Strong brands are more likely to stick to the brain

The human brain reacts quickly to well-known brands, but takes more time and energy to identify lesser known brands, regardless of which product it is, German scientists claim. .

The brain loses less energy when recognizing a famous brand (Photo: Cosmosmagazine)

Dr. Christine Born and colleagues at Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, (Germany) have experimented on brain reactions with brands based on 20 people, including men and women.

Participants were able to see familiar advertising images of many brands, along with their logos, for 3 seconds. If they realize what brand it is, they will press a button to signal. The team used magnetic resonance imaging to measure the amount of energy consumed by the volunteers' brains during the brand identity process.

The results showed that the brains of the volunteers reacted very quickly when they were able to see famous brands, with the participation of a few brain regions. On the contrary, when you see a less well-known brand, almost all areas in the brain work at a higher intensity, meaning more energy must be used. This, according to Born, shows that strong brands are more likely to stick to the brain and therefore, are recognized more quickly.

Born thinks that the technique could help manufacturers find ways to market products effectively to groups of people overlooked by advertisers, such as the elderly. She and her colleagues will expand research in many other target groups to understand the impact of age, gender and other factors on the brand identity process.

Viet Linh