3rd AFCEA Europe Student Conference People, Projects and Perceptions - even thinking is participation! 26 October 2010 The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, United Kingdom Marketing vs. Anti-Marketing Anna Ketsetzioglou DEREE - The American College of Greece

Actions and Basic Questions to Ourselves When we Buy Something! 2

What marketers are doing: Cover a need we already have or create a new one for us! Playing with our senses and emotions Make us feel individual, superior and different Make us feel part of a successful group or team (social communication) Increase pleasure when we buy something and fear when we lack some other product Give us more credibility and trustworthiness for brand products. 3

Most of our purchases are made unconsciously and many times we do not even know the true reasons behind them. Our brain needs only 2,5 sec. to decide if we are going to purchase something. Since Neuromarketing entered our lives, many mysteries and unconscious behaviors are explained from the reactions inside our brains. Technology has uncovered the truth! 4

Our feelings are more powerful than our logic. How many times you are not able to explain your reactions at particular situations and time? How many times did you rationalize your feelings about something you did? How marketing can manipulate the way our brain works and what can we do to resist our tendency for over-consumption? 5

6 The myth about Shopping Therapy is Not a Myth! (dopamine molecules) The neurotransmitter Dopamine is central to the human brain networked operations, governing motivation and a sense of reward, pleasure or depression and fear!

affects us in both anticipating a reward and actually getting one. Dopamine: triggers fear and creates dread as well as delight! Dopamine pathways

According to research, while purchasing a product or service, our brains Dopamine rises to extremely high levels and a feeling of REWARD and HAPPINESS is released during the purchase. However, after the purchase, it drops drastically and this is the reason we often REGRET the purchase (i.e. when leaving the store). 8

How many times, during shopping, have you subconsciously put yourself in the shoes of the person you are observing? How many times do you feel empathy for someone you do not even know? The answer to many unconscious actions and feelings we experience lies in Mirror Neurons. 9

Mirror neurons are responsible for the ability of our brain to Feel and Do what others are experiencing around us. Functions: Imitation Empathy Mind Reading ( understanding intension ) 10

Mirror Neurons are founded in the Premotor and Inferior posterior parietal cortexes.

Mirror neurons make our brain and us feel like the others around us. We put our self in the others position. We want what they have and we do what they do!. 12

Because of this, people tend to imitate the actions in their surrounding environment and thus feel being a part of the team 13

How many times did you buy something for preventing a bad, harmful or unpleasant situation that might exist in the future? When was the last time someone advised you to buy a product because without this purchase you would have problems in controlling your life? Fear is generated when we feel threatened by something beyond our control! 14

And a Third Fact: The area of our brain which is responsible mostly for our fear is Amygdala. 15

Amygdala controls brain functions such as: Fear responses and panic attacks Secretion of hormones Arousal Formulation of bad emotional memories

Sensory functions are more powerful than our logic! Since our defending wall for advertising and marketing has got higher, marketers try to target our feeling and the combination of ours senses! (smell, hear, see, touch and taste) Smell is our protogenic and most powerful sense we have. The (appropriate) combination of smell with sound can make us act differently. 17

Here are some Basic Questions, that when asked, they trigger opposite brain reactions and influence Dopamine, Mirror neurons and Amydgala, aiming to maximize our resistance to over-consumerism. We can use the same marketers tools for our Protection!

Why am I buying this? Does it really cover a real need? Shall I buy this and then regret it later? Are my emotions driving my movements? Do I want to imitate others behaviors? Do I feel that I belong to that group? Do I really buy this because I believe it is modern and it will rise my personal or social status? Why am I buying this and not someone elses product instead? 19

Am I spending more money just because the product has a brand name? Do I feel addicted to a specific brand name or product because the brand permeates in my brain, through mass media programs, success and celebrities? Do I have the illusion of comfort and affiliation for a specific group? 20

And finally: Do I want to be something I am not, simply because Marketing wants it ?

Thank you for your attention