Professor Byron Sharp, director of the Ehrenberg Bass Insititue has just published a new book, how brands grow. We at Mountainview are lucky enough to have had a sneak peak and can’t recommend it highly enough. It empirically demonstrates what we have been saying for years – that laws in marketing exists if you know how and where to look for them. So if you want to be able to separate the marketing facts from the myths we suggest you pick it up at:

http://marketinglawsofgrowth.com/index.html

The posterior superior temporal sulcus has been identified as the centre through which our brain responds to both facial and vocal expressions of emotion. Researchers at the University of York’s Neuroimaging Centre used a MagnetoEncephaloGraphic (MEG) scanner to test responses in this region.

Participants were shown photographs, either of people with fearful, or neutral facial expressions, and were played either fearful, or neutral vocal sounds, either seperately, or together. Responses in the posterior superior temporal sulcus were significantly higher when subjects could both see and hear the emotion of fear, in the words of lead researcher Dr. Cindy Hagen,  ‘the response was greater than the sum of the parts.’

We already know the importance of emotion in gaining attention and in getting remembered, this research suggests that media which transmit both aurally and visually simultaniously may have an advantage in transmitting emotion.

Read more at York University

VW have recently launched their ‘fun theory’ website, and the videos from it are a smash hit on Youtube.  The concept is based around the idea of changin behavior, to make a healthier, greener happier world.  While some of the science may be a little dubious the practical approach to behavior change is an inspiration.

http://www.thefuntheory.com/

At Mountainview Learning we have long been aware of the problems that inattention blindness can cause f

or brand marketers.  Indeed it is our main enemy in the ongoing War of Attention.  Yet inattention blindness can have far more serious consequences than someone missing your brand communication.

Dr. Ira E. Hyman, Jr. and his team at Western Washington University documented real-world examples of people who were so distracted by their cell phone use that they failed to see a unicycling clown passing them on the street.

Compared with people walking alone, in pairs, or listening to their iPod, mobile phones users were the most oblivious, with only 25% noticing the clown, half as much as walkers not using their phones.

Perhaps even more worrying was that people using their mobile phones also had trouble walking, finding it difficult to maintain a steady speed and direction, and failing to acknowledge those with whom they were sharing the pavement.

Walking is a far less cognitively demanding activity than driving, and this study clearly shows why mobile

phone use is such a menace on the roads.

Read more at Livescience

Shaming, and other ’social mobilization’ techniques were far more successful than financial aid at inducing people to improve sanitation standards. Thats according to Subhrendu Pattanayak, associate professor at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy and Nicholas School of the Environment, the authro of a report in the August issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization.

Health workers  had persued a campaign of visiting homes accross india, offering subsidies for latrine construction which radically reduced the cost, had met with little success.  So twenty Orissa villages were selected at random for locally led efforts, including village “walks of shame” and “defecation mapping” that identified sources of contamination.

The results were striking when surveys from those 20 villages were compared with 20 other randomly selected communities where no social mobilization efforts were organized. Although subsidiesn were available to residents  in all 40 villages, latrine ownership only rose in those undergoing shaming.

Within those “shamed” communities, latrine ownership rose from 5 percent to 36 percent among families below the poverty line, and from 7 percent to 26 percent among households above it. Subsequent surveys by Orissa’s state government showed that all households had installed latrines by 2007 in 10 of the 20 villages subjected to the shaming.

So how can we make use of this?

This research shows very clearly the impact of two key psychological tools.  Firstly in mapping which homes were poluting the water supply it re-framed their behaivour into a matter of concern throughout the community.  Secondly they used social proof, to shame those who had not yet installled a latrine so to do.

watch?v=gTkmlwXar2o

I love this new ad from Kwick Fit.  A great example of how humour creeps up on you.

Pehaps by teacher had a point, sitting up straight in your chair isn’t just a good way of steering clear of the chairopractor, it also boosts your confidence, thats according to research published in the October 2009 issue of the European Journal of Social Psychology.

Pablo Briñol, a former postdoctoral fellow at Ohio State now at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid in

Spain, Ohio State Professor of psychology Richard Petty and Benjamin Wagner, a current graduate student at

Ohio State conducted an experiment on 71 students.

They asked the students either to sit up, or slouch while writing down positive and negative personal traits that might impact their future suitability for a job.  Those who had been sitting up straight appraised

themselves as being significantly better qualified for future success than did those who were sloutching.

So how can we use this? Firstly SIT UP STRAIGHT! Secondly observe the body language of those around you, and be aware that those who are slouching are probably more open to having their opinions overturned than those who are not.

For their new website Old Spice have launched an agressive new website to advertise the fact that their deodorant supposedly doesn’t leave a residue behind.  The concept is based around a series of interactive features all of which leave you frustrated rather than entertained.

http://residueisevil.com/

A recent body of evidence has emerged in academic literature looking into our unconscious decision making.  Dubbed the ‘deliberation-without- attention’ hypothesis researchers have found that purchases made without conscious effort leave consumers feeling more positive about their choice. Now I regularly see the effects of this problem when at restaurants with my girlfriend. She is always determined to pick the best thing on the menu, and thus spends ages deliberating over what to pick. As soon as the waiter’s arrival forces a decision upon her and leaves there is an immediate moment of regret and desire for a different dinner.

Last night I put my knowledge of the powers of the unconscious into action. After a quick scan of the menu I kept the Mrs. engaged in deep conversation until the waitress arrived. As soon as she reached her snap decision I sat back waiting for the ever present ‘I wish I didn’t pick that’ cry but tonight it was not heard.  From this night on we will always pick the best thing on the menu.

So don’t think about it and you won’t regret it.