscious insight after all?

First of all, it’s a source of very valuable information which can be used to improve your marketing strategy. A common wisdom of the marketing world says that customers search value for money and are interested in the characteristics of the product which will allow them to satisfy their needs and blah, blah, blah… But is it always true? Don’t you think that people can choose a product just because of the design, or because they saw a fancy pop star using it? Indeed, very often purchase decisions are based on irrational, subconscious drivers , even if the customer doesn’t understand it. That’s what unconscious insight is – the unprocessed, hidden from the customer’s consciousness reason for adopting a purchase decision.

How can I get some?

Unconscious insights are very valuable and as any valuable information, they require some efforts to be obtained. The best way to do it is to conduct a research. Neuromarketing tools are most suitable for this purpose, as they allow you to obtain information about the unconscious reactions of the human brain. The data obtained through the EEG, eye-tracking, emotions measurement and implicit priming tests  is an effective instrument of cross-checking claimed attitudes of customers to your product and brand with real ones. In a nutshell, this is the most transparent data one can obtain in course of marketing research which can be further used for the improvement of marketing efforts efficiency.

Where these insights are applicable?

Probably, the best thing about the unconscious insights is that even the smallest ones can be easily measured and analyzed. For instance, you designed a new package for your product. Customer’s feedback is positive, so you decide to launch the production. After several weeks you see that sales of this product (which remained the same, you just changed the packaging) dropped by X percent and the trend tends to remain negative. You’ve already invested a lot of money and time into this design. So, instead of panicking and putting all your efforts to the trash bin you can conduct an eye-tracking test  in order to see how customers perceive new shapes and colors and then address just the problematic parts. Thus, such insights can be used particularly for any purposes a marketing effort can be directed at.

We hope these short answers provided you with the general understanding of what the unconscious insights are and how they can be used for the improvement of your product and brand perception.  

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The Unconscious Mind

The unconscious mind is still viewed by many psychological scientists as the shadow of a “real” conscious mind, though there now exists substantial evidence that the unconscious is not identifiably less flexible, complex, controlling, deliberative, or action-oriented than is its counterpart. This “conscious-centric” bias is due in part to the operational definition within cognitive psychology that equates unconscious with subliminal. We review the evidence challenging this restricted view of the unconscious emerging from contemporary social cognition research, which has traditionally defined the unconscious in terms of its unintentional nature; this research has demonstrated the existence of several independent unconscious behavioral guidance systems: perceptual, evaluative, and motivational. From this perspective, it is concluded that in both phylogeny and ontogeny, actions of an unconscious mind precede the arrival of a conscious mind—that action precedes reflection.

Contemporary perspectives on the unconscious mind are remarkably varied. In cognitive psychology, unconscious information processing has been equated with subliminal information processing, which raises the question, “How good is the mind at extracting meaning from stimuli of which one is not consciously aware?” (e.g., Greenwald, Klinger, & Schuh, 1995 ). Because subliminal-strength stimuli are relatively weak and of low intensity by definition, the mental processes they drive are necessarily minimal and unsophisticated, and so these studies have led to the conclusion that the powers of the unconscious mind are limited and that the unconscious is rather “dumb” ( Loftus & Klinger, 1992 ).

Social psychology has approached the unconscious from a different angle. There, the traditional focus has been on mental processes of which the individual is unaware, not on stimuli of which one is unaware (e.g., Nisbett & Wilson, 1977 ). Over the past 30 years, there has been much research on the extent to which people are aware of the important influences on their judgments and decisions and of the reasons for their behavior. This research, in contrast with the cognitive psychology tradition, has led to the view that the unconscious mind is a pervasive, powerful influence over such higher mental processes (see review in Bargh, 2006 ).

And, of course, the Freudian model of the unconscious is still with us and continues to exert an influence over how many people think of “the unconscious,” especially outside of psychological science. Freud’s model of the unconscious as the primary guiding influence over daily life, even today, is more specific and detailed than any to be found in contemporary cognitive or social psychology. However, the data from which Freud developed the model were individual case studies involving abnormal thought and behavior ( Freud, 1925/1961 , p. 31), not the rigorous scientific experimentation on generally applicable principles of human behavior that inform the psychological models. Over the years, empirical tests have not been kind to the specifics of the Freudian model, though in broad-brush terms the cognitive and social psychological evidence does support Freud as to the existence of unconscious mentation and its potential to impact judgments and behavior (see Westen, 1999 ). Regardless of the fate of his specific model, Freud’s historic importance in championing the powers of the unconscious mind is beyond any doubt.

