Skip to content
Home » Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Decisions: Terry Wu (Transcript)

Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Decisions: Terry Wu (Transcript)

Full text of thought-leader Terry Wu’s talk: Neuromarketing: The new science of consumer decisions at TEDxBlaine conference.

Listen to the MP3 Audio here:

TRANSCRIPT:

Terry Wu – Founder, Neuromarketing Services

About 20 years ago, a group of researchers did a study at a wine store. They want to find out if store’s background music could influence shopper’s wine selections.

Here’s what they found: On the days when they play German music, German wines, also French wines by three to one. And on the days when they play French music, French wines, also German wines by three to one, but here’s the kicker:

They asked shoppers if the background music influenced their wine selections. You probably could guess, over 90% of shoppers say “No”. This study shows that our buying decisions can be influenced by something so subtle that we don’t even notice.

The study also raises some important questions. How do we make buying decisions? Do we make decisions constantly based on facts, reason and logic, or do we make decisions unconsciously based on emotions, feelings and intuition?

Next, I’d like to share with you how unconscious emotions influence our decisions. You remember New Coke? Here’s a story behind New Coke:

In 1985 Coca-Cola was losing market share to Pepsi. Pepsi had been taunting Coco-Cola by claiming that in blind taste testing, more people preferred Pepsi over Coke. Coca-Cola decided to improve the taste by changing its formula. They came up with New Coke.

Over 200,000 people who taste tested New Coke, overwhelmingly, people preferred New Coke over the original Coke. But more importantly, people prefer New Coke over Pepsi.

With a lot of confidence, Coca-Cola rolled out New Coke. But very quickly, this sweet drink turned into a bitter pill that cost Coca-Cola tens of million dollars. Angry customers started protesting around the country, demanding the original Coke back.

Anxious customers start hoarding Coke products left on store shelves.