Imagine you receive some good news. An independent consumer panel has ranked your book as 7th best written, your shampoo smells the second best or the laptop you sell is ranked 37th on a list of hundred others.
Great news – isn’t it?
Want to add some extra persuasive punch to your message? All you need is some neuroscience. And quite literally so: explanations that contain neuroscientific information such as brain scans or typical neuro-lingo are more persuasive.
“Majority of stock sold!”, “Nearly sold out!” Are you getting nervous by seeing these kind of phrases in advertisements? Do you have the feeling that you have to buy this product? Personally, when I need a product and see this kind of advertisements I want to buy the product immediately. I don't want to run the risk missing out on this fantastic offer. As a marketer I know a lot about the influencing power of advertisements, but why do I still fall for these scarcity appeals?
We all know them. The commercials around that time of the year, when the days are short and it’s cold outside. When we have dinner with all of our family, are overloaded with presents and we feel the love (except for your mother in law, maybe). I’m talking about Christmas.
An advertisement has a lot of components you need to think about: size, placement, the tone of voice, the logo, the photo, the offer and much more. It’s mind-boggling. And yet, most advertisements are created on nothing more than a gut feeling, with no scientific background whatsoever. And alas, the effectiveness of an advertisement is mostly measured on their overall click through ratio (CTR). Thus, we don’t really know which components of the advertisement are working well, and which ones need improvement.