How one views the power and influence of the unconscious relative to conscious modes of information processing largely depends on how one defines the unconscious. Until quite recently in the history of science and philosophy, mental life was considered entirely or mainly conscious in nature (e.g., Descartes’ cogito and John Locke’s “mind first” cosmology). The primacy of conscious thought for how people historically have thought about the mind is illustrated today in the words we use to describe other kinds of processes—all are modifications or qualifications of the word conscious (i.e., unconscious, preconscious, subconscious, nonconscious). Moreover, there has been high consensus regarding the qualities of conscious thought processes: they are intentional, controllable, serial in nature (consumptive of limited processing resources), and accessible to awareness (i.e., verbally reportable).

No such consensus exists yet for the unconscious, however. Because of the monolithic nature of the definition of a conscious process—if a process does not possess all of the qualities of a conscious process, it is therefore not conscious—at least two different “not conscious” processes were studied over the course of the 20th century within largely independent research traditions that seemed barely to notice the other’s existence: the New Look research in perception involving the preconscious analysis of stimuli prior to the products of the analysis being furnished to conscious awareness, and skill-acquisition research involving the gain in efficiency of processes with practice over time until they become subconscious (see the review in Bargh & Chartrand, 2000 ).

Note how the qualities of the two not-conscious processes differ: in the New Look research, the person did not intend to engage in the process and was unaware of it; in the skill-acquisition research, the person did intend to engage in the process, which, once started, was capable of running off without need of conscious guidance. Typing and driving a car (for the experienced typist and driver, respectively) are classic examples of the latter—both are efficient procedures that can run off outside of consciousness, but nonetheless both are intentional processes. (One doesn’t sit down to type without meaning to in the first place, and the same applies to driving a car.) These and other difficulties with the monolithic, all-or-nothing division of mental processes into either conscious or unconscious have resulted today in different “flavors” of the unconscious—different operational definitions that lead to dramatically different conclusions about the power and scope of the unconscious.

We therefore oppose the cognitive psychology equation of the unconscious with subliminal information processing for several reasons. First, this operational definition is both unnatural and unnecessarily restrictive. Subliminal stimuli do not occur naturally—they are by definition too weak or brief to enter conscious awareness. Thus, it is unfair to measure the capability of the unconscious in terms of how well it processes subliminal stimuli because unconscious (like conscious) processes evolved to deal and respond to naturally occurring (regular strength) stimuli; assessing the unconscious in terms of processing subliminal stimuli is analogous to evaluating the intelligence of a fish based on its behavior out of water. And as one might expect, the operational definition of the unconscious in terms of subliminal information processing has in fact led to the conclusion of the field that the unconscious is, well, rather dumb.

An article in a special issue of American Psychologist ( Loftus & Klinger, 1992 ) once asked the question, “Is the unconscious smart or dumb?” Because unconscious was treated as subliminal —or how smart people are when reacting to stimuli of which they are unaware (e.g., Greenwald, 1992 )—the consensus reached by the contributors and issue editors was that the unconscious is actually rather dumb as it is capable only of highly routinized activities and it perceives little without the aid of consciousness ( Loftus & Klinger, 1992 ). (Note that while the unconscious may be “dumb” in regard to subliminal stimuli, it’s still smarter than consciousness, which can’t even tell that such stimuli have been presented!) The issue contributors concluded, for the most part, that although concept activation and primitive associative learning could occur unconsciously, anything complex requiring flexible responding, integration of stimuli, or higher mental processes could not.

However, the term unconscious originally had a different meaning. The earliest use of the term in the early 1800s referred to hypnotically induced behavior in which the hypnotized subject was not aware of the causes and reasons for his or her behavior ( Goldsmith, 1934 ). In On the Origin of Species , Darwin (1859) used the term to refer to “unconscious selection” processes in nature and contrasted them with the intentional and deliberate selection long engaged in by farmers and animal breeders to develop better strains of corn, fatter cows, and woollier sheep. Freud, who credited the early hypnosis research with the original discovery of the unconscious (see Brill, 1938 ), also used the term to refer to behavior and ideation that was not consciously intended or caused—for example, “Freudian slips” and nearly all the examples given in The Psychopathology of Everyday Life involve unintended behavior, the source or cause of which was unknown to the individual. In all these cases, the term unconscious referred to the unintentional nature of the behavior or process, and the concomitant lack of awareness was not of the stimuli that provoked the behavior, but of the influence or consequences of those stimuli.

