Author: Dr Robert Heath
Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell
Reviewer: Shaun Bailey, CEO, Jacob Bailey
I have been in advertising – well direct marketing – for over 20 years now, and like many of my colleagues we have known for some time that the idea of the rational consumer logically weighing up the pros and cons of brand A over brand B is a little dated. We also know that emotional engagement with a brand can be significantly enhanced with powerful creative: maybe an enduring logo, music and any number of other associative brand cues if repeated to the correct audience at the right time via the right channel.
Behavioural economics, choice architecture and further psychological studies into the workings of the human mind has only lent further credibility to the fact that we are more irrational than we’d like to believe – especially when it comes to purchasing.
So when Dr Heath suggests an alternative to the enduring ‘persuasion model’ we shouldn’t be overly surprised but we should be very interested. This book throws out the idea of consumers exhibiting high levels of attention to advertising. It also throws out the idea that creative works in the way we think it does. And, that low levels of attention to advertising doesn’t necessarily mean it’s an ineffective ad – quite the contrary.
If that doesn’t whet your appetite – Seducing the Subconscious will also take you through the intricate machinations of the human brain. From memory types to active, passive and implicit learning, from perception and conceptualisation to analysis, there’s counter argument, filtering and associative conditioning, we have the relationship between our Limbic and Neo Cortex and their regulation of emotion and reason, and let’s not forget somatic markers and metacommunication and finally Dr Heath’s ‘Subconscious Seduction Model’. Phew!
This is all fascinating stuff and peppered with supporting research, experiments and studies – ranging from the mischievous to the macabre.
From a B2B viewpoint, while the book is packed full of enlightening case studies, they’re unfortunately all B2C and almost exclusively limited to TV Advertising.
However, the insight into the psychology of advertising applies to all marketers – how we learn, how we process communications, how our memory works and more importantly how associative emotional triggers that may have been consumed subconsciously influences our purchase decisions.
Marketing is becoming ever more direct and direct ever more digital so it would be great to see Dr Heath’s model applied to more direct channels, embrace the online environment and look at brands operating in the world of B2B. Do the same rules apply? Are we more attentive when purchasing on behalf of an organisation? Are we simply less exposed to clever subconscious emotional cues? Does this mean B2B marketing is less effective?
Now a confession – this isn’t the first piece of work I have read on this subject by Dr Heath. I also had the pleasure of reading Dr Heath’s The Hidden Power of Advertising in a luxurious New York Hotel lobby back in 2005. I recall reading it while relaxing back into a comfortable oversized chair, watching the world go by and sipping on a well known Scotch. I thoroughly enjoyed that monograph and I thoroughly enjoyed Seducing the Subconscious. There must be a somatic marker in there somewhere?
Verdict – Read it and then read it again.
Star Rating: 5/5