Sometimes it happens that two seemingly distant disciplines meet with the intention of achieving the same goal, and it is precisely then that the results can be surprising. This is the story of when the art of writing texts began to confront the knowledge and tools of neuroscience. But let's start from the beginning…
Neuromarketing is a discipline that studies consumer behavior using neuroscientific techniques and tools, aiming to obtain responses that effectively guide marketing stimuli and strategies. The second protagonist of our story is copywriting, which involves writing communication content following specific strategic and commercial objectives. The combination and meeting of these two worlds gives rise to neurocopywriting, where analyses conducted by neuromarketing using neuroscientific tools become a genuine support for writing texts. Rosa Morel was the first person to attempt to apply neuroscientific knowledge to communication in order to understand the psychological mechanisms behind the reading of any content. The concept was later revisited, from a different perspective, by Marco La Rosa in the book Neurocopywriting: how to make communication and content more effective with neuromarketing.
Writing texts alongside neuroscience
Neurocopywriting involves the activity of content writing using knowledge acquired in neuroscience and cognitive fields with the aim of improving communication and increasingly focusing on the actual needs of consumers.
Neuromarketing, using neuroscientific tools and techniques such as Eye-Tracker, EEG, Face Reader, Skin Conductance, and many others, can provide clear answers regarding the effectiveness of the tested communication and content, making them clear, easily accessible, and aligned with people's needs.
To understand why users make certain choices, neuroscientific tools are essential: it is our brain that regulates our behaviors, so understanding how the brain reacts to marketing stimuli simplifies the comprehension of what is effective and what is counterproductive.
The goal that unites these tools is to identify responses and reactions of subjects by analyzing attention, cognitive effort, emotions, and psychophysiological activations to obtain valuable insights that traditional research methods alone would not be able to provide.
Neuromarketing tools
- Eye-tracking —> measures visual behavior and provides output on eye movements to analyze visual attention, which in marketing, in addition to being related to brand memory, brand perception, and decision-making, is also useful for examining the distribution of texts and their effectiveness.
- EEG Analysis —> electroencephalography measures brain waves and the areas of the brain activated in response to stimuli, hypothesizing the type of reaction, degree of activation, and potential memorization.
- Skin Conductance Analysis —> measures psychophysiological activation through skin sweating.
- Breathing and Heart Rate Analysis —> heart rate is linked to concentration levels, while the depth of breathing is correlated with the degree of attention or emotional tension.
- Measurement of Micro-Facial Expressions —> the muscles of the face move in relation to the type of emotion felt in response to a stimulus, especially the micro-expressions that cannot be voluntarily controlled.
Why is storytelling always discussed?
Storytelling is an integral part of the human experience; it is a process of exchanging information that becomes meaningful through its ability to stimulate meanings, convey emotions, and create connections.
The art of storytelling is what lies behind any effective communication content. In fact, when the goal is to convey a message, the simplest and most immediate way to do so is through a story that can engage the listener.
Storytelling is not an end in itself; rather, it is the best way to empathize with people. It starts with a deep understanding of the characteristics and context of the audience and leads to telling a story that represents them, making them more likely to listen, as attention is primarily drawn by narrative elements perceived or recognized as relatable to oneself.
The narrative transportation theory, proposed by Melanie C. Green and Timothy C. Brock and subsequently expanded, explains the strength and persuasive power of storytelling. According to the authors, stories can trigger a series of emotional and cognitive reactions that lead to experiencing the story itself as a real experience, thanks to mechanisms such as neural coupling.
Especially in digital contexts, where it is very complex to capture users' attention, it is important to keep a basic principle in mind: our brain tends to select only the stimuli it considers most relevant from all the information it receives, which often coincide with information that piques our curiosity or stories in which we find something of ourselves.
In particular, the goal is to create a balance as much as possible between attractiveness and recognition of the familiar to intrigue and, at the same time, reassure.
But it doesn’t stop there; after capturing the full attention of the listener, it is essential that the textual content can engage and emotionally resonate with them to remain memorable. Evoking emotions is not a trivial step: influencing memorability can simplify customers' future decision-making processes and create a lasting bond between the individual and the brand.
The theory developed by Daniel Kahneman, known as the Peak-end rule, asserts that people judge experiences based on their peak and end, thus not relying on an overall average of the experience but remembering these extreme moments as representative of the experience itself.
Understanding this bias of human memory highlights the importance of telling stories that can evoke emotions so that they become memorable.
Tone of Voice as Emotion and Relationship
The tone of voice chosen in communication towards an audience, and therefore in storytelling, is a fundamental element that is often underestimated.
