In the 1890s, the Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov noticed how dogs were not only laid in front of them as the food, but when they heard the steps of the person who brought the food.
He carried out experiments in which he ringing a bell, just before he fed his dogs. After repeating this several times, the dogs began to save the sound of the bell without eating.
Pavlov had identified a classic conditioning or learned to connect a stimulus (the bell) to a different stimulus (food) in order to create a conditioned reaction (saliva flow).
Now I think that I am a little more developed than these dogs. I would hope that I would not fall for the same tricks. But I do it. In fact, we all do.
The real reason why you smell this new car
Take the “new car” as my first example. Nobody is born as this smell likes. Instead learn to like this smell through repeated associations. This new car smell is associated with the pleasant experience of sitting in a shiny, clean new car.
However, this association can be hacked to change our perception.
Charles Spence in his great book Senshackingdescribes how Rolls-Royce customers sent their cars to the service, and they returned to their owners who seem to be brand new. The managing director of Rolls-Royce, Hugh Hadland, is quoted with the words: “People say that they don’t understand what we did, but that their cars will come back differently and better.”
How did Rolls-Royce deliver this incredible service?
Apparently they spray the car with an aromatic mixture of leather and wood that hold this distinctive new car smell through the spray. The fragrance has become so iconic that the brand published it as a fragrance This can help that a Rolls-Royce smells good longer.
It is a perfect example of classic conditioning at work – this time in humans. It is the same formula. We learn to connect a stimulus (new car smell) to another (a new car) and a conditioned reaction (to believe that they are sitting in a new car).
It is not the only associative hack that was deducted from car manufacturers.
One 2011 study found that the students overestimated the speed of a car when the noise of the car was artificially increased. Likewise one 2008 study found that lowering the in-car noise by five decibels led to the fact that people underestimate its speed by 10%.
This is because we have established a connection between sound and speed over time. F1 cars make deafening noises, as do jet aircraft. We have learned to expect fast cars to do the same. So it is no surprise that some Volkswagen Golf models use sound actuators to increase the roaring of the engine.
From beer logos to air conditioning – association promotes sales
There is another association that is discovered by Charles Spence Senshacking This is far too often to be a fluke: beer brands and stars.
Dozens of beer brands seem to contain a star form in their logos: think Estrella, Heineken, Newcastle Brown Ale and Sapporo. In most cases, Bintang’s star is visible of Indonesia, and in Nigeria one of the best-selling beers is literally referred to as a star camp.
Why this connection between stars and beer?
Well, Spence says that we associate the carbonation and bitterness with angles. The angular shape of a star trudges us to think of a refreshing, cold, carbonated drink.
These attempts to chop our associations are not only used by fast cars and beer brands, but also by luxury shops that sell premium goods.
Take Lisa Heschong’s research for your book from 1979 Heat frown in architecture. She found that luxury brand transactions are significantly colder on average than non-luxury businesses. In other words, Harrods is colder than Selfridges, and Rolex is colder as the goal.
Heschong claims that this deliberate cooling came from a time when the air conditioning was a luxury that could only be granted by the richest facilities. And it seems that business is still being used today.
Make connections that sell
While I hope to be immune to the tricks that Pavlov played on his dogs, it shows that I am just as formable. I will flinch together at the Jingle of a fast food brand, hear a loud engine and long for a refreshing star beer. Experienced marketers use this power to better sell.