And the winner of the Buyology giveaway is…Elizabeth Luke.

Elizabeth is a senior at the University of Southern California spending her final semester abroad at the University of Amsterdam. She is a communication major with an interest in persuasion and consumer behavior. She will be graduating magna cum laude in December 2008, and shortly after, she will begin her career as a research analyst for emerging consumer products at Nielsen BASES.

Elizabeth’s book is on the way, thanks again to Martin Lindstrom and publishers Random House.

Here are Martin’s responses to some of the questions you sent in (thanks for all the entries):

Q1. While your findings are quite interesting and counter-intuitive (controversy sells, sex doesn’t; product placement can be ineffective), most know that much of consumer behavior is borne from the subconscious. However, if this is so, how come market research, which often comes from conscious opinions from consumers, is so successful? If buyers are not fully aware of their true intentions, then how come we still get useful answers when we ask them directly? (Elizabeth Luke)

A1. I think the reason why market research is ’so successful’ is because, until today, there haven’t been any alternatives uncovering our subconscious mind. Think about it - most research today is only uncovering the conscious mind - this however is about to change and I think neuromarketing is likely to be the answer.

Q2. I would like to ask Martin’s reaction to the criticism the book has received (such as http://adage.com/print?article_id=132035). Is he confident that his conclusions stand up to scientific scrutiny, and how does he refute the allegations made about his methodology? (Simon Kendrick, commercial research consultant, ITV)

A2. There will always be critical voices when new methods are invented. Neuromarketing is far from the answer to everything - however it is (in my mind) a strong alternative to conventional research - and in particular a powerful tool in order to understand our subconscious mind. I’ve spent around $7 million creating the Buyology study - a 4 year long project involving 2,000 consumers and two of the most respected scientists in the world within the field of neuromarketing. Of course there will always be question marks if things could have been done better that said I’m very confident that no-one has developed similar studies at this high level at this scale. I’d like to stress that nothing is 100% correct in the world of science - this of course will always be the case with our work too. Finally - I do indeed work with a range of the largest anti-smoking organizations in the U.S. and across the world - this may be a good indication of that the results are solid enough to be used in order to improve our communication work.

Q3. I’ve heard it said that a brand can either position itself as good value or high quality, but it’s very hard to be both. Do you think this is true or is there an opportunity – particularly during a difficult economic time – for quality brands to also reposition themselves as value? (Max Willey, Associate Director, Continental Research)

A3. I think it is very dangerous ground and a strategy most companies should avoid. Sorry.

Q4. If everything I believe about buying is wrong, why do I ‘comfort’ buy? And what are your thoughts on shopping habits based on emotional responses? (Marie Greaves, Senior Project Manager, Lightspeed Research)

A4. Shopping habits are in 60% of cases driven by our subconscious mind - and thus “comfort” or habits or rituals - are often the main driver why we buy what we buy. What’s wrong is the way the advertising industry has (over the last couple of years) managed to capture the consumers - the communication has turned to rational and thus misses the opportunity to talk to our subconscious mind.

Here’s the original post… (more…)

TV advertising is gradually becoming sidelined by marketers as doubts grow over it’s effectiveness. In this podcast, we hear from a broadcaster who’s using innovative research to improve its effectiveness

 STARRING 

• Agostino Di Falco, Head of Insight, Viacom Brand Solutions

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