11: Moods And Arousal
The homeostatic system does not encourage inaction, but the maintenance of a desired state. This state requires us to be fed, hydrated, rested, happy, and other qualities that do not arise on their own, but require us to take actions to achieve and maintain the desired state: to avoid being hungry, we must eat, and eat frequently to maintain the desired state.
As such, the homeostatic system is the most frequent motivator for human action, including economic activity. The desire to maintain a given state compels us to consume products, compels us to work to earn money to purchase products to consume.
In common parlance, we refer to the current state of the body as a "mood." When we are in the desired homeostatic state, we are happy; when we are not in the desired state, we are sad, irritated, or otherwise in "a bad mood."
Much of our "mood" is regulated by the chemicals active the brain, a wash of chemical signals that represent data from the body's various systems and those that arise as a result. This is where pharmacology has found a foothold, in using "mood control drugs" to alter the chemical state of the brain, causing us to feel good (or at least not bad) when the chemical signals indicate we are not in the desired homeostatic state.
(EN: Said another way, drugs are used as substitutes for taking action. A "diet" pill alters the chemical state of the brain to overcome the desire to eat, so that we do not take action. An "anti-depression" pill seeks to alter the chemical state of the brain so that we do not have to take the actions that would be necessary to restore balance.)
The term "arousal" is used for the mechanism by which the brain interprets its present condition and gives the person incentive to take action to adjust those conditions. A contented person experiences no arousal, has no desire to take action - though theoretically, any organism has some level of arousal if it is alive and awake.
Nearly all moods are associated with arousal, concerned with meeting an immediate or eventual need that will restore or preserve the homeostatic state. Certain external stimuli can also activate or intensify arousal - the smell of food makes us feel more hungry, or arguably to become aware of the hunger we were already feeling but were not focused upon.
Arousal is prerequisite to motivation - and if we are interested in motivation, we should consider the factors that cause a person to become aroused and the difference between the aroused and non-aroused states.
A side-note is that the arousal mechanism is a key difference between extraversion and introversion - though cause and effect can be argued either way, it's clear that extraverts take their cues for arousal from stimuli in the environment and are more easily manipulated than are introverts, whose cues are internal.
Why The Brain Needs To Control Its Levels Of Arousal
The author cites Greenfield's theory of arousal: that the default state of the waking brain is "medium" arousal, the state of the sleeping brain is "low" arousal, and moments of emotional intensity are high arousal.
A state of high arousal is not, as might be expected, particularly significant in the formation of long-term memory or the creation of gestalt. When highly arouse, there is too much activity in the brain to distinguish between the various sources of anxiety - it is being bombarded on multiple fronts and seeks to take quick action to restore homeostasis.
This theory addresses the reason we exercise poor judgment in a heightened emotional state, and have only vague and disjointed memories afterward. An analogy is a puddle in a rainstorm - if there is only one drop, it forms strong and distinct ripples, but when there are many, each interferes with the others and the surface is turbulent.
For lasting gestalts to form, a brain must be in a state of moderate arousal, able to focus on specific stimuli. We can pay attention, and be deeply conscious of the environment, and form strong memories.
Periods of low arousal, namely sleep, has garnered some interest, but the theories are largely speculative and border on mystical. Examining the electrochemical activity of the sleeping mind suggests a state more like drunkenness, where thoughts are shallow and unfocused. This explains the fractured nature of our recollection of thoughts in dream state.
Moods and Control
A "mood" describes a kind of arousal that varies over time. Moods can have a sudden and strong beginning, or a slow and gradually building one. They may be fleeting or persistent, and the end as suddenly or gradually as they began.
Moods are mutable, and changes in mood are considered normal - a person who maintains a specific mood over a long period of time is considered to have a mental disorder.
For marketing, the important point about moods is they are the state of mind of the prospect - any external stimulus will be interpreted in the context of the subject's mood. External stimuli also impact and change an individual's mood - or more precisely, our emotional reaction to external stimuli alter the state of the mind, influencing the subject's mood.
Much of human activity, and animal activity for that matter, pertains to adjusting levels of arousal to maintain homeostasis. In effect, we seek to achieve a state of "calm" by our basic functions: eating, drinking, sleeping, etc. Each of these actions addresses a need to maintain certain levels of stimulation.
Humans and higher orders of animals also seek stimulation: we are aroused, we wish to calm down, but there is a state of being too calm in which we behave in ways that engage and arouse us. Listening to music, reading, traveling, exploring, and other activities are done to literally stimulate the mind. We seek stimulus on a regular basis - we consume tobacco, alcohol, and drugs; we exercise, play, and have sex - all as part of a daily regiment to keep ourselves at the desired level of mental stimulation.
