The Science of Implicit Responses: Feelings First, Thoughts Later

This article was written by Lauren Murphy, PhD, AVP Center for Human Understanding at Material

Brands have long known that adding “for a limited time only” or “while supplies last” to an offer will boost response, but they might not realize why. It’s because humans are hardwired to accrue, going back to the era when hunting and gathering enough food was a primary occupation integral to survival. What was once a means to survive now serves as a signal of social status and exclusivity, allowing consumers to demonstrate their deep pockets or insider relationships. By leaning into the “scarcity effect,” then, brands appeal to basic, implicit human needs.

Implicit responses are inherent, immediate, unconscious reactions. These gut feelings begin before we’re consciously aware and are reassessed and contextualized by slower more conscious thinking. They impact our first impressions and can set the stage for the quality of our experiences and perceptions of a brand and its products. Implicit responses include human instincts and emotions as well as biases and heuristics (mental shortcuts), making clear the importance of understanding the nuances of the implicit – and how to design customer experiences to account for it.

Linking the Implicit with Emotions

Implicit or instinctual responses are deeply intertwined with human emotions. If a bear crosses your path while you’re hiking, is the fear you feel an implicit, instinctual reaction, or is it an emotion spurred by the implicit need for self-preservation?

For brands, the distinction isn’t as important as a key truth: Appeal to implicit human responses, and you’ll appeal to emotions. And when brands evoke emotions in their customers, they’re also stimulating memories that can impact future decisions.

Emotions engage the brain’s amygdala, prompting the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, to make a special note of the event or action generating the emotion. These memories tend to last longer than those not associated with emotions. Brands and products that conjure emotions in consumers are therefore more consistently memorable than those that don’t.

That’s one reason brands need to do more than simply meet customer expectations and deliver positive experiences; they also need to wrap those experiences in emotions and strategies that respond to implicit human needs. The storytelling involved in creating emotionally engaging experiences will not only reinforce the emotions but also help differentiate the brand from its competitors. This, in turn, taps into another subconscious, implicit human response: the tendency to notice and remember novelty and outliers, also known as the Von Restorff effect.

Deliver experiences that respond to implicit needs and forge positive, lasting emotions, and you’ll encourage consumers to make a habit of returning to your brand.

Implicitly Effective

Even some of the most contemporary marketing and messaging tactics can be linked to age-old human instincts and implicit needs. Gamification, for example, was only added to the lexicon in the early 2000s, but it taps into the human instinct to play, which activates the brain’s reward system. Brands that add games or game mechanics — leaderboards, badges, competitions— to loyalty programs, promotions or educational modules can provoke positive emotions and, because of the link between emotion and memory, positive long-term associations as well.

Brands can also appeal to the implicit human need for relationships to build community and deepen engagement. The ancient hunter-gatherers would not have survived for long without living and working with others, and the ill effects of the current “loneliness epidemic” show that this instinct hasn’t gone the way of hunting mastodons with spears. Brands that authentically and consistently engage with their customers while providing relevant solutions address that fundamental need, building connection and loyalty as a result.

Behavioral Science Principles Unlock Deeper Human Understanding

At Material, we have decades of experience helping the world’s most recognizable businesses dig deep into the nuances of human behavior to earn loyalty and unlock customer-centric growth. Through the lens of key behavioral science principles – from the power of implicit responses to the daily influences of habit and motivation – brands can bring clarity to complex human challenges and build durable customer relationships.

Download our free e-book, 6 Behavioral Science Principles for Deeper Human Insights, to learn more.