The goal of your ad is to introduce consumers to your product or service. But how do you make sure that people are sufficiently motivated to purchase and consume it?
We've studied this by testing ads in the MRI scanner. In total, we've scanned viewers watching more than 70,000 advertisements and here's the answer:
You can motivate people to consume your product or service by showing actors consuming/using the product/service (see also learning 5). While watching others experience an event, a good feeling is created in the brain, making viewers want to experience it for themselves as well.
This is something Nespresso understands and communicates very well. Take a look at this Nespresso ad.
This Nespresso ad did very well on many points:
- The look and feel of the ad signals status and luxury.
- George Clooney as the ambassador of Nespresso: men want to be like him, women want to be with him.
- The cup of coffee is beautifully filmed: we see a drop of coffee fall into the cup and then bounce back up.
- At the end, we see the woman enjoying her cup of coffee with the sunset.
The results of the MRI scan show that the Nespresso ad scored above average on the positive emotions of Desire and Expectation. Direct reward is also activated. These emotions make viewers crave for a Nespresso.
Now take a look at the Douwe Egberts ad. It's in Dutch, but the language isn't important for this learning. What do you notice?
It's is a sympathetic story for viewers. However, the ad is a few seconds too short - it stops at the moment when the father is about to take a sip of his coffee.
As a result, a good feeling is not achieved. This was also reflected in the results of the MRI scan: the ad doesn't activate sufficient positive emotions to provide a good feeling. It's a pity, as the ad offers a nice story.
These results confirm what we've seen in many other studies:
When viewers don't experience the feeling of using a product or service, it negatively influence the pleasure areas in the viewers' brain. And these are the areas that are mainly responsible for consumer behaviour (see learning 1).
Check out the next learning.