Thus, the use of the term unconscious was originally based on one’s unintentional actions and not on one’s ability to process subliminal-strength information (as the technology needed to present such information did not yet exist). And this equation of unconscious with unintentional is how unconscious phenomena have been conceptualized and studied within social psychology for the past quarter century or so. Nisbett and Wilson’s (1977) seminal article posed the question, “To what extent are people aware of and able to report on the true causes of their behavior?” The answer was “not very well” (see also Wilson & Brekke, 1994 ), which was surprising and controversial at the time given the overall assumption of many that judgments and behavior (the higher mental processes) were typically consciously intended and thus available to conscious awareness. If these processes weren’t accessible to awareness, then perhaps they weren’t consciously intended, and if they weren’t consciously intended, then how in fact were they accomplished?

This latter question motivated the social psychology research into priming and automaticity effects, which investigated the ways in which the higher mental processes such as judgment and social behavior could be triggered and then operate in the absence of conscious intent and guidance. Consequently, this research operationally defined unconscious influences in terms of a lack of awareness of the influences or effects of a triggering stimulus and not of the triggering stimulus itself ( Bargh, 1992 ). And what a difference this change in operational definition makes! If one shifts the operational definition of the unconscious from the processing of stimuli of which one is not aware to the influences or effects of stimulus processing of which one is not aware, suddenly the true power and scope of the unconscious in daily life become apparent. Defining the unconscious in terms of the former leads directly to the conclusion that it is dumb as dirt ( Loftus & Klinger, 1992 ), whereas defining it in terms of the latter affords the opinion that it is highly intelligent and adaptive.

This expanded and enhanced view of the unconscious is also more compatible with theory and evidence in the field of evolutionary biology, than is the “subliminal only” view of cognitive psychology. As did Darwin and Freud, evolutionary biologists also think of the unconscious much more in terms of unintentional actions rather than unawareness of stimuli. In his seminal work, The Selfish Gene , Dawkins (1976) noted the awe-inspiring and intelligent designs in nature that arose merely through blind natural selection processes. He called nature the “blind watchmaker, the unconscious watchmaker,” because there was no conscious intentional guiding hand in producing these intelligent designs (Dennett, 1991 , 1995 ).

THE NATURAL UNCONSCIOUS OF EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGY

Consonant with these basic assumptions in natural science, social cognition research over the past 25 years has produced a stream of surprising findings regarding complex judgmental and behavioral phenomena that operate outside of awareness. Because the findings did not make sense given the “dumb unconscious” perspective of the psychological science mainstream (to wit, how could a processing system so dumb accomplish so much in the way of adaptive self-regulation?), we had to look outside of psychology to understand them and their implications for the human mind. Happily, when placed in the broader context of the natural sciences, especially evolutionary biology, the widespread discoveries of sophisticated unconscious behavior guidance systems not only make sense, they turn out to have been predicted on a priori grounds ( Dawkins, 1976 ; Dennett, 1991 , 1995 ).

Genes, Culture, and Early Learning

Given the uncertainty of the future and the slow rate of genetic change, our genes have provided us not with fixed responses to specific events (because these cannot be anticipated with any degree of accuracy), but with general tendencies that are adaptive across local variations ( Dawkins, 1976 ). It is for this reason that evolution has shaped us to be open-ended systems ( Mayr, 1976 ). This open-ended quality gives room for “fine-tuning” the newborn to local conditions. Much of this is given to us by human culture, the local conditions (mainly social) of the world into which we happen to be born. Dawkins (1976) noted that phenotypic plasticity enables the infant to absorb, entirely automatically, “an already invented and largely debugged system of habits in the partly unstructured brain” (p. 193).

The gleaning of cultural knowledge is a giant step towards adaptation to the current local environment. Any human infant born today can be relocated immediately to any place and any culture in the world and will then adapt to and speak the language of that culture just as well as any child born there ( Dennett, 1991 ). The cultural guides to appropriate behavior (including language, norms, and values) are “downloaded” during early childhood development, thereby greatly reducing the unpredictability of the child’s world and his or her uncertainty as to how to act and behave in it.

And it is not just overall cultural norms and values that are so readily absorbed during this early period of life; we also absorb the particulars of the behavior and values of those closest to us, providing still finer tuning of appropriate-behavior tendencies. In a review of 25 years of infant imitation research, Meltzoff (2002) concluded that young children learn much about how to behave by mere passive imitation of fellow children and also their adult caretakers. Infants in particular are wide open to such imitative tendencies, having not yet developed cognitive control structures to suppress or inhibit them.

Unconscious Goal Pursuit as an Open-Ended System

Genes primarily drive our behavior through motivations ( Tomasello et al., 2005 ). The active goal or motive is the local agent by which the genetic influence from the distant past finds expression. Evolution works through motives and strategies—the desired end states that we seek from whatever starting point in history and geographical location the cards of fate have dealt us ( Tomasello et al., 2005 ).

