Expo! Expo! IAEE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition 2024 takes a deep dive into the inner workings of exhibitions and events with six unique learning tracks from thought leaders such as Janet Sperstad, CMP-Fellow, Faculty Emerita at Madison College. She will present the session, How to Attract Attention: Neuromarketing and Exhibitions.
In this session, Janet explores the intersection of neuromarketing and exhibitions. Whether one is an exhibition/event organizer, supplier, or exhibitor, all are vying for the attention of the customer from the point of registration to the exhibition floor. She will teach participants how to break through the cognitive “noise” and attract attention.
You will examine key drivers of our decision making. What is one surprising factor that influences how people make decisions, and how might organizers and/or exhibitors leverage this insight?
The brain can make decisions faster than you and I can blink. It classifies everything into two categories, what will hurt me and what will help me. Everything we do in life is based on the brain’s determination to minimize danger and maximize reward. The first thing the brain looks for are threat and danger – before it seeks out reward and happiness.
Loss aversion creates a stronger response in the brain than the motivation to gain rewards. Our events and exhibitions should leverage what will be lost and gained at key decision points – such as registering for the event, negotiations with vendors, venue and exhibitor space and sponsorship contracts. When you design to help the brain, you accelerate attendee decision-making and get the results you want
Your session promises to reveal four ways to quickly grab someone’s attention. Could you give us a sneak peek into one or two of these methods and explain how they tap into our neurological responses?
Paying attention is a choice the brain makes – and the brain doesn’t pay attention to boring things. I know “boring” sounds like a judgement. Yet “boring” is also a fact when we are talking about the brain. Here’s why: because when our brain is presented with a stimulus that does not require our neurons to fire, that stimulus just floats on by creating no reaction. So, what causes neurons to fire and grab someone’s attention? Threat and reward, and also context. Context is content for the brain.
How a message is framed is as important as the message itself. Stories create particularly powerful context. Stories are a rich way for our brain to take in and process information. The brain’s visual cortex is highly activated when we listen to a story, turning the spoken word into graphics or a movie. Our brain listens to that story first person, puts ourselves into that story, and activates our emotions. Activating our emotions helps our brain pay attention and anchors those stories in our long-term memory
You will also identify three unconscious influencers and persuaders. Could you share one of these hidden factors and explain how it might be subtly shaping attendee behavior on the exhibition floor without them even realizing it?
The power of kindness. Kindness is a neurochemical. Neurochemicals like endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin all ignite the reward region of the brain while decreasing cortisol, our stress neurochemical. Exhibitions by their very nature are big. Big lights, big stages, big walls, big audiences, big show floors all of which activate the threat region of the brain. The very small act of helping someone find their way, letting someone go ahead of you, giving up your seat, holding a door for someone, greeting someone with your smile and your eyes all require empathy and ability to understand others.
Those simple, small actions activate the mirror neurons in our brain, and they mimic not only the action, but the intent of the kindness. Kindness inspires trust, community, creativity and collaboration. So, if you are looking to influence and persuade someone, try a small act of kindness, it can go a long way.
What fuels your passion for this subject, and why is this information so relevant in today’s business environment?
Our industry is great at helping industry professionals know the “what” of exhibition management such as managing logistics, analyzing data, selling and contracting booth space, floor plan development, financial management, attendee acquisition, and so on. My passion, and my career have been all about defining our professional field as a design discipline, rooted in executive leadership and social and cognitive sciences.
Helping our industry professionals discover the “why” people are deciding and behaving the way they are so they can create powerful, meaningful, and successful experiences for all is at my very core. People are at the very core of what we do, lifting the lid on the “why” can help drive the results stakeholders and attendees are looking to achieve.
