Using Neuromarketing and Web Design to Retain Attention

In the past few decades, the world welcomed a new field within marketing research: neuromarketing. As its name indicates, neuromarketing is the combined study of brain activity with marketing and allows some marketers to understand how to stimulate the “buy” button in most customers. According to Dr. Christophe Morin, co-founder of SalesBrain, the field of neuromarketing has gain popularity among the world of marketing and advertisement, leading to wonder how neuromarketing might have influenced the way we design our web pages and whether it can retain customer’s attention.

What is Neuromarketing?

According to Dr. Paul D. McLean’s Triune Brain Theory, the human brain is composed of three different layers: the new brain, which is where our rational thinking lies; the middle-brain, which is at the base of our emotion; and the reptilian brain, which is believed to be at the center of our decision making process. From the start, neuromarketing aimed in understanding consumer behavior and the decision making process by studying one of the most complex part of our body: our brain. Hence, based on McLean’s theory, it is by focusing on the reptilian part of our brain that marketers are able to stimulate our basic instincts and influence our decisions.

Neuromarketing and Web Design in Influencing Customer’s Behavior

According to Tony Haile, CEO of Chartbeat, the average viewer spends about 15 second on a webpage before moving on to another one. It is where neuromarketing and web design come in to play in delivering the right message and keeping your viewer’s attention during that short period of time. To do so, the website has to first attract the attention of the visitor through the senses and stimulate the memory aspect of the brain. This can be accomplished through the layout of the page, motion pictures, shapes, contrasting colors, and sounds to enhance user’s experience. The second way web design can use neuromarketing to retain focus is by touching the most basic instinct and desire of our brain, our basic needs such as sex and food. For example, as a motorcycle company, you could portray your webpage in a sexual way through the page template, the text, and pictures to target a certain market. Another way is to focus on satisfying the viewer’s emotion through something as simple as a promotional offer. Finally, webpages can also forge a relationship with a viewer by not only stimulating the instincts, but also by providing the visitor with shortcuts. Such can be done through a modern and attractive navigation system and a call to action to engage the viewer.

Neuromarketing and web design combined together can certainly help a business in retaining the attention of a visitor, and it is only the beginning.