Many recent studies have now shown that unconscious goal pursuit produces the same outcomes that conscious goal pursuit does (reviews in Dijksterhuis, Chartrand, & Aarts, 2007 ; Fitzsimons & Bargh, 2004 ). The goal concept, once activated without the participant’s awareness, operates over extended time periods (without the person’s conscious intent or monitoring) to guide thought or behavior towards the goal (e.g., Bargh, Gollwitzer, Lee-Chai, & Troetschel, 2001 ). For example, unobtrusive priming of the goal of cooperation causes participants playing the role of a fishing company to voluntarily put more fish back into a lake to replenish the fish population (thereby reducing their own profits) than did participants in a control condition ( Bargh et al., 2001 ).

Moreover, the qualities of the underlying process appear to be the same, as participants with interrupted unconscious goals tend to want to resume and complete a boring task even when they have more attractive alternatives and will show more persistence on a task in the face of obstacles than do participants in control conditions ( Bargh et al., 2001 ). These features have long characterized conscious goal pursuits ( Lewin, 1935 ). What accounts for the similarity between unconscious and conscious goal pursuit? Given the late evolutionary arrival of conscious modes of thought and behavior (e.g., Donald, 1991 ), it is likely that conscious goal pursuit exapted, or made use of, already-existing unconscious motivational structures ( Campbell, 1974 ; Dennett, 1995 ).

The open-ended nature of such unconscious goal pursuit is revealed by the fact that the goal operates on whatever goal-relevant information happens to occur next in the experimental situation (supraliminal, of course), which could not be known to the person beforehand—just as our genes programmed us to be capable of adapting to and thriving in local conditions far into a future that could not be anticipated in any detail. That the unconsciously operating goal is able to adapt to whatever happens next and use that information to advance the pursuit of the goal clearly demonstrates a level of flexibility that belies the “dumb unconscious” caricature, in which the unconscious is said to be capable only of rigid and fixed responses ( Loftus & Klinger, 1992 ). The notion of the inflexible unconscious is also inconsistent with basic observations in the study of motor control, as highly-flexible online adjustments are made unconsciously during a motor act such as grasping a cup or blocking a soccer ball ( Rosenbaum, 2002 ).

Social Behavior as Unconsciously Guided by the Current Context

The open-ended nature of our evolved design has also caused us to be highly sensitive and reactive to the present, local context. Just as evolution has given us general “good tricks” ( Dennett, 1995 ) for survival and reproduction, and culture and early learning have fine-tuned our adaptive unconscious processes to the more specific local conditions into which we were born, contextual priming is a mechanism that provides still more precise adjustment to events and people in present time ( Higgins & Bargh, 1987 ). In contextual priming, the mere presence of certain events and people automatically activates our representations of them, and concomitantly, all of the internal information (goals, knowledge, affect) stored in those representations that is relevant to responding back.

The evolved, innate basis of these ubiquitous priming effects is revealed by the fact that they are present soon after birth, underpinning the infant’s imitative abilities (see Meltzoff, 2002 ). Such priming effects, in which what one perceives directly influences what one does, depend on the existence of a close, automatic connection between perception and behavior. Indeed, this tight connection has been discovered in cognitive neuroscience with the discovery of mirror neurons in the premotor cortex, which become active both when one perceives a given type of action by another person as well as when one engages in that action oneself (Frith & Wolpert, 2004).

The automatic perception-behavior link results in default tendencies to act in the same way as those around us ( Dijksterhuis & Bargh, 2001 ). Thus, as a default option or starting point for your own behavior, blindly or unconsciously adopting what others around you are doing makes good adaptive sense, especially in new situations and with strangers. These default tendencies and their unconscious and unintentional nature have been demonstrated several times in human adults in the research of Chartrand and colleagues (see Chartrand, Maddux, & Lakin, 2005 ). Not only do people tend to adopt the physical behavior (posture, facial gestures, arm and hand movements) of strangers with whom they interact, without intending to or being aware they are doing so, but this unconscious imitation also tends to increase liking and bonding between the individuals, serving as a kind of natural “social glue.”

Further supporting this notion of natural contextual tuning of one’s behavior to the present environment, cognitive research indicates that action-related objects activate multiple action plans in parallel and that action production is driven by some form of selective disinhibition. For example, findings suggest that ambient stimuli (e.g., hammers) automatically set us to physically interact with the world (e.g., perform a power grip, Tucker & Ellis, 2001 ). The simultaneous activation of multiple action plans is obvious in action slips ( Heckhausen & Beckmann, 1990 ) and in the neuropsychological syndrome of utilization behavior, in which patients are incapable of suppressing actions that are elicited by environmental, action-related objects ( Lhermitte, 1983 ).

