How Brands Get Wired Into the Brain

Posted by Andrew on August 30, 2007

Humans display similar behavior to Pavlov’s dogs, much more than we think. Brains can learn to associate irrelevant stimuli with certain brands and/or rewards.

A person’s liking for a particular brand name is wired into a specific part of the brain, a new study reveals. The research may provide an insight into the brain mechanisms that underlie the behavioural preferences that advertisers attempt to hijack.

It has long been known that humans and animals can learn to associate an irrelevant stimulus with a positive experience, for example the ringing of a bell with food, as in the case of Pavlov’s dogs. And neuroimaging studies have recently implicated two regions buried deep in the brain – the ventral striatum and the ventral midbrain – as having an important role in this learning.

How does this help you market online? It stresses the importance of delivering a quality to product to your customers if you want them to be repeat purchasers. One bad experience, and they may not be so likely to buy from you the next time.