Right Brain vs. Left Brain? Use Brain Games to boost your productivity? These and other, in 5 Fables we've been told about the brain and business– and why they’re wrong.

1. Why Neuroscience and
Marketing Don’t Mix
5 Fables we’ve been told– and
By Brandon N. Towl why they’re wrong
Words Have Impact

2. • There has been a lot of interest in the past
decade in what the brain can tell us about
business and marketing.

3. • There are many different labels for (and
approaches to) this interest:
– Neuromarketing
– Neuropricing
– Affective marketing
– Neuro-economics
– Sometimes, just “brain facts for business”

4. • And books have been written….
• There is some good research out there. But
there are also 5 widespread and utterly false
myths or “fables” out there that need
debunking.

5. Fable #1: Left Brain vs. Right Brain
The claims:
• There are “left brain thinkers” (better at logic,
language, organization) and “right brain
thinkers” (more creative artsy types).
• Different types are better suited to different
tasks or different jobs
• The differences come down to different use of,
or practice with, each hemisphere of the
brain.

6. Fable #1: Left Brain vs. Right Brain
Nope!
• The different hemispheres do have some
different functional areas… that almost every
adult uses more or less equally.
• Capacities like “logic” and language involve many
areas spread throughout the brain– there is no
one “language area” or “creativity area”.
• Little-to-no evidence for the 2 types of “thinker.”
• Actual hours spent in training/practice is a better
predictor of specific talents.

7. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
The claims:
• Different colors trigger different emotional responses
(associations, whatever)
• So, marketers can use different colors to their
advantage in logo design, collateral design, waiting
room design… etc.

8. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
For
example,
this:

9. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
Or this:

10. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
Or this:

11. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
Nope!
• How we perceive colors depends a lot on
context (what’s around them).
• What we associate with which colors depends
a lot on culture.
• There are more colors than are in the Crayola
box of 16… different shades and combinations
of colors can convey different feelings– more
than can be charted in these simple graphics.

12. Fable #2: Marketing with colors
For example, looks at all of these yellows– in different
shades and in different contexts. Do they make you
feel the same way?

13. Fable #3: People Buy Based on
Emotion
The claim:
• People making buying decisions largely based
on emotion
• This involves an evolutionarily “old” part of
the brain
• This part of the brain is non-linguistic (but
likes pictures), rarely follows “logic”, and has a
short attention span

14. Fable #3: People Buy Based on
Emotion
… Only partially true…
• Some purchase decisions are based on
emotion. (Ice-cream, fashionable sweaters,
blog themes, etc.)
• But some are more grounded in logic
(economy cars, home repair supplies, blog
content).

15. Fable #3: People Buy Based on
Emotion
… and leads to bad marketing practices.
• Most marketers try to appeal to very basic emotions:
fear, surprise, guilt, anxiety, awe, anger.
• Most buyers are aware of attempts to manipulate
these emotions!
• There are other emotions worth invoking too:
curiosity, affection, belonging, nostalgia, pride
• The most effective messages have a mix of the
rational and the emotional

16. Fable #4: We only use 10% of our
brains
The claims:
• People only use 10% (or some other small
number) of their brain/ brain power
• Various products, events, seminars, or
practices can “unlock” this hidden potential

17. Fable #4: We only use 10% of our
brains
Resoundingly false:
• Thousands of studies have shown that most of
the brain in active most of the time
• Cases of brain injury have shown that damaging
almost any part of the adult brain leads to some
loss of function
• Besides, brain matter is expensive, metabolically
speaking. Our bodies wouldn’t keep brain
material around unless it were really useful for
something.

18. Neuromarketing
Neuropricing
Neuroeconomics
Brain facts
Brain facts for business
Content marketing and the brain

19. Fable #5: Brain Games will help
improve mental performance
The Claims:
• Brains are likes muscles: they must be
exercised to be at their top performance.
• Simple games– the kind that can be coded
into an app or handheld game– can stimulate
the brain.
• A few minutes with these games each day will
help boost brain power.

20. Fable #5: Brain Games will help
improve mental performance
Nope!
• Practicing brain games does boost
performance… but mostly for those specific
brain games (and tasks like them).
• BUT: most day-to-day work tasks are much
more complex than, and use different skills
than, your typical brain game.
• Some games might help memory or language
generally… but the effects plateau pretty
quickly.

21. Bottom Line:
• Most rumors you’ve heard about the brain…
are probably false.
• Research in this area is still very early. Most of
the stuff in the popular press is done very,
very poorly. The good stuff in academic
articles is quite complicated and not
immediately actionable.
• There are no magic bullets here.

22. Other Goodies:
• My online review of Buyology, and the flawed
logic behind many of the studies in it.
• My other articles on marketing follies at
www.asackofhammers.com.
• Sally Satel’s expose Brainwashed at
Amazon.com
• Articles on Neuromarketing at Fast Company.

23. P.S. How do I know this stuff?
• Before my career in writing and marketing, I
had an academic career in philosophy &
neuroscience (PhD Washington University in
St. Louis 2009).
• Taught undergrad courses on critical
thinking/experimental design in neuroscience
and cognitive science many years running.
• Also published interdisciplinary papers
applying neuroscience research to other topic
areas.