Starting from the beginning, when we talk about neuromarketing we are referring to neuroscience applied to marketing, that is, we are referring to the discipline that studies the buying process and the consumer's decision making before, during and after the transaction.
And within this definition come into play a lot of strategies to which our brain, without realizing it, falls into surrender. In this blog post, we are going to analyze how social networks influence our purchases and why these networks trap us so much.
Social media algorithms and their impact on your behavior
We are not telling you anything new if we tell you that the algorithm of any social network aims, among other things, to make you spend as much time as possible in that application. The question is: how does it do it? Let's get down to business!
- Notifications so you don't forget about it. These notifications can be very varied, although they are usually sent in case of inactivity or to suggest similar content.
- Instant bonuses: You upload a post and you start receiving a lot of likes or comments that make you feel approved by other people, that is, you feel good so you want to live that feeling again.
- Uninterrupted contentWith the advent of TikTok and reels on Instagram, above all, we are consuming content continuously. You scroll through one video and then watch another, and before you know it, you've been watching for an hour.
- Content customization: the social networks have been perfecting their algorithms over time and know what kind of content you like and what you interact with the most. If they show you something you like, it makes sense that you will react to it and therefore spend more time.
And how does all this affect the buying process?
The fact that social networks engage us so much also means that brands have more opportunity to impact us with their ads or organic content and, therefore, to influence us in the purchasing process. Does the data corroborate this?
According to the Nielsen study, 2022 Digital Consumers Survey, 92% of consumers have shopped online in the last 3 months and 60% shop between 1 and 2 times a month. In addition, this study also indicates that 29% of sales come from social networks.
TikTok as a successful platform
The Chinese social network TikTok penetrated strongly in Spain with the arrival of the pandemic and, currently, it is one of the social networks in which we spend more time, as has been confirmed by the IAB Social Media Study 2022ahead of Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.
This is due to the attractive way its algorithm shows us videos. The platform will show you 8 videos on which it will analyze your behavior. (reactions, viewing time, followers, etc.) and then show you 8 other videos based on the information it has collected from you. However, you may think that hyper-personalization causes a bubble effect and that the user only sees videos that interest him, but TikTok breaks this bubble by interspersing the videos that the user likes with other types of videos that may be trending or that may provide another point of view.
All of this has contributed to making TikTok the most popular search engine for generation Z. As Google senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan explained, "About 40% of young people, when they're looking for a place to eat lunch, don't open Google Maps or go to Google search. They go to TikTok or Instagram." This represents a shift in mindset, with a preference for content creators over traditional media.
And from here another question arises, why do you trust an influencer?
There are two determining aspects when it comes to trusting an influencer according to the Sortlist's 2022 Influencer Impact Survey, and they are: the number of followers and their content.
How much neuroscience is there here? Well, this is explained by our mirror neurons or specular neurons discovered by Giacomo Rizzolatti in 1996. These neurons are the ones that allow us to imitate behaviors and generate empathy. When observing certain actions, these neurons tend to want to imitate them. So how do influencers affect our decision making?
Well, they have an impact, even if sometimes we don't realize it. According to iab's Social Networking Study 2022, influencers' credibility has increased compared to 2021. A 47% consider influencers credible and, similarly, the level of advertising that followers perceive in the comments made by this group has also decreased. In fact, another survey, this time conducted by Statista, tells us that "28% of respondents claim to have purchased an electronic product because it was advertised by a popular person" and that "37% claim not to have purchased because of a recommendation".
Yes and no examples in neuromarketing
An example of neuromarketing applied to the influencer world is the Ron Barceló Desalia Festival and all the content creators that the brand invites to live a unique experience: the festival is held in an attractive destination where they enjoy music, rum and party. The invited influencers tell on their networks how they are living the experience and the user associates having a good time with Ron Barceló.
An example that we would not recommend is the classic "get it through your eyes" that has starred the natural cosmetics brand Freshly. Many influencers, at the same time and on all sides, telling the goodness of their products. When they try to sell you something so effusively you start to doubt their credibility, obtaining the opposite result to the desired one.
Nevertheless, we must not forget that...
It is true that our brain works automatically and unconsciously on some occasions and that we can be influenced without realizing it. However, many of the benefits resulting from these techniques cannot be proven with accuracyTherefore, agencies should not promise impossible results that cannot be traced. Similarly, it is essential to safeguard data policies, since neuromarketing also works with sensitive data.
What is your opinion on this branch of marketing? We read you! And remember: in Geotelecom we play to the rhythm of your ecommerce. If you need advice or you have a project that you want to start to really get started, contact us at and we'll give you the help and the boost you need.
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