The Science of Being Human

How next-generation marketers can harness the power of predictability in the unpredictability of human behavior.

Just in case you haven’t heard, you’re no longer in control. Not of when, where or how your brand messaging is heard or received. And, in some cases, not even of the message itself. Nope. Those days are over. Now, it’s your customers — patients, physicians and all of those other stakeholders — who are in control. You can fight it. You can try to ignore it. You can even cry about it. (Please don’t.) But, you can’t change it. And thank goodness. Why? Because losing control of the old ways means we have a chance to find new and better ways to connect with our audiences. Because, now, instead of talking to customers, we have to talk with them.

There’s never been a better time to form a more genuine, more individualized AND more profitable bond with your brand’s current and potential users and prescribers.

And all of this makes being out of control feel really good — especially for those who choose to take on the unpredictability of human behavior and find a way to turn it to their advantage.

You Did WHAT?
You have all of the transactional and traditional market research data right there in front of you. It tells you when people bought, how much they bought. The usual suspects. And, according to your data, customers should have clearly behaved this way. But, instead, they so unpredictably acted that way. Enter “the voice.” You know the one. We’ve all had  it screaming in our heads, saying, “How could this have possibly happened?!”

Here’s how in might happen in “real life”:
Patricia is a 62-year-old woman with osteoporosis. Her physician has prescribed Product A to address this condition, but Patricia doesn’t take it regularly. In fact, she rarely takes it at all. The Product A brand team looks at its data and deduces that Patricia isn’t compliant because of two factors:
• The medication costs too much for Patricia’s limited budget
• Patricia doesn’t like the GI upset she experiences as a side effect of the medication

In reality, though, neither of these is the reason Patricia isn’t taking her osteoporosis medication. The actual reason is that she is a very self-confident and empowered woman who thinks there are better ways to manage her condition without having to take medication for it.

What happened here wasn’t that the transactional or traditional market research data was necessarily wrong or irrelevant. Instead, it was that “the -Ologies” were missing. There’s a science behind what makes all of us humans do the things we do, act the way we act, buy the things we buy, feel the way we feel. It’s called behavioral science. And what it does is help us understand human behavior by tapping into the disciplines of  sociology, psychology and anthropology. The -Ologies. And, by applying them in perfect balance, it’s like opening a window into consumers’ minds. We can get in there, ramble around and really find out what makes them tick. Which is something that doesn’t always happen with market research that bets the proverbial farm on transactional data.

According to the media and consumer research firm Mediamark Research, less than 2 percent of brand selection on average is explained by demographics. So many other factors can and do affect how consumers behave. Things like past experiences, cultural beliefs, attitudes toward disease states, interpersonal relationships, preferences, and the vast number of other elements that make all of us do the things we do.

Are They Talking about Me?
Insight based on the -Ologies typically reveals what can spark the conversation consumers have or want to have at a specific point in time. And sometimes, the biggest “Aha!” is learning that this conversation might not be about you or your brand. Rather than talking about your product’s features or how long your company has been around or what your mission is, you can activate behavioral levers that will allow you to engage consumers and initiate action by demonstrating how your brand can clearly and effectively address their concerns, hopes and gaps in understanding.

To see how this works, let’s go back to our story about Patricia — the 62-year-old who has been diagnosed with osteoporosis. By applying the -Ologies, we now know that she thinks that medication might not be the best way to manage her condition. This gives the Product A brand team the insight they need to develop a dialogue with her that will be more meaningful and that will lead to behavioral change. So, instead of focusing on cost or side effects, the Product A brand team should craft a message that convinces Patricia about the benefits of early control and treatment. It should demonstrate the impact osteoporosis is having on her body and what will happen if it’s not managed correctly. Even more importantly, the message needs to convey the idea that by NOT following the treatment her doctor prescribed, she’s actually doing less to help herself even though she thinks she’s doing more — which is completely counterintuitive to her desire to be in control. This is the type of messaging that prioritizes and pulls a consumer’s behavioral levers — making marketing efforts much more effective and cost efficient.
  
You Say “Text.” I Say “Tweet.”
Saying you’re going to get a conversation started with your key audiences is one thing. Doing it is quite another — especially in a marketplace overflowing with new ways to communicate. People are blogging, texting, e-mailing, podcasting…and even “friending” and “tweeting.” It’s no wonder messages are ignored — or, even worse, misunderstood. So, how do you cut through the clutter in order to make a meaningful connection with your audience? Meet them where they are with the messages they’re searching for — even when they don’t yet know they’re searching.

Just as relying on transactional and traditional market research data to understand your audience can leave significant gaps, connecting with consumers doesn’t start with communication channels and media plans. It starts with understanding customer lifestyles and acknowledging where each one of them is in the decision-making process, rather than trying to start everyone off at the same place. It starts with recognizing that some learn better when they hear things, while others learn better by trying things. And, it starts with deciding how to help them gain the confidence that will allow them to take the next crucial step forward. Looking at Patricia again, it’s not the fact that the brand team will use a direct mail campaign to reach her that will make a difference. It’s that the behavior-based message she receives through that campaign will resonate with her on a level that triggers the desired change: increased adherence.

Yes, channels are important. But, they aren’t the key to connecting with your audience. They’re simply the vehicle.

Show Me (Where to Spend) the Money.
You can shotgun your marketing budget, hoping that most of it sticks. Or, you can deliver focused, relevant communications to those who are going to respond to your message. Decided yet?

One of the primary benefits of using behavioral science to uncover what really drives people to action is how it provides you a proven way of maximizing your marketing spend. To say that it completely eliminates the guesswork out of account planning might be a bit, well, much. But, it comes pretty close.

Not only does behavioral science help you identify the specific communication channels through which your audience accesses information most often and most comfortably, but it also enables you to predict behavior and tailor messages that your customers want to hear. Messages that answer questions, provide solutions, alleviate concerns and enhance self-confidence. Just like the message the brand team can now craft for Patricia — who wants to feel like she’s the one in control. The result is a value exchange — one that is worth just as much to your customers as it is to you.
    
“We’re Only Human, Right?”
A hard lesson marketers are learning is that consumers are now in control of how, when and where they receive information from brands. And, to an extent, they also control what that information is and  how it’s valued. But, rather than this being something we are wary of, we can use this phenomenon to our advantage and to our audiences’ advantage. Today, we can build a more powerful platform than we’ve ever had to engage in conversations. And we can also get to know each other better. Because, at the end of the day, we all want to be respected and valued for what we bring to the table. Yes — there is a science to being human and a science to understanding why we do the things we do. But, when we relate human being to human being — the amazing thing is that it really doesn’t seem like science at all.