The Buying Brain: Secrets for Selling to the Subconscious Mind by A. K. Pradeep Page A

Be broad and positive in your presentation of information, and remember that resilient brains do not respond—or perhaps even notice—scare tactics like “last chance to buy” sales techniques.
    Broader Attention Spans
    While an older brain may fall short in certain memory skills, including “ TOT ”
    or “tip-of-the-tongue” access to names and words, it excels in other areas of memory.
    Studies suggest that older adults may have broader attention spans than their younger peers, so they can ultimately absorb more about a situation, message, or conversation. This may be another way of saying they have more patience. Their broader attention spans allow them to attend to more subtle and nuanced messages, and to give them the time and consideration they deserve. Once again, this brings us back to the idea of “wisdom,” meaning that older adults get more context out of their interactions, and then they combine that context with a greater store of personal experience to increase their ability to decode the situation and assess its relevance.
    The flip side of this benefit is that these older adults may not remember the specifics—the TOT or tip-of-the-tongue—aspects of that communication. So they know what the overall message means, they know the context it fits within, yet they might not remember whether the story was about Mary or Terry. Fumbling with these details often wrongfully suggests to older brains that they’re failing, when in fact they’re operating in a broader attention span and in a context of a whole lifetime of experience. In reality, it’s not such a bad thing to find one’s keys in the freezer occasionally—if the trade-off means comprehending more of the big picture of one’s interactions.
    The broader attention span of older adults should be a key consideration in constructing messaging or campaigns to reach them. Unlike their younger peers, older adults do not require quick flash snippets of material. They are in fact more comfortable with knowing more than the headline, and will recall and put into context messaging that honors their cognitive abilities and their hard-won experience.
    TOTs
    As mentioned, one of the most frustrating brain changes for older adults is the difficulty in retrieving TOTs or tip-of-the-tongue facts. You’ve seen and

    P1: OTA/XYZ
    P2: ABC
    c06
    JWBT296-Pradeep
    June 5, 2010
    14:9
    Printer Name: Courier Westford, Westford, MA
    62
    The Buying Brain
    probably have experienced the phenomenon. You remember the great movie you just watched, but can’t recall the (household) name of its star. Frustrated, you stammer and search, “Tom, Mike, Brad?” before you sheepishly move on.
    Four thoughts on that very common occurrence: 1. You’re not alone
    2. It’s completely normal
    3. You get a broader attention span and a more positive attitude in trade 4. There’s a fix
    To help your customers remember the name of your product or brand, try tying it in with a mnemonic trigger. When you see the star of the movie, Brad, think of cherry. Now you’ll find it easier to retrieve the last name—Pitt.
    Taglines should work in the same fashion. What’s the real thing? Whose good hands are you in? Are you lovin’ it?
    Familiarity Breeds . . . Belief
    Another memory deficit that comes with aging is the tendency to consider familiar information to be true information. The way the brain interprets familiar information is, “I’ve heard that before; so it’s likely to be true.” This can be an obvious pitfall, of course, when the aging brain repeatedly translates what is untrue into true. That’s one way a rumor can become a fact. Interestingly, warning older people about false claims can backfire: They hear the false version often enough and file it under true . David Richardson cautions against this tactic, in which addressing a false claim can inadvertently become
    “a recommendation.” A much better strategy is to present the material you want remembered simply.