In addition to being a distinctive and characteristic element, the Tone of Voice conveys identity and values, providing a humanized perception to those who read or listen, thereby increasing their level of engagement.
Stories do not convey emotions solely through their content, but also through the way in which that content is expressed: in content writing, the chosen tone of voice is calibrated according to the target and context, with the ultimate goal of creating emotional connections that can generate positive or negative frames.
The tone of voice is pure personality, and it is precisely through this that it manages to create a bridge with people, establishing a relationship and an empathetic bond that will lay the groundwork for a unique relationship built on trust.
Words, style, rhythm, suggestions: all elements that must be meticulously crafted to create a perfect mix of recognizability and closeness.
Cognitive Biases and Communication
Decision-making processes are not linear but are influenced by experiences, contexts, mental frameworks, judgments, and fears.
Therefore, to understand which elements work best in communication, it is essential to know the cognitive biases to which we are constantly subject and that influence the way we process information.
For example, based on the so-called framing effect, we know that our evaluation of events is influenced by the way information is presented to us: decisions are thus made based on a spontaneous preference linked to how options are formulated, whether from a positive or negative perspective.
Alternatively, the case of the priming effect demonstrates how certain stimuli can have powerful effects on behavior. In this case, it involves a mechanism of implicit memory and associative activation, whereby initial exposure to certain stimuli, including words, will automatically trigger responses to subsequent stimuli.
Even through just these two examples, one can grasp the value of words in communication and their influence in shaping expectations, perceptions, and ultimately decisions.
Good Practices of Neurocopywriting
Some information obtained through neuromarketing analyses or derived from the understanding of cognitive processes, given their tendency to recur in various marketing contexts, can be generalized and translated into guidelines to keep in mind when developing textual content of different
- Writing persuasive content means knowing how to engage, evoke emotions, and create empathetic connections: to achieve this, one must always start with a deep understanding of the audience.
- Communication that highlights positive aspects can reassure, instill trust, and positively guide people; however, a narrative that leverages loss aversion can also be persuasive.
- The order of information presentation influences the perception and recall of communication: due to the primacy and recency effects, the first and last pieces of information communicated are also the ones that are best remembered.
- Given the limits of short-term memory and working memory, individuals can memorize and reflect on a limited number of items, varying between individuals in a range of 7 ± 2. Therefore, providing essential information, along with expressing oneself clearly in writing, facilitates reading and limits the cognitive load on the user.
- Using a sensory language stimulates the reader from multiple perspectives, engaging them in a multisensory journey that enriches the storytelling experience with meanings.
- Words can have a strong evocative power that corresponds to the activation of specific areas of the brain and respective sensations; in fact, the use of emotional adjectives is beneficial when skillfully calibrated. There are words that neuroscientific tools have identified and classified as more engaging, emotionally neutral, and more repellent.
From Theory to Practice: The Case of Neuro Tests with UnipolSai
The applications of neuromarketing techniques are potentially infinite and can assess the effectiveness of any marketing stimulus and commercial communication.
The cross-disciplinary nature of the field is well illustrated through a practical example: in the commercial for UnipolSai Assicurazioni aired on the main Italian television networks, in partnership with the IULM Brain Lab, we conducted an analysis through neuro tests to optimize the storytelling and narrative of the campaign.
The research included a neurophysiological analysis, which allowed us to identify the main emotional reactions and visual attention in each second, as well as a rational analysis with a questionnaire that provided insights regarding the recall of the commercial and the communication of the offer.
The analysis revealed critical issues and opportunities related to the scenes in the commercial, the informational banners, the claim, and the involved testimonial. These results provided various strategic-operational guidelines to optimize the storytelling of the content and enhance the overall effectiveness of the commercial towards the television audience.
You can find more information about the case study at this link..
The Future of Copywriting
If using neuroscientific knowledge to create textual content already seems futuristic, it is even more so to consider that artificial intelligence is capable of writing them without the assistance of a copywriter.
These are software programs that automatically generate content using different algorithms based on the intended purpose and type of format.
The advantages of AI are numerous, including its speed and its ability to facilitate the creation of effective content. At the same time, the validity of these tools does not automatically translate into a complete replacement of the essential role of the copywriter.
Emotionality, creativity, and the humanity of each individual are difficult to replicate; and while it is true that today more than ever, a text must be authentic and have personality to create a connection with the reader, human work is still invaluable.
It is also possible to distinguish between different types of content and assign to artificial intelligence those that are purely informative or descriptive, for example, which do not require a high degree of creativity and personality.
What is certain is that all the new solutions we have discussed share a common goal: to come together to strengthen each other and thus make content writing increasingly effective.
