Which Of Your Brains Is Responding?
From car insurance, through vehicle advertising and just about every and all advertising we see, is attacking us and our emotions in many ways. When this comes to big buying purchases, such as a car, the effect on the decisions we make can be almost out of our control! Do you know that the smartest of modern day marketers actually use science to understand what chemicals are being released in your brain in response to what statements and images you are subject to? How do we manage all of these impulses everyday?
Back In The 50s. Paul MacLean, a well known scientist, came up with the Truine Brain Theory. It suggests that our brain is actually 3 brains in one, and our brains develop at different stages of personal growth in order for us to survice. It has radical ideas that we have a ‘reptilian brain’ that operates from birth, from survival to sex. A second, the ‘limbic brain’, that develops during nuturing as a child and particularly with the mother, and finally the ‘Neocortex’, which is our rational and analytical brain that develops as we go to school. Radical ideas but have actually spawned more than debate, and have led to detailed consumer research studies.
Developments. As science has developed, understanding of how our brains react, and influence the thought process, without our control, has increased. For example, some studies have proven that the majority of people will pay more for an item when they are feeling sad or emotional tied to something. These feelings might be so slight that you do not even notice. Taking this example a step further, even those subjects who were exposed to a love story (movie) or another emotionally stimulating movie, for only a few minutes, without believing they were subject to any real emotional change, will buy faster and at higher prices than when they were not subject to exposure.
What does this mean for us? As marketing and human sciences have improved greatly, we are bombarded with messages that influences that affect us whether we want them to or not. When shopping for a new product, online or in a mall, we have entered a battle-zone. But how do we combat our impulses and buy with our rational brains?
Getting More Information. If we are going to make more rational decisions, and combat the chemicals that are being released in our brains, we need to get more information. Getting real life quotes, and real price comparisons for yourself is important. Car insurance quotes are easy to get online, car buying sites will tell you what a car is really worth in a matter of minutes. If you can increase your level of information, according to science, you will at least stir other emotions and make a more sensible decision.
Sure these ideas are also the subject of much conjecture and debate, but know in your heart, that savvy marketers and advertising agencies are doing their utmost, and investing huge amounts of money at pulling your strings and pushing the right buttons. Big purchases, particularly with cars and the like, can have dramatic impact on our lives. Will you take 99 dollars today, or 100 dollars tomorrow? Will you commit to 5000 dollars if you have to pay it later? Shop smart, and get the most amount of information so you understand the impact of a buy – because all of them are eventually on impulse. Food for thought.