6 NEUROMARKETING PRINCIPLES THAT CAN IMPACT YOUR CONVERSION RATES 6 Neuromarketing principles that can impact your conversion rates

Introduced in the 1990s, neuromarketing has a significant influence on marketing today. It studies consumer behaviour from a marketing perspective. It is probably more reliable than other behaviour studies as it uses specialized equipment and advanced technology like fMRI, biometric sensors etc. Neuromarketing attempts to understand the judgement and decision making process of the human brain, so that these insights can be used to devise more effective marketing strategies and more positive commercial results. It looks deeper into these aspects of consumers – attention, memory loss, retention.

2 Neuromarketing principles for higher conversion rates As a marketer, facts would definitely help you more than guess work. Here are some principles that you can leverage on.

Memes Typically humorous, memes are one of the fastest spreading forms of content today. It helps marketers to connect with consumers in a more personal way. Memes help to establish a relationship between consumers, by way of their cultural context, and the idea, i.e. the product or the service, and invoke meaningful responses from them. Most common examples of memes are melodies and songs (like commercial jingles, classics etc.), fashion popular figures or celebrities, brands and their advertising, and so on. Decoys Tried, tested and proven, the decoy effect is a powerful principle for sales conversions. Consumer is presented with an inferior product with higher pricing to make the real product look more enticing. You may lose out some amount spent on the decoy, but that can be made up with the sales that get generated with the real target products.

3 Rewards and variability Like in every other aspect of life, rewards tend to make consumers happier, especially when it's on a progressive level. For example, in video games users are presented with challenges at every level of the game and once completed, they are rewarded multiplying the adrenaline rush associated with completing a challenge. In marketing, consumers get attached to brands based on habits incorporated in their routine. Anchors Anchors act as the point of reference and comparison, and the first set of information generally gets etched in consumers' minds. Used popularly in marketing, you could set the price higher at first (even combining the decoy effect) and go lower to leverage on anchoring bias. In encouraging consumers to answer your CTA, you will be giving them a sense of justification with this anchor.

4 Reciprocity Make your consumers feel like they owe you with free samples, exclusive offers and information etc. Sometimes by social pressures and sometimes due to internal emotions, people feel compelled to return favours extended to them. A typical example of this is the tipping scenario at restaurants, where tips could be more or less based on the service meted out to customers. However, a word of caution – Make sure you don't make your target audience feel manipulated. Emotional connections Make your consumers aware of an issue or problem they may have, like poor posture or joint pains etc., and present the solution in the form of your product or service. An excellent way to build a connect with consumer and show that you are empathetic, thus paving the way a relationship between them and your brand.

5 Market Research – Powered by Behavioural Economics

Consumers may not always do what they say, or say what they do, and hence biases would always exist in market research. To counteract these, a first step would be to view the problem through the lens of behavioural economics - What is the behavioral challenge? Which could be the BE concepts involved? What are the appropriate responses and adjustments required to mitigate those behaviors? We keep Behavioural Economics at the heart of what we do – sometimes that may mean “nudging” the respondent - here how the question is framed and asked, and how the preceding parts of the survey have brought a respondent to the next question, assume significance. It may mean being cognizant of something seemingly simple - but which could botch up the output if not adhered to - such as the ranges given; the question order; and of course the phrasing. Our understanding of the biases that could possibly be in play and keeping these “top of mind” results in improved measurements and frameworks, generating more accurate output, and consequently more incisive recommendations, to ultimately add to the bottom line.

6 About SixthFactor SixthFactor is a new-age research consultancy firm, with offices in Dubai, Goa and partnering with Fortune 500 clients based in Middle East, Africa, SEA, India and Pacific markets. SixthFactor helps clients understand, influence and shape human decision-making through the application of the latest knowledge from Behavioural Sciences and Neuro-marketing fields. Our designs, tools, interpretations and applications are consistently guided by the need to understand and influence consumers within their context of decision-making. We also take pride in partnering our clients in GTM activations with applications of Design-thinking and crowd-intelligence ideas through stakeholder workshops. About Author Himanshu Vashishtha Market researcher with two decades of experience in shaping marketing strategy for global brands. He was heading the largest research agency in MENA region before he set up a new age research firm with offices across Dubai, India and Singapore to help brands get clarity, predict consumer behaviour and help make profitable choices. Himanshu is considered one of the leading thought expert in applied behavioural economics and Neuromarketing in the region and contributes to newspapers, periodicals and magazines regularly. He speaks on the topic in conferences across Dubai, Singapore and India as well as teaches the Behavioural Economics and Applied Neuromarketing in Indian Institute of Management. He has been on the board of numerous organizations and councils such as TiE, Retail ME, Super Brands Council, Asian Brand Council, Gemas Awards etc. Himanshu is someone who seeks nature to revive his soul regularly. And is currently experimenting with minimalism.

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