Feedback for: Neuromarketing: Why Fear Sells, Sex Doesn't
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Neuromarketing: Why Fear Sells, Sex Doesn't by Anna Papadopoulos
Nice article. Though it would seem that "Fear sells.." and "Pass the cigarettes" contradict one another.
Matt
I understand your point about fear and sex. Your perspective seems to leave out the power of other approaches, like humor and heartwarming, though. When an ad tries to "scare" me into a behavior, it is just too obvious and nonseductive that it's repulsive rather than effective.
In large part, I think that is why advertising is becoming so abhorrent. When advertisers give up on creativity in favor of desperate measures like trying to push fear buttons, they lose their cool. And since we are hammered by so many ads, we just get annoyed.
The irritating thing about ads is that they try to use fear as a motivator but miss the mark with relevance, so the message is thinly disguised. Even a three year old can become jaded, and your 70 year olds move past apathy into active avoidance.
Imagine a world without ads. No logo shirts and hats, no blah blah blah. Web pages without all the flickering crap-ola, trying to catch our eyes, etc. How about a world without telemarketing, without billboards, without constant reminders of our consumerism? It's only been the last 40-50 years that ads have been so prevalent in our U.S. society.
Perhaps we've just plain overdone it, and now advertisers are faced with paying the price -- no one cares anymore.
Gary Jesch
Excellent and interesting article! Although with some of my clients (esp. in the pharma/device space), while fear is a very powerful motivator, we've also seen that it can limit message engagement as the user recoils from the ad/message and doesn't wish to think about the topic any more. Basically, too much fear, especially too early, can trigger avoidance.
Also, I have been waiting for the day when I'd see a marketing article start with an H.P. Lovecraft quote. Well done. ;-)
Sarah Kotlova
Strategic Account Manager
Geary Interactive
