Dr. Kahneman won the Nobel Prize for his breakthrough work on the psychology of decision- making (Thinking, Fast and Slow) where he proved (without question) that the emotional part of our brain makes our decisions… while the logical brain confirms and delivers them verbally or in writing so we think (in error) that logic is making the decision. Why does this happen?
That’s because the part of our brain that contains emotions doesn’t have any words. It gives us a “gut feel,” but to verbalize these feelings, the brain needs to access the logical brain’s word library.
It’s like a mute person, using sign language, who sends a message to someone else who delivers the message. My online video at our website (wallacewashburn.com) talks about the man with the split brain from an accident who became mute. He was embarrassed by a photo of a nude woman, and when asked why he felt embarrassed he could say why. He couldn’t connect to his word library. There are lots of other similar split-brain studies.
I think the brain is trying to trick us into thinking that it runs the show. The logical brain does think it runs the show… because it delivers all the verbal and written communications. It forgets or ignores where the messages are coming from…from the (mute) emotional part of the brain. If you’re in marketing, don’t fall into the logical trap. Remember, you need to emphasize the emotional story, and then support it logically.
Another thing to realize that we’ve become “skimmers.” Tufts neuroscientists report we’ve developed a new brain function to scan the internet faster. They call us “skimmers.” Skimmers scan through information so quickly that marketers won’t get noticed unless they have a headline message that resonates instantly. Our research and experience with clients indicate that pre-tested emotive “trigger” words help by an average of 25% in getting noticed, downloaded, and shared. But make sure you research the words because shooting from the hip doesn’t work. And be sure you include the emotional aspect of the purchase, because feelings have increased 43% in decision making importance (since 1992).
If you’re not getting satisfactory results from your current messaging, consider testing your messaging in one of our Pilot Research studies. We’ll find out if you’re using the most powerful “trigger” word messaging. It’s fast and cost effective, utilizing a customer survey of 10 questions, primarily emotional/conversational. We analyze customer verbatim feedback using our proven EmotiveSCAN software coupled with in-depth human analysis. We work with agencies, social media firms and clients to discover each individual brand’s most powerful emotional “trigger” word messaging. Check out our cool videos at wallacewashburn.com and if you have questions, contact me at pkimballwallace@gmail.com.