Preferences and Feelings as Unconscious Guides to the Present

Evolution (as well as early learning and culture) influences our preferences and, through them, our tendencies to approach or avoid aspects of our environment. We are predisposed to prefer certain objects and aspects of our environment over others. We are often guided by our feelings, intuitions, and gut reactions, which prioritize the things that are important to do or attend to ( Damasio, 1996 ; Schwarz & Clore, 1996 ).

These guides do not arise out of thin air, however. Our present preferences are derived from those that served adaptive ends in the past. A tenet of evolutionary theory is that evolution builds gradually on what it has to work with at that moment; changes are slow and incremental ( Allman, 2000 ). Knowledge gained at a lower level of blind selection—the short-cuts and other “good tricks” ( Dennett, 1995 ) that consistently worked over our long-term evolutionary past—are fed upwards as a starting point and appear as a priori knowledge, the source of which we are unaware. Campbell (1974) called these “shortcut processes” because they save us (individually) from having to figure out from scratch which processes are helpful and which are dangerous.

Under the present argument that the unconscious evolved as a behavioral guidance system and as a source of adaptive and appropriate actional impulses, these unconsciously activated preferences should be found to be directly connected to behavioral mechanisms. Several studies have now established this connection: immediate and unintended evaluation processes are directly linked to approach and avoidance behavioral predispositions. Chen and Bargh (1999 ; see also Neumann, Förster, & Strack, 2003 ) showed that participants are faster to make approach movements of the arm (pulling a lever towards oneself) when responding to positive attitude objects and are faster to make avoidance movements (pushing the lever away) when responding to negative attitude objects. This was true even though the conscious task in the experiment was not to evaluate the objects at all, but merely to “knock off the screen” the names of these objects as soon as they appeared.

This tight connection between immediate, unconscious evaluation and appropriate actional tendencies (approach vs. avoidance) is found throughout the animal kingdom; even single-celled paramecia have them. That the automatic activation of attitudes leads directly to corresponding muscular readiness in adult humans is thus surprising only from the perspective that actions and behavior are always a function of conscious intent and guidance (e.g., Bandura, 1986 ; Locke & Latham, 2002 ). Moreover, once one is engaged in these approach and avoidance behaviors, they “feed back” on our conscious judgments and feelings (so that subtly inducing a person to engage in approach-like or avoidance-like muscular actions produces positive or negative affect, respectively; Neumann et al., 2003 ), which is further support for the notion that action precedes reflection.

THE UNCONSCIOUS AS THE SOURCE OF BEHAVIORAL IMPULSES

The idea that action precedes reflection is not new. Several theorists have postulated that the conscious mind is not the source or origin of our behavior; instead, they theorize that impulses to act are unconsciously activated and that the role of consciousness is as gatekeeper and sense maker after the fact ( Gazzaniga, 1985 ; James, 1890 ; Libet, 1986 ; Wegner, 2002 ). In this model, conscious processes kick in after a behavioral impulse has occurred in the brain—that is, the impulse is first generated unconsciously, and then consciousness claims (and experiences) it as its own. Yet, to date, there has been little said about where, exactly, those impulses come from.

Given the evidence reviewed above, however, there now seems to be an answer to this question. There are a multitude of behavioral impulses generated at any given time derived from our evolved motives and preferences, cultural norms and values, past experiences in similar situations, and from what other people are currently doing in that same situation. These impulses have afforded us unconsciously operating motives, preferences and associated approach and avoidance behavioral tendencies, as well as mimicry and other behavior priming effects triggered by the mere perception of others’ behavior. There certainly seems to be no shortage of suggestions from our unconscious as to what to do in any given situation.

Conflict and Consciousness

Given the multiple sources of unconscious behavioral impulses occurring in parallel, conflicts between them are inevitable, as behavioral activity (unlike unconscious mental activity) takes place in a serial world in which we can do only one thing at a time. As noted above, early in ontogeny, actions tend to reflect the actions of an “unsuppressed” mind. There is no question that an infant would fail to endure pain or suppress elimination behaviors in return for some future reward. During development, however, operant learning assumes a greater influence on behavior, and actions begin to reflect suppression. This leads to the suppression of an action program, a neural event having interesting properties. It often involves conflicting intentions. In the delay of gratification, conflict may consist of the inclinations to both eat and not eat. Conflicting intentions have an aversive, subjective cost ( Lewin, 1935 ; Morsella, 2005 ).

