Running head: NEURAL MARKETING

Neural Marketing

Student’s Name

Institution of Affiliation

Course

Date
NEURAL MARKETING 2

Introduction

The company needs to measure the customer’s physiological and neural signals that give them

insight into how they lead to their motivations, preferences and decisions. Then, the company

understands how to creatively advertise their products, package or price them to improve their

marketing and ultimately increase sales. Neural marketers use the approach to understand the

effect of the consumer's brain on psychological responses. Then, they use this phenomenon for

advertising, package product and retailing process that appeal to our unfiltered thoughts.

Mere exposure effect

The mere exposure effect regards the psychological phenomenon through which consumers

prefer the product or people who are more familiar with them than unfamiliar products. The

familiarity effect is enhanced when repeated exposure is made to a human being (Dsouza, 2020).

The phenomenon is one of the cognitive biases of the human brain developing behaviour for

visual and audio information (Van Dessel et al., 2017). The customer may positively affect an

advertisement, at first sight, feeling just ordinary about the product. After watching the

advertisement several times, the customer develops a positive attitude to the product. The

occurrence of the advert allows the customer to internalize the information, like the product and

decides to purchase the product.

The company marketing campaigns applies the approach of mere exposure to increase the sales

volume of their products. The vital role is to trigger the customer’s brain with the product the

company is selling. For example, the TV ads use the technique to inject the product into the

customer's mind. The customer decides to buy the product due to familiarity, with reasonable

benefits such as price, shape or colour (Dsouza, 2020). Marketers use the approach to a potential
NEURAL MARKETING 3

customer by staying in touch with them to develop a familiar and likable impact (Van Dessel et

al., 2017). Generally, mere exposure creates familiarity and a likable effect forming a positive

relationship with products, enhancing their purchase habits, which positively increases sales.

McDonald's created an advert emphasizing the needs to maintain safety and hygiene for its

customer midst of the covid-19 pandemic. The advert shows the joy of the brand's products has

not changed despite the new social distancing norms, with families and friends not enjoying time

together in our cafes like before (ETBrandEquity, 2020). The pandemic has resulted in great

loss, with millions losing their lives while others lose their employment or their income reduces.

In addition, the psychological impact resulted in new behaviours, with their buying behaviours

reducing drastically. However, watching the advert for the first time may not trigger anything to

the customer due to their depression.

However, when the adverts keep playing on their televisions, the customer perception and

attitude changes. The customer starts to internalize the advert that keeps running on their

television, computers or mobile phone. The message of assurance by McDonald to observe

hygiene and safety while enjoying their favourite brand products gets into their minds. The

frequency of the advert gives hope to the customer creating a likable effect on the brand's

products and eventually ordering the product (Dsouza, 2020). The mere exposure effect of the

McDonald adverts creates a memorable experience of assurance by the company to serve their

customer despite the changing norms. Familiarity with the adverts forms a good relationship

with the brand, making the customer order more products.

I would recommend the executive leadership of the MacDonald Companies to ensure the advert

repeatedly runs on the television to increase its familiarity with customers. The company should
NEURAL MARKETING 4

also ensure the adverts runs on various digital advertising platforms to enhance its frequent

encounter with the target audience. The company should be aware of the depressed state of their

customer as a result of the covid-19 pandemic requires a message of hope and assurance to be

capture in the adverts. The company’s good message of hope and assurance of the company's

support in encouraging safety and hygiene may positively impact customers at first sight.

However, the mere exposure effect is a stimulus achieved when a company's adverts are

repetitive. After watching several company creative adverts, the customer will develop a positive

attitude and perception, giving them hope in life and assurance of healthy products. Ultimately,

the buying behaviours change, with customers ordering more of the brand’s product as they are

familiar to them, increasing its sales volume and revenue income.

Neural coupling

Neural coupling is when the audience listening to a story experiences neurons paring to that of

the storyteller. The process enables the listeners to feel the story as presented as they own the

story, connecting to its experiences and emotions. Storytelling has a unique ability to capture and

hold the focus of the human mind through creating imagination. Controlling the memory

becomes easy for the listener to associate with the story. The audience’s brain chemistry

connects to that of the audience, and these extend to point the audience feels empathy to the

storyteller when the story elicits emotions.

In marketing, the concept of neural coupling helps the marketer to connect to customer

excellently. For example, marketers using a story about the product put the idea in the

customer's brain, making them feel owning the product's story. The perception of the product

changes ultimately with customers mind and buying behaviours influenced (Smith, 2021). When
NEURAL MARKETING 5

the company’s advert shares a human experience story, the audiences connect to the shared

experiences through neural coupling, when oxytocin hormone is released, leading to trust. The

potential customers have positive perception towards the brand marketed, changing their

thinking and perception of the products advertised.

