Acting Like Animals: What Marketers Can Learn From Ethology
Ethology is the study of human behaviour from a biological perspective. Put simply it is comparing how our behaviour relates to that of animals. It is a scientific field you are unlikely to have heard of, but I believe it to be so important for self-comprehension.
Charles Darwin was one of the first writers to connect the similarities between animal and human behaviour in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. Despite this exulted endorsement way back in 1872, ethology has not really kicked on. In fact it is not a particularly popular science. Anthropologists see it as overly simplistic, psychologists as incomplete, ecologists as insulting (to animals) and theologians as blasphemous. As humans we like to see ourselves as different to animals. We have a soul, we have a higher consciousness, we are civilised. None of these arguments can escape the fact that we are however still animals. We have evolved from exactly the same origin. Our bodies are built from the same template and whether we realise it or not we behave in a very similar way.
One of the reasons ethology is not more commonplace in classrooms is that it’s very difficult to prove. Human behaviour is complex and our animal instincts are only part of the story. Studies often take decades not years and require a detailed observation of animal behaviour - not always that easy. However in recent years our understanding of the reptilian brain and the ‘chimp complex’ have brought some of old ethological thinking to the fore. By really observing human behaviour it is impossible to avoid the commonalities with animals. Understanding this can help all of us control emotion and behaviour, but it is particularly useful for marketers.
I’ll start with three easily recognisable human instincts and how they’ve been used in marketing:
(1) Sex drive. Our natural sexual drive has been used to sell almost anything from cars to coffee. The term ‘sex sells’ still gets used.
(2) Peacocking. A male’s desire to attract and chase a mate is commonplace throughout the animal kingdom as well as night clubs up and down the country. It’s a form of behaviour that’s been exploited by hundreds of brands, most famously perhaps by Axe.
(3) Maternal instinct. A mother’s protective instincts, which are so prevalent across many species have been played on by brands such as Cow & Gate, Johnson and Johnson and many more.
These behaviours are so engrained in us that spotting the connection with animals isn’t always that easy. So here are a few more examples that are a little bit more interesting.
(4) The quest for excitement. As animals we were programmed to deal with a brutally violent world. The instincts that protected us in this world still exist in us today. Don’t believe me? Ever wondered why part of you is drawn to the gruesome moment in the horror film? Or why you rewind the motor racing to see that crash once again? It’s the same reason why thousands of Romans cheered on the deaths of gladiators in the Colosseum two thousand years before. The more civilised our society gets the more we will find ways to vent our thirst for violence and adrenalin. This is what Eric Dunning et al call the ‘quest for excitement’.
In the 1980s the UK had a huge problem with football hooliganism. People attