Engaging brains

A browse through WHSmiths ended up with me buying The Ecologist magazine for a recent train journey, and I was struck by the article 'Oops, wrong brain' by John Naish. It's not freely available online, but there is a slightly shorter article here and it's based on his book. I'll try to explain.

Essentially, neuroscience has found that the brain is really quite like an archaeological dig, unearthing three layers which evolved over time. Each level is responsible for different urges and, ultimately, behaviours. At the core is the reptilian brain which is all about basic life functions, then there's the 'old mammal' brain which learns, recalls and emotes and finally the civilised 'new-mammal' brain responsible for conceptualising. It's the penthouse of thought...



While we may believe (or try to persuade ourselves) that our highest brains are in charge, whether we know it (or like it) our lower brains often call the shots. In the 19th century the philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer rather poetically saw our conscious, thinking self as an impotent passenger on the shoulders of our blundering, decision-making, willing self - we can guess at our motivations but that's about where it ends. Ever wondered why that unexpected restaurant order came out of your mouth?

The 'problem' with the lower brain's control in certain instances is that it's wired to look after very animal needs in times of conflict for resources, mates and food - the reptilian brain is driven by arousal, basic life functions and sex. This part of the brain releases the feel-good chemical dopamine as its urges are about to be fulfilled and is programmed to want more. It doesn't quite realise that times of cave-dwelling scarcity are behind us. In short, it can encourage excessive consumption and undermine happiness by never being content and creates conflict by being suspicious of others who compete for resources.

All is not lost, however. We needn't be slaves to these low-brained drives. In fact, it's a case of training ourselves to interrupt these urges and, quite simply, engaging our civilised brains. Naish suggests one key way of doing this: being grateful for what we have. A study at the University of California encouraged hundreds of people to keep a diary of things that they are grateful for and found that they entered a cycle of kindness: being on alert for others' good acts made them willing to reciprocate generosities. Moreover, the ability to delay self-gratification correlates with higher intelligence, the ability to manage complex problems and better self-control.

There's more in the article, but it ends trying to consider the implications for environmental behaviours, particularly in light of the recession. Obviously, feelings of scarcity are heightened and people will naturally lean more towards their lower needing brains, probably at the expense of environmental concern. My quick reading of the recent nVision Central Scenario (a summary of trends in EU consumer attitudes and behaviours) has it as painting this picture, feeling that the recession will lead to consumers becoming more individualistic at the expense of external generosity. For them, some of the most 'boosted' trends will be 'volatility and disloyalty', 'the culture of fear' and 'culture of compensation.'

However, if nothing else the recession will be a shake-up. A director at Mindshare likes to refer to recessions as 'Darwinian gales of change', sweeping through a landscape, shaking it up and picking the weak from the strong. This is true of markets, where company standings change rapidly, but it is also true of consumer behaviours, attitudes and even behaviours.

With this in mind, can the recession prove a positive boost for attitudes and values that live in the higher cortex: those such as gratitude, restraint, community and family spirit and sustainability? I don't see why not. A return to these types of values was already growing before the recession with growing feeling of responsibility for the environment and disillusionment with the growth of ostentatious and individualistic culture. Can't the recession make people re-evaluate and come to realise what's really important? The start of the following video by an advertising planner at Leo Burnett's also testifies to this.

What about brands and their roles in this? How about the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty, the newest Co-op ad or the gratitude-filled Muller ad?

A piece of data I saw recently claimed that 'visionary' companies outperform 'standard' companies 6:1 in terms of stock market returns. So which companies and brands are going to be visionary and to take this opportunity to rise above the melais?