The limbic system, the cognitive mind and the user illusion that misleads

The one single biggest irrationality in business decision-making comes back to the one underlying paradigm that is as common as it is incorrect – that the cognitive mind or the conscious mind determines what consumers do.

“The consciousness of a consumer is like a government spokesperson who has to announce decisions they a) did not participate in and b) whose true decision-making reasons are not accessible to them.”

So what this freely adapted quote from the American neuro-philosopher Daniel Dennett tells us, in brief, is that it is a fairly pointless to ask consumers what they want and why. Further, it is irrational to base strategies on ‘insights’ gained from the conscious mind.

To quantify this statement, up to 95% of human behavior happens subconsciously, so we as humans can’t really explain why we do the things we do, even if we believe so. Brain research calls this illusion “user illusion.”

Consequently the key in the future will be to start talking to the government directly, not the government spokesperson. So let’s explore this a little further – who is the government?

The limbic system

The government is not the cognitive mind. The cognitive mind, or neocortex, is the newest part of the human brain and corresponds with analytical thought and language.

But the true government is actually the limbic system in the brain. The limbic system is a collective term for brain structures that are involved in processing emotions. It is also responsible for all human behaviour, all decision-making, and has no capacity for language.

On top of that the limbic system processes information 200 times faster than the cognitive brain!

In other words when we communicate all the features, facts and figures of a brand or product, it just doesn’t impact on behaviour, because the cognitive system doesn’t control behaviour. It just rationalises the decisions we have taken long before we became aware of them, in hindsight.

What this means in summary is that decisions are taken quickly, subconsciously and the integration and rise of neuromarketing into common practices is evidence that businesses increasingly adapt a new view to overcome the user illusion.

Overcoming the user illusion

Research conducted by examining patients with brain injuries revealed that emotions were not disruptions in the decision-making processes. Quite the contrary: Without emotions, decision-making was impaired. Patients whose limbic systems were malfunctioning due to injury consistently took the wrong decisions and lost money in card games.

As the German neuromarketing expert Dr Hans-Georg Haeusel describes in his award winning book Emotional Boosting: “Today we know that ultimately our entire brain is more or less emotional. The frontal areas of the brain more so, the posterior cerebrum and the cerebellum to a lesser extent”.

So in order to understand and impact on consumer decision-making, marketers need to understand the limbic system of the brain, otherwise the illusion of robust evidence is highly likely to mislead.

Katharina Kuehn is director of RDG Insights, which provides retailers and brands with the missing link between understanding the real drivers of consumer behaviours and informing the strategic branding and operational implications at the point of sale.