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Researching subconsciousness

CMAG 2008

Leeza Slessareva, PhD

Cisco Market Research

lslessar@cisco.com

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“Telling more than we can know” - Nisbet, 1971

Decision-makers often are correct about why they do the things they do

But decision-makers do not always have access to subconscious whys behind their evaluations, judgments, choices and purchase behaviors

– Even when they don’t really know, decision-makers can easily provide reasons for their behavior

– Even when they don’t really know, decision-makers are some times accurate in their reports

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What is subconsiousness?

Aware

Automatic

Little or no insight

Consciousness

Sub-Consciousness

Sub-Consciousness

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Scientific evidence that we do not always have insight into the real whys

Priming

Position effect

Automatic behavior

Messaging - evaluation of emotional impact

It is not unusual for people to change their attitudes when asked to state reasons why they feel or behave the way they do

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CAN CAN’T

When interested in outcome at the awareness level, not the whys behind the decision/behavior

A separation of time between the report and the actual occurrence of the process

Formal rules of evaluation Mechanics of judgment

Easy to verbalize – cognitive, awareness

Difficult to verbalize

Nonevents

Nonverbal behavior

Discrepancy between the magnitude of case and effect

Context

When can we accurately report on the reasons behind our behavior?

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How to study subconscious behavior – Experimentation

61 5744

39 4356

Unbranded Brand 1 Brand 2

Like:Extremely/Very/SomeLike: Slightly/Notat all

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Using sunscreen increases your chances of maintaining healthy, young-looking skin

Not using sunscreen increases your risk for skin cancer and prematurely aged skin

Thomas Hine; Salovey, P – University of Minnesota.

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How to study subconscious behavior – Response time

The brain processes similar emotional preferences faster than dissimilar preferences. – When two stimuli of similar emotional preference are presented consecutively, reaction to the second image will be faster than if two images of dissimilar emotional preferences are presented. – If one object is liked and the other one is not, the reaction time should increase because the brain needs additional time to process dissimilar information.

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Illustration: Stroop Task

Green Red Blue

Yellow Blue Yellow

Blue Yellow Red

Green Yellow Green

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How to study subconscious behavior – Psycho-physiological responses

Most common measures include: – Heart rate

– Facial electromyography

– Electodermal activity

– Pulse rate

– MRI

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Psychological Example: Infidelity Experiment

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Business Example:Pepsi vs. Coke – Dr. Montague MRI experiment

Give people Coke or Pepsi while they are inside an MRI scanner

– When subjects are drinking Coke - more activity in the PFC (“pleasure” region)

– When subjects think they are drinking Coke but are actually tasting Pepsi – more activity in the PFC

Conclusions:

– We can “taste” brand images

– Brand image matters. Two separate brain systems involved in ` generating preference – sensory and emotional

VS. CHALLENGE

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