The author provides rather a long list of human activities and asks the reader to consider what a person's goal might be, in terms of mood and arousal, in doing such things. Some excerpts: drinking whisky, going to church, driving a motorcycle, visiting a friend, planning a vacation, attending a sporting event, eating at a restaurant, jogging, listening to music, having a family meal, going to church, skydiving, etc.
(EN: A very interesting point and perhaps the first time someone has suggested a logical reason that people seek to do things that are not strictly related to survival. The reason we choose to drink coffee or beer rather than water is not to do with our need to address the biological need for liquid, but a mental or emotional need to seek stimulation or comfort. It's more than just preference, more than just the notion that people "like" something.)
Bio-Measures, Mood And Arousal
The metrics used by neuroscientists to measure mood and arousal are largely EEG readings - based on the general notion that electronic activity in the brain reflects arousal: the more activity, the more aroused or engaged an individual is.
Typically, EEG technicians begin by recording activity in the brain before the subject is exposed to a stimulus, then measure the difference during the period of stimulation, as well as afterward. It is assumed that the stimulus in question "caused" any changes that the technician observes.
Admittedly, the assumption is flawed because it fails to account for other factors: the mood and level of arousal each subject brings with him is beyond the control of the laboratory. The reasons the subject's mood may change over the course of an experiment may have nothing to do with the stimulus in question. For example, a subject may become hungry or thirsty during the course of an experiment. While waiting for the experiment to begin, other things in the environment may trigger memories.
Because we are able only to measure aggregate brain activity, and not sort out these other influences from the stimulus in question, the measurements are not very precise - but it is the best science is currently able to do. Better control of the lab environment, repetition of experience, and a large number of test subjects can mitigate accidental readings, but do not eliminate them. This doesn't invalidate the experiments, but does admit a flaw in their design and a present limitation as to their accuracy.
At the same time, the metrics of neuromarketing are a step forward form past practice, which was to ask test subjects introspective questions to gauge their reaction. A taste test might ask not only whether the subject "likes" a flavor, but what emotions they are feeling before and after, what memories the taste has evoked, etc. But the reactions are highly subjective and difficult to gauge. Where two subjects remark that they feel relaxed, they may have different notions of the emotional state of relaxation, and there is no way to gauge or measure the intensity of emotion.
As such, the use of EEG data enables us to detect that test subjects have an increased level of activity in a certain sector or the brain, and even to quantify it. But the interpretation of what this means is still subjective: for a researcher to interpret that a 10% increase in activity in the anterior cingulate means that the subject is "happy" is still a subjective interpretation.
Ultimately, we must accept that the metrics we have, while better than those used in the past, are still far from perfect.
Marketing and Mood
In a marketing sense, brands can be considered in regard to their desired effect on mood and arousal. Consider what brands you consume in order to be comfortable and calm, versus the brands you consume in order to be energized and invigorated. In this sense, we act upon brand to achieve a sort of "chemical control" over mood and arousal.
And this is where emotion is interesting to a marketer: to determine what emotions, what moods, our brand is intended to effect - or those that the customer seeks to effect by consuming our brand. Food items most obviously address the need to soothe hunger, a sports car to address the need for stimulation (whether through the experience of driving it, or the social esteem we expect to gain from owning it).
And again, our response to stimulus is highly idiosyncratic. Consider that different "brands" of music produce different effects in different people. Some people are soothed by easy-listening music whereas others are annoyed or offended by it, based on their life experience. Some people are stimulated by reading novels, others find the activity boring.
Marketing that taps into the association of brand to mood can be very effective. To convince prospects, or reinforce the notion among customers, that a brand evokes or maintains a given mood can be very compelling in appealing to customers.
It's also important to cater to mood, which is a matter of timing and placement. Whether an advertisement airs in the morning or the evening, weekday or weekend, is a matter of catching subjects in the right mood. Whether an advertisement is shown while watching a sitcom, sporting event, documentary, or dramatic movie also capitalizes on the mood of the audience. An advertisement may be highly successful if aired during the right time, when subjects are in the right mood.
Recall as well that there is a time difference between the purchase of a good and its consumption, which complicates matters. The mood that leads us to consider a brand, the mood that motivates us to purchase it, the mood that motivates us to consume it, and the mood we are in after consumption are all different and distinct. This is not a problem that science are marketing can solve, but a fat that it must accept, accommodate, and address.