Digital Anthropology
Written by Alfonso Elizondo
Neuromarketing manages the value of a product or service by creating emotional communication and consumption experiences that are rewarding for the buyer, because human beings are emotional creatures dominated by their feelings and emotions rather than by reason. So by managing these emotions we can get an individual to associate the consumption of a certain product with pleasure and satisfaction.
Six universal emotions have been identified as being common to all human beings, regardless of gender, ethnicity, geographic location, culture, religion or language. These are: disgust, fear, surprise, joy, anger and sadness.
It was the wise psychologist Paul Ekman who noted that those six basic emotions were the result of an evolutionary process in response to the ecological challenges faced by our ancestors, and they are deeply embedded in our neural circuits.
Each emotion activates a specific neuronal circuit that, automatically and quickly, unleashes conduits whose aim is survival.
Disgust: triggers rejection of what we have in front of us.
Fear: arises when we are inclined toward protection.
Surprise: helps guide us when facing a new situation.
Joy: impels us to replicate any event that makes us feel good.
Annoyance or anger: leads us towards destruction.
Sadness: motivates us to make a personal internal change.
Although universal emotions are common to all human beings, they also depend on cultural myths. A child’s fear about having failed a school exam, it is largely due to the value the culture places on academic success.
It is also not a common emotion to feel joy at the misfortune of someone we despise, or to feel romantic love by reading books. This is how brands, through neuromarketing, can appeal to universal emotions, making them more efficient through the use of cultural elements.
Addendum: The essence of Digital Anthropology is precisely to look for the possibility of unleashing the surprise or joy of the people around you to sell them your products or services.