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Where can I learn about viral marketing?

Where can I learn more about suggestive marketing techniques like "priming" in physical store layouts?

  • I am a recent grad in marketing. I am well versed in how "subliminal" advertising is a myth, at least in the conventional understanding (flashing quick images of Coca Cola in single frames throughout a movie to influence your thirst in the theatre, etc.) However, I've also briefly touched on ways that stores choose the music that they play, colors of the interior, layout of tables and products, etc. to elicit emotional responses, etc. Here's where it gets weird: the psychological theory of "priming." I've read that stores often put flowers in the very front of a store intentionally - despite their low sales - to induce a feeling of "freshness" in shoppers' minds. Then, the idea goes, when shoppers head to the deli, they will be carrying this idea of freshness and apply it to the produce. Has anyone ever heard of anything like this? Where could I learn more about what goes on behind the scenes in designing physical environments to influence behavior?

  • Answer:

    In between college and grad school I spent a summer working retail part time at J. Crew. By early August they were already bringing in their Fall line of clothing, sweaters included. So what did they do to prime customers for cold weather clothing? Jack the AC way down. Did it work? According to the store manager, the store sold more sweaters when they did lower the store temp. I have no data to support this, but I do distinctly remember bundling up in August to go to work, and some employees grumbling about the exceedingly cold air. Of course, sampling is a form of priming, too, in food stores. Whole Foods does this to great success.

Andy Slipher at Quora Visit the source

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There's an art to what you're looking for and its all about putting customers in the right frame of mind. We use similar techniques in graphic design to evoke certain emotions. While subliminal advertising is a silly concept, emotion is the true lever that can be pulled. This is not something you can learn right away, it takes a lot of practice and observation to become good at it. Here's what I might recommend: Study interior design. I'd recommend taking a course because critique is an important skill that you won't get just by reading a book. This will help you start seeing space like a designer does and give you a point of view on how your choices of what to put there influence the space. Visit as many stores as you can. Pay special attention to the experience of shopping there from the grand scheme, to what you see, smell, and hear when you walk in, all the way down to the details of how items sit on the rack. Take a color theory class or do some research on color theory. You need to understand how color and combinations of color work together to instill certain feelings. If you have a chance to work with a design agency that does this for a living, learn from them. They will give you a whole wealth of perspective. Think about the senses! Smell is the most important sense because it evokes emotional response more quickly than the other senses. It is connected directly to the Amygdala, a brain structure associated with fight or flight. You may also notice how scent evokes memories in unexpected ways. Sight and Sound are important too, Don't forget the other senses! Touch can be critical too, cited in 's answer about the temperature. Taste may have its place as well, don't discount it. And of course, as I mentioned before, visit a lot of stores. Pay attention to your own experience! Note how certain experiences make you feel, observe your own behavior as a result. That will be more valuable than any kind of psychology class you might take.

Asa Sherrill

This web sit might be helpful...I don't think it's strictly related to marketing though. http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/category/embodied-cognition/ One of the most interesting priming discussions was on Radiolab once on NPR.  They talked about several studies that showed if people held a warm cup of anything, could be tea or coffee etc., that they would then judge the person they were talking to more favorably.  I believe this article touches on the exact study of this topic. http://news.health.com/2008/10/23/want-ace-interview-offer-warm-hand/ This next one touches a little bit on the effect of warmth and cold and many other priming effects from our physical environment. http://thesituationist.wordpress.com/tag/unconscious/

Leslie Dufour

Why We Buy by Paco Underhill is the most famous book in this genre; http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Buy-Science-Shopping/dp/0684849143

Kevin Lord Barry

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