Regardless of the adaptiveness of one’s plan (e.g., running across hot desert sand to reach water), strife that is coupled with conflict cannot be turned off voluntarily ( Morsella, 2005 ). Inclinations can be behaviorally suppressed, but not mentally suppressed. Unconscious agents no longer influence behavior directly, but they now influence the nature of consciousness. Inclinations continue to be experienced consciously, even when they are not expressed behaviorally. Thus, they function like “internalized reflexes” ( Vygotsky, 1962 ) that can be co-opted to play an essential role in mental simulation. As known by engineers the best way of knowing the consequences of a course of action (short of actually performing it) is to simulate it. One value of simulation is that knowledge of outcomes is learned without the risks of performing the actions. Indeed, some theorists now propose that the function of explicit, conscious memory is to simulate future, potential actions ( Schacter & Addis, 2007 ).

Unconscious Guidance of Future Behavior

Such simulacra (i.e., the products of simulation) are worthless without some capability of evaluating them. If a general had no idea regarding what constitutes a favorable battle outcome, there would be no utility in simulating battle formations. Simulation can construct simulacra, but by itself cannot evaluate them. Evaluating potential actions is challenging because it depends on taking diverse considerations into account (e.g., physical or social consequences). Most knowledge regarding what is favorable is already embodied in the very agentic systems that, before the advent of suppression, controlled behavior directly. These now suppressed agents respond to simulacra as if they were responding to real, external stimuli. These internalized reflexes furnish the evaluative judgment or gut feelings that simulations require.

Unconscious conflict resolution processes thus furnish valuable information to conscious processes of planning for the future. Given sufficiently strong motivations and commitment to the planned course of action, specific plans such as “when X happens, I will do Y ” themselves operate automatically when the future opportunity arises, as in the implementation intention research of Gollwitzer and colleagues (e.g., Gollwitzer, 1999 ). In this way, unconscious processes not only adapt us to the present situation, but they also influence the tracks we lay to guide our future behavior.

For most of human history, only the concepts of conscious thought and intentional behavior existed. In the 1800s, two very different developments—hypnotism and evolutionary theory—both pointed to the possibility of unconscious, unintended causes of human behavior. But nearly two centuries later, contemporary psychological science remains wedded to a conscious-centric model of the higher mental processes; it hasn’t helped that our view of the powers of the unconscious mind have come largely from studies of subliminal information processing. This research, with its operational definition of the unconscious as a system that handles subliminal-strength stimulation from the environment, has helped to perpetuate the notion that conscious processes are primary and that they are the causal force behind most, if not all, human judgment and behavior (e.g., Locke & Latham, 2002 ).

We propose an alternative perspective, in which unconscious processes are defined in terms of their unintentional nature and the inherent lack of awareness is of the influence and effect of the triggering stimuli and not of the triggering stimuli (because nearly all naturally occurring stimuli are supraliminal). By this definition of the unconscious, which is the original and historic one, contemporary social cognition research on priming and automaticity effects have shown the existence of sophisticated, flexible, and adaptive unconscious behavior guidance systems. These would seem to be of high functional value, especially as default behavioral tendencies when the conscious mind, as is its wont, travels away from the present environment into the past or the future. It is nice to know that the unconscious is minding the store when the owner is absent.

In the rest of the natural sciences, especially neurobiology, the assumption of conscious primacy is not nearly as prevalent as in psychology. Complex and intelligent design in living things is not assumed to be driven by conscious processes on the part of the plant or animal, but instead by blindly adaptive processes that accrued through natural selection ( Dennett, 1995 ). This is not to say that human consciousness plays no role or that it is not special in its powers to transform, manipulate, and convey information relative to the mental powers of other animals, but that this consciousness is not necessary to achieve the sophisticated, adaptive, and intelligent behavioral guidance demonstrated in the emerging priming literature. Unconscious processes are smart and adaptive throughout the living world, as Dawkins (1976) contended, and the psychological research evidence that has emerged since the time of his writing has confirmed that this principle extends to humans as well. In nature, the “unconscious mind” is the rule, not the exception.

Acknowledgments

Preparation of this article was supported by Grant R01-MH60767 from the U.S. Public Health Service. We thank Ap Dijksterhuis, Andy Poehlman, and Lawrence Williams for their feedback on an earlier draft of the article.

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What Is Subconscious Marketing?

