More on Neuroscience and Marketing

SLiK812 writes "The NYTimes is running a story about how marketing companies are using neuroscience to determine how to reach a consumer's buy button more efficiently. A quote from the article, 'At issue is whether marketers can exploit advances in brain science to make more effective commercials. Is there a "buy button" in the brain? Some corporations have teamed up with neuroscientists to find out. Recent experiments in so-called neuromarketing have explored reactions to movie trailers, choices about automobiles, the appeal of a pretty face and gut reactions to political campaign advertising, as well as the power of brand loyalty.' Some groups have branded this as Orwellian. I pretty sure I saw the child of this tactic in Futurama somewhere." There's a related story in the The Independent. We've had previous stories on using MRI scans to market products.

Comments

Great! more ads

[stanmann]

Now along with Radio guy(who advertises serious stuff) Radio Female( who pushes the sensitivity button) TV baby( who pushes the happy button) we have research into the buy button that allegedly will induce me to buy something before I even see it, sort of like the LotR Trilogy box platinum extended boxed set with gondor I ordered today.

futurama

[dark_requiem]

Leela: Didn't you have ads in the 21st century?" Fry: Well sure, but not in our dreams. Only on TV and radio, and in magazines, and movies, and at ball games... and on buses and milk cartons and t-shirts, and bananas and written on the sky. But not in dreams, no siree.

Neuroscience to determine buying 'buttons'

[grunt107]

To make guys buy: Gorgeous women implying the purchase of a product makes said guy more attractive.

To make women buy: "Sale"

Marketing strategies

[AdvancedLoser]

I hope this research will do away with the plethora of commercials aimed at the idiots among us who will buy anything based on what they are told about the product.

Not Gonna Happen

[Pugio]

Even if this is possible, and doable in the near future, there will definitely be laws put out to regulate this sort of thing. The same thing is true for those subliminal advertising gimmicks where they pop up a picture of something for a split second and let your subconscious register it. There are laws governing that and there will be laws governing this too.

That being said: You are getting sleeeeeepppy. Loooook at the preeety ligghts on my siiiitteeee. You waaaannntt to buyyyy myyy wireless frooog.You waaaanntt to buyyy the froooogg!!

Re:Not Gonna Happen

[Tackhead]

> Even if this is possible, and doable in the near future, there will definitely be laws put out to regulate this sort of thing. The same thing is true for those subliminal advertising gimmicks where they pop up a picture of something for a split second and let your subconscious register it. There are laws governing that and there will be laws governing this too.
>
> That being said: You are getting sleeeeeepppy. Loooook at the preeety ligghts on my siiiitteeee. You waaaannntt to buyyyy myyy wireless frooog.You waaaanntt to buyyy the froooogg!!

So we before adjusting the phase coil emitters on our tinfoil hat and running away into the swamp, we can wait until we see the legislation that prohibits using the technology for commercial purposes, but claims that the First Amendment right to free expression requires that political parties be permitted to use it.

Hell, I didn't even know I owned a swamp.

...want some frogs?

Re:Subliminal messaging?

[dark_requiem]

Lois: What pointless commercials. They certainly don't make me want a Mintos! Brian: Totally ineffective! Peter: Must... Kill... Lincoln...

Huxleyan!

[plover]

I'm glad you're an Alpha, and can think of these smart things.

I'm a beta, so I'm happy leaving these smart thoughts to you.

Re:Huxleyan!

[dark_requiem]

And don't you forget it you damn dirty Beta! Why don't you go do some manual labor?! And all your complaining leads me to suspect you haven't been taking your soma!

Re:Huxleyan!

[Hentai]

That's deltas, vagina-boy. Betas are clerical.

If these companies

[Timesprout]

Put a metric shitload of money in my bank account they would find my buy button pretty quickly.

Much better Futurama

[Jerf]

Sorry, but this one is much more on topic. (Think about how one would create such a ball if you don't quite get why.)

Fry: I just saw something incredibly cool. A big floating ball that lit up with every colour of the rainbow, plus some new ones that were so beautiful I fell to my knees and cried.

Amy: Was it out in front of Discount Shoe Outlet?

Fry: Yeah.

Amy: They have a college kid wear that to attract customers.

Fry: Well I don't care if it was some dork in a costume. For one brief moment I felt the heartbeat of creation. And it was one with my own.

Amy: Big deal.

Bender: We all feel like that all the time. You don't hear us gassin' on about it.

3ACV15, "I Dated A Robot"

Re:Orwellian?

[Dr Caleb]

would be better directed at a Huxleyan future.

Huxley? Why would I want a future based on the Cosby Show?

any 'puter

[Skeptical1]

can be hacked. The human mind is probably more full of holes than Windoze.

Re:Next step

[misleb]

Unmotivated? Materialistic consumerism got you down? Try Paxil today!

Disclamer: May cause abdominal discomfort, decreased sexual functioning. May steal your girlfriend and key your car. Paxil is not right for everyone. Ask your dealer^H^H^H^H^Hdoctor if Paxil is right for you.

Re:on the plus side...

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, I wonder how many copies of Time was sold.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/archive/covers/0 ,16641,1101040920,00.html

Re:Orwellian?

[senatorpjt]

A friend of mine once said about this - "Orwell was a bitter man, but he never thought we'd actually BUY the fucking telescreens"

Anything but THAT!

[Scrameustache]

Targetting this hits us at the mammalian level, even below the monkey.

No! Don't hit me below the monkey!