Consumer Behaviour: The Psychology of Marketing [Infographic]

Understanding the psychology of marketing and how consumers behave is a valuable advantage to have. How well do you know your customers? In the Emma infographic below, you'll learn about the 12 not-so-secret secrets of the human brain and how you can use this knowledge to build a better marketing strategy for your business. 

The Psychology of Marketing - What is Your Brain Saying?

We all have a primitive brain. It's called the amygdala, and it controls our gut reactions and emotions - and it works much faster than our conscious mind. 

• We have gut reactions in 3 seconds or less.
  
• Emotions process input 5 times faster than our conscious brain.
• Emotions make a more lasting imprint than rational thought.

With these three tips in mind, you know that your brand needs to send the right emotional message to consumers. You have the power of influence and persuasion on your side. What do you want them to think of when after they've interacted with you? First impressions are everything, so it's important to deliver a solid marketing message each and every time. 

Aim for the Gut Reaction

Your subject line and pre-header text work together to get people to open your marketing email. Use these spaces to get your point across at an emotional level. Use words that create excitement, urgency or even low-grade anxiety.

Our Brains Love Images...

The primitive brain is particularly drawn to images of danger, sex and food. But don't overdo it in your emails - the jury's still out on whether a sexy skydiving cheeseburger gets more clicks.

• Our brains process images 60,000 times faster than text.
• 90% of all data that the brain processes is visual.
• We comprehend and remember pictures with text more than text alone.

...Especially Images of Faces

Natural selection favoured humans who were able to quickly identify threats and build relationships. We're all able to do that today by simply reading facial expressions.

• Human beings are hard-wired from birth to identify the human face.
• The part of the brain that processes images is right next to the area that processes emotions.
• All images of faces grab our attention, but babies light up emotion receptors.

Consider including a face that looks toward your call-to-action. Close-ups work best, and eye-tracking studies show we'll look where they're looking.

Why Colour Matters

• 62-90% of our feeling about a product is determined by the colour alone.
  
• Yellow activates the anxiety centre of the brain.
• The colour blue builds trust.

There is more to colour choice than what looks good - colours affect what we buy. Different colours actually send different signals to our brain. Every audience is different, so it's important to run a few tests to discover how colour affects response. Colour studies just help you figure out what to test with your own readers. Who knows, maybe periwinkle is your key to conversions. 

Was this infographic on The Psychology of Marketing helpful to your business? Were you aware of these brain "secrets"? Let us know in the comments below!