The subconscious mind is an incredibly valuable tool, particularly when striving to enhance your marketing efforts. Cleverly planting seeds in the minds of customers, enabling them to make decisions far before they are aware, is ideal for encouraging your business to strive in your industry. In fact, according to consumer research by  CMO , the subconscious mind is responsible for driving up to 95% of purchasing decisions. However, when considering the use of the technique, it can be somewhat tricky to determine the right formula for success. Effective subconscious marketing takes meticulous planning, delving into your brand’s message and uncovering the characteristics that make your selling points truly unique.

A Comprehensive Guide To Subconscious Marketing

So, what is the subconscious mind? Envision the mind as an iceberg, which has been split into three sections. The only visible percentage of the iceberg, although it is the smallest, makes the most impact; this represents the conscious mind. The conscious mind is the physical result of your decisions; for example, the answer to the math problem you have been solving for hours or the meal choice that you eventually made – just like the iceberg, it is the only part that you can see.

Just beneath the tip of the iceberg, underneath the ocean yet within reach of the surface, mirrors the preconscious mind. The preconscious mind is filled with general knowledge, information that you will always know and can access without a second thought. Again, when referring back to the iceberg theory, the second section is nearest to the surface; therefore, it can be reached without effort.

Lastly, is the final section of the iceberg which reaches deep into the depths of the ocean and signifies the subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is similar to a memory bank with unlimited capacity, filled with your deepest of emotions. It is responsible for storing everything that has happened to you, even those that you work hard to forget. The job is the subconscious mind is to ensure that your brain and body can respond to situations the way that you have been programmed to. This is why you react to particular situations in a way that you often cannot control nor expect; otherwise known as ‘autopilot’. As mentioned in an insightful article by  Brian Tracy International , it is thought that by your 21st birthday, your brain has stored more than 100 times the contents of the  Encyclopedia Britannica , which features 28,000 short articles.

With the above in mind, the subconscious minds ability to spot opportunities makes it a key contributing factor towards whether a client or customer opts for investing their time and money into your business. If you are able to tailor your brand message to appeal to the subconscious mind of your target audience, then you can begin to influence their behaviour choices in favour of your business. Altering your advertising activities to reach the subconscious mind can, if done effectively, grow your business from strength to strength.

How To Achieve Successful Subconscious Marketing

When it comes to tailoring your marketing strategies to reach your customer profile subconsciously, you must first take into consideration their psychological needs. Understanding how to trigger an emotional response can be somewhat tedious, and it is imperative to ensure that you only influence a favourable decision. The core emotional values that should create the foundation for your campaigns must include the following:

• Recognition

The core values that you base your marketing strategies will be heavily influenced by your industry, target market and brand message. Almost every leading brand has spent time determining the right emotional “needs” for their ideal customer before implementing subconscious marketing. For example, back in 2009, Coca Cola launched its global  ‘Open Happiness’ campaign , which featured short clips across TV, cinema and outdoors. This kickstarts a ‘feel good’ reaction from viewers, targeting the one emotion that absolutely everyone wants to feel – happiness. To this day, Coca Cola retains the ‘happiness’ theme throughout their website, including a ‘what makes us happy?’ infographic, along with ‘choose to smile’ videos and much more.

Another fantastic example, which links with the core value of recognition, is  L’Oreal’s  famous slogan of “because you’re worth it.” The simple, yet highly effective four words have most definitely stood the test of time, becoming the phrase that the brand is now known for. This automatically triggers a deep feeling of appreciation and being recognised for being yourself – again, something that everyone strives to reach.

Once you have gained a solid understanding of how your campaigns can align with the most important core values for your brand, you can begin to implement smart subconscious marketing.

Build A Memorable Brand

Regardless of your industry, business scale or target market, building a memorable yet reliable brand will remain a foundation for success. Ultimately, the end goal is to encourage the consumer to convert, and this is only possible if they have full trust in your corporation.

The first step towards building a memorable brand is to determine your archetype, otherwise known as your brands ‘personality’, used to give your company a human feel. Therefore, building trust and enabling your target audience to connect with your values. There are 12 different archetypes, and each comes alongside unique characteristics; these are:

