The art of decision making: in defence of prejudices

Humankind has been giving the right answer to the questions and challenges posed by its environment. It made the right decisions and did the right things – as fast as it could. Our senses and instincts developed accordingly and today the human brain is able to process more data in a second than the fastest computer. Some of these processes are instinctive, while others are conscious. When consumers enter a supermarket the packaging of products stimulate their senses, just like flowers or fruits in nature did millions of years ago. When we make decisions while shopping we are guided by these ancient mechanisms, shapes, colours, patterns and images have the same effect on us as thousands of years ago. We know that a brand is recognised based on the factors mentioned above, e.g. think of Milka’s famous purple colour or Unicum’s unique bottle shape. This is the reason why most brands use these elements as the main feature of their campaigns, making them part of the story, e.g. see the legendary campaign s of Absolut Vodka. I think we can say: if you have a good product and you can make it stand out from the crowd with special external characteristics, you are halfway to success. It is an important ambition of humankind to humanise its environment, giving names to animals, plants and stones and attributing personalities to them, too. This is how ancient myths and religions were born – all of this was done to feel more at home in the world surrounding us. Brand owners and managers also realised this need and developed several methods to bring their brands closer to people by dressing them in a set of values. Personalities behind a brand are also of key importance: Apple could have never become what it is now without Steve Jobs. When designing the packaging of a product, we deal with the surface of that product but we actually create its soul. We could say we are ‘designing’ sales because even the smallest details influence sales. If the foundation of a brand is firm, it can provide a flexible framework for the other tools in the communication mix and all of this makes returns in shopper decisions and with purchasing.