Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, pointing out that the consumer mind is an area waiting to be discovered by marketers, said, “The target audience in marketing is women and children. Their weaknesses are appealed to. They influence men in areas like cars and watches. Women are also influenced in terms of clothing… Men also show weakness in electronics.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, noting that managing money and spending it wisely is the most difficult thing, said, “You can earn money, but spending and investing are more important than earning. People who are always money-focused, earning-focused cannot be happy. But if they have a goal, they want to achieve it and invest what they earn in it.”
Üsküdar University Founding Rector, Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, evaluated the topic of purchasing behavior and the brain.
Quality work is not enough, it also needs to be made visible…
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan pointed out that there are many studies on what influences people's purchasing behavior, stating, “There is serious competition in marketing, and in the last decade, there has been a rapid increase in budgets allocated for promotion worldwide. A study conducted at Harvard on this matter reveals that the impact of a person's work quality is only one-third, while the remaining two-thirds are related to promotion and marketing. Half of these two-thirds are related to the individual's own network, interpersonal relationships, and private circle, and the other half to advertising activities. In other words, doing quality work alone is not enough; a serious effort is also required to make this work visible.”
A reliable image leaves a big impact!
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan reminded that the late Sakıp Sabancı's words from years ago, "Image, image, image," still hold true today, stating, “Building brand recognition and creating a reliable image leave a significant impact. Today, neuromarketing techniques emerge in this process. Neuromarketing aims to make the most appropriate decisions to reach the right target audience in marketing activities, and studies in this field are rapidly developing.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that according to a study, a carbonated beverage with high brand value sells more, and consumers form an emotional connection with the perception created by that brand. He added that they opened the first neuromarketing master's program in Turkey based on developments in the field of neuromarketing.
How are purchasing behaviors examined?
Referring to the annual Neuromarketing symposium hosted by Üsküdar University, Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that they bring together scientists working in advertising, promotion, and marketing to conduct studies aimed at better understanding interesting behaviors in purchasing.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan explained that the "Eye Tracking" device detects people's eye movements and the areas they focus on most when examining a visual. He said that with this method, it is understood from the areas where eye movements are concentrated which product, clothing, or part of a car people show more interest in, and that similar analyses are performed by monitoring brain waves, thus examining purchasing behaviors.
Prof. Dr. Tarhan reminded that there is a book titled “Buyology: Why Everything We Know About What We Buy is Wrong,” and noted that brain processes should also be considered when making decisions in purchasing behaviors, and that studies shedding light on the cause-and-effect relationships between neuroscience and consumer behavior are ongoing.
The consumer mind, an area waiting to be discovered!
Prof. Dr. Tarhan also stated that companies are increasingly emphasizing brand image and the message conveyed to consumers, saying, “A chocolate is released, and people form queues with an advertisement. Therefore, studies on the consumer mind need to measure likability, persuasion, brand loyalty, and the person's level of interest in it.”
Prof. Dr. Tarhan stated that the consumer mind is an area waiting to be discovered by marketers, explaining that attempts are currently being made to read the consumer's mind, and how brand loyalty can be created is also being scientifically examined.
They buy for appreciation, approval, praise…
Prof. Dr. Tarhan pointed out that the feeling of being appreciated and praised also leads to more shopping, saying, “They don't need something they buy. They have a lot of clothes in their closet, yet they still buy them. Why? To get appreciation, praise, approval. Another emotion affecting shopping is the feeling of trust. When a person feels secure, they behave more balanced in shopping. There are those who shop to the point of addiction. They have boxes at home unopened, but they still buy. When shopping, it is necessary to balance desires and needs. A balance between waste and saving must be established. Unfortunately, popular culture is not production-oriented but consumption-oriented. There is a system in the world that increases production by increasing consumption.”
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan stated that the target audience in marketing is women and children, saying, “Their weaknesses are appealed to. They influence men in areas like cars and watches. Women are also targeted more in terms of clothing. Men also show weakness in electronics.”
Spending money is more important than earning it!
Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan also noted that managing money and spending it wisely is the most difficult thing, saying, “You can earn money, but spending and investing are more important than earning. A person without purpose cannot manage finances or economize. First, they will determine their ego ideal in life, their purpose, their abstract goals in life, and then their concrete goals. People who are always money-focused, earning-focused cannot be happy. But if they have a goal, they want to achieve it and invest what they earn in it. You look at these people's clothes, they dress very simply. Look at celebrities and wealthy people in America, they walk around in a few black t-shirts.”