• The Creator  – The goal of the creator is to create enduring value, encouraging customers to use their imagination.
• The Ruler  – The goal of the ruler is to create order in chaos, taking responsibility for situations and act as a role model.
• The Caregiver  – The goal of the caregiver is to protect others, showing nurturing, generous and compassionate personality traits.
• The Everyman  – The goal of the everyman is to remain a down-to-earth, relatable character which shows people it is okay to be yourself.
• The Jester  – The goal of the jester is to bring joy to the world by taking a light-hearted, humorous approach to situations.
• The Lover  – The goal of the lover is to help people to feel connected, appreciated and passionate.
• The Hero  – The goal of the hero is to be bold, courageous and confident through working hard to improve the world.
• The Magician  – The goal of the magician is to make dreams come true, making the impossible to become possible.
• The Outlaw  – The goal of the outlaw, also known as the rebel, is to break the rules and create a pathway for change.
• The Explorer  – The goal of the explorer is to take risks, tackling new challenges and steering clear from the ‘mainstream’ world.
• The Sage  – The goal of the sage is to improve the world through wisdom, knowledge and insight.
• The Innocent  – The goal of the innocent is to find the positive in every situation, be happy and remain optimistic.

If you are stuck on how to define your brand archetype, then we suggest using the personality quiz on  Vision One  for inspiration on those that align best with your business objectives and values.

Choosing The Right Colours

Every colour has a connotation, which means those that are used to represent your brand are guaranteed to invoke different emotions, making it a critical factor in your subconscious marketing strategies. It is imperative to spend time gaining an in-depth understanding of the traits associated with particular colours before building your brand identity. For instance, several global social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn utilise blue. Although we may not realise at first, the colour blue is known for symbolising trust, comfort and communication, making it an ideal choice for social channels. Red, on the other hand, is a stronger, more passionate colour, which conveys a sense of urgency. This is why red is commonly used during sales, clearances and to promote special offers, as it encourages the consumer to make a faster decision. Keep this in mind when brainstorming  social media advertising  campaigns and alter your use of colours to suit the goal of the post.

More information on colour psychology and how to choose shades to increase conversions can be found on  Crobox .

Use Pricing To Your Advantage

Pricing will always be one of the most significant contributing factors towards whether a consumer makes a conversion. Although many assume that the only way to entice target audiences is to showcase the lowest prices available, this most definitely isn’t the case. There is an abundance of methods to subconsciously trigger the customer into believing that the price is lower than it is. The most popular technique which we can absolutely guarantee that everyone would have experienced is the ‘rule of 9’. As opposed to rounding to the nearest whole number, opt for figures such as £19.99, £4.59 or £99.99. This tricks the mind into believing that the price is lower as instead of seeing, for example, £20, the consumer will only take into account the £19.

Another fantastic example of successful subconscious marketing when it comes to pricing can be seen on Expedia. When you submit your details and click the search tool, the deals will begin to appear slowly, yet showing only the most expensive first. This makes you believe that the most expensive deals are the only ones available to you. As the page continues to load all of its results, you will start to notice the price dropping, convincing you that you have found a bargain by the end.

Embed Marketing Triggers

When marketing an e-commerce website, incorporating persuasive triggers is ideal for appealing to the subconscious mind, again, creating a sense of urgency for the customer to make a conversion. As featured in an article by Propeller, approximately 67% of millennials confess that they prefer to shop online, which means that understanding how to capture their interest is crucial.

Implementing subconscious triggers into your  content marketing strategy  when building an e-commerce website is relatively straightforward. As opposed to writing in-depth chunks of content, instead, small, straight to the point phrases will be just as effective. When shopping online, the visual aspects take centre stage and text; on the other hand, should be in the form of call to actions. There are an array of triggers which can be embedded into your webshop. Phrases such as ‘limited time only’, ‘free shipping’ and ‘free returns’ are all ideal for driving sales. Accompany your call to actions with countdowns or promotional codes to persuade the consumer to act now to avoid missing out on special offers.

Work On The Small Details

While it is essential to experiment with innovative methods, never forget about the smaller details, which are just as important in promoting an emotional impact on your target audience. Taking time to focus on the basics of running a successful brand will help towards maintaining a positive reputation; these are what will signal as to whether you care for your consumer or not. Just some of the many ways that you can maintain a strong customer focus include the following:

• Communication  – Whether you are responding to social media mentions, contact form request or even internal emails, maintaining communication will ensure that your business forms a personable and friendly impression.
• Personalisation  – Personalising customer experience is vital in building a positive relationship, in which they will return in the future and recommend your brand to their loved ones.
• Exceed Expectations  – You must strive always to go above and beyond to provide an unbeatable experience for every consumer. Exceeding expectations is a fantastic way to deliver your service memorably.

Generate Conversions Through Subconscious Marketing

There is most definitely a strong correlation between brands who adopt the subconscious marketing approach and success in their chosen industry. Having worked as an  SEO marketing company  for many years, we recognise the need to adapt to the latest trends to find the right triggers for your target audience. Subconscious marketing is a technique that we can guarantee is here to stay!

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