Neuromarketing Research: 3 Keys that Trigger a Buying Decision

The study of the buying decision process, or neuromarketing, has had a tremendous impact on content marketing.

More brands are being studied in laboratories around the world as consumers are being hooked up to brain imaging machines, fMRI, EEG and other devices so that they are monitored while they read marketing messages and make decisions.

Neuromarketing is extremely expensive market research to do, but fortunately most brains work the same, with some exceptions for age and gender. So the results acquired for companies with big budgets are showing us how to create messages that have a powerful impact on the brains of all consumers.

Neuromarketing research studies have shown that these three factors determine whether or not a consumer is inclined to make a buying decision:

1. The degree of ATTENTION
2. Whether or not there is emotional ENGAGEMENT
3. How easily the message and the brand is encoded to MEMORY

Attention, emotional engagement, memory: 3 keys to priming the brains of your audience to buy or take the action you want. (Source: The Buying Brain, A.K. Pradeep, CEO of NeuroFocus)

And this makes sense, doesn’t it? … you can’t get someone to the point of wanting to buy something without first getting their attention. And if your message resonates with them on an emotional level, they’ll have trust. It’s well known that experiences that carry a strong feeling have better chances of being remembered.

In order to buy your brand, they have to remember where they saw it, and where they can go take action.

Think of a monkey waking up in a tree… he swings through the branches and he sees a bright yellow banana through the branches.Instantly, he’s on high alert, his stomach starts growling, his mouth salivates, his adrenalin pumps through his system in anticipation as he speeds up toward his goal. He’s driven to acquire the banana and eat it, but first he has to remember where he spotted it. Attention, emotional impact, and memory in action.

We are no different. When something catches our attention, if we want to know more, and if it triggers one of our drives (acquire it, eat it, bond with it, use it to save time, energy or money or protect family) we will remember it so that we can take action on it.

So each time you write content designed to get readers to take action, verify each of these 3 key elements are embedded in your content:

1. Does your content grab people’s attention?
2. Does it cause an emotional reaction?
3. Will it be remembered?