Additionally, a successful product’s story positively inspires loyalty, changing customers buying

behaviours. The video used by marketers can communicate the brand's product by creating a

unique connection to the advertisers and consumers (Smith, 2021). Therefore, compelling

adverts stories leads to emotional connection through neural coupling, enhancing brand trust,

brand loyalty and positive buying behaviour, increasing revenue income

McDonald creates an adverts story that customer connects to by sharing positive experiences of

its product creating joyful moment despite challenge time due to impact of the covid-19

pandemic. In the advert, McDonald shares three stories that customer connects to influencing

their behaviour. The first story is about a grandfather and granddaughter enjoying a burger in a

video call. The second story of a husband waking up the husband waking up his wife doctor,

who had fallen asleep in the car for a cup of coffee (ETBrandEquity, 2020). The third story is

about friends creatively sharing French fries in a basket passed from the floor above. The

targeted audience connects perfectly to the stories, with neural coupling helping them feel their

experiences. The customers feel McDonald product creates joy despite the challenging pandemic

time limiting socialization. Consequently, trust and brand loyalty would be enhancing,

encouraging more ordering and sharing of McDonald products.

I would recommend McDonald to create adverts stories which their target audiences would

perfectly connect to their experiences. The neural coupling process is magnificent in pairing to
NEURAL MARKETING 6

storyteller and listeners mind, making the audience own the story and share the story's

experience. The brand's customer has been adversely affected by the covid-19 pandemic with

millions losing their job, reduces sources of income and painful losing their loved ones. The

impact leads to stress and depression, which requires positive stories that would change their

behaviours. Therefore, McDonald executive leadership should share positive, inspirational

stories about their products, impacting hope and assuring joyful moment while using their

product to positive create loyalty and trust.

Numbing pain of buying

The pain of paying is a negative experience by a customer while paying for the goods and

services purchased. Mostly, the customer feels loss while paying, feeling like they have lost the

money as opposed to possessing the product (Zellermayer, 1996). The negative experience

occurs naturally; nevertheless, the pain is experienced when the customer feeling the value of the

goods and money paid are not equal. Generally, people don’t like parting with their money, and

the loss is experienced when a purchase is made affects the pleasure to own the money (Mazar et

al. 2016). Mostly, the risk-averse people feel spending money accelerates physical pain and

disgusting feelings. The pain negatively influences buying behaviour, with the feel of loss

affecting the purchasing behaviour (Zellermayer, 1996). Some form of payment influences the

pain, with tangible payment accelerating the loss compared to a credit card or online payment

reduces the pain.

Numbness of the pain of paying could be reduced when the customer is well informed of the

company's products. Perfect information of the product they are purchasing would reduce the
NEURAL MARKETING 7

pain of paying as the customer understands the product's value. Additionally, the company

would reduce the numbness of paying, ensuring the customer is valued by giving discount and

shopping vouchers (Zellermayer, 1996). More important, the company would encourage

automatic payment for purchases to reduce the pain of parting ways with the money.

I would recommend McDonald executive company to improve their payment system that would

reduce the pain of paying. The brand’s customer has been affected financially by the pandemic

with their real income reducing (Mazar et al. 2016). The pain of paying has thus increased,

negatively affecting their buying decision. Availing automatic payment system for physical or

online purchase would reduce the numbness pain of paying (Zellermayer, 1996). Despite the

difficult economic time, McDonald should ensure it offers discount and shopping voucher to

motivate the purchasing behaviour. More importantly, a brand should create a more creative

advertisement that informs the customers of the value of their product. The customer will thus

not feel the pain of paying when understanding the value of the product. McDonald reduces the

pain of paying to their customer would increase their buying behaviours, transforming to

increased sales volume and profit earned.

NEURAL MARKETING 8

Work cited

Dsouza, M. (2020, May 18). Mere Exposure Effect - How It Works, Examples And Tips.

Retrieved June 18, 2021, from https://productiveclub.com/mere-exposure-effect/

ETBrandEquity. (2020, September 16). McDonald's new campaign HIGHLIGHTS trust and

safety - ET BrandEquity. Retrieved June 18, 2021, from

https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/advertising/mcdonalds-new-

campaign-highlights-trust-and-safety/78142542

Mazar, N., Plassmann, H., Robitaille, N., & Lindner, A. (2016). Pain of paying?—A metaphor

gone literal: Evidence from neural and behavioral science. Rotman School of Management

Working Paper, (2901808).

Smith, C. (2021). Brand stories and BRAIN response: How can brands harness the power of

storytelling and Neural coupling in 2021? Retrieved June 18, 2021, from

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/brand-stories-brain-response-how-can-brands-harness-

power-smith

Zellermayer, O. (1996). The pain of paying. Unpublished dissertation, Department of Social and

Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.Van Dessel, P., Mertens,

G., Smith, C. T., & De Houwer, J. (2017). The mere exposure instruction

effect. Experimental Psychology.