I can't remember who I was ranting on to about this, I was drunk. But I've been reminded of my tipsy theorising by this excellent video I stumbled across on the Geary Behavioural Economics blog.
We all sort of know about the placebo effect. Take a pill under the mental impression that it will be of benefit, some of you will feel better. Get told that it is a stronger placebo, some feel even better. But then there are a thousand other factors that influence the relative effect of the placebo: the country you are in, past experiences, the method of delivery, the frequency of exposure, the contextual alternative options. In fact, here is a brilliant infographic style video for you to watch.
But as you watch it, substitute in your mind "brand" for "placebo".
Hopefully that goes some way to explaining just how brands work in people's strange little heads.
If you like that, you'll probably love this.
Ben Goldacre at Nerdstock talking about the No-cebo effect.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1Q3jZw4FGs
Posted by: Philadams1.wordpress.com | February 16, 2011 at 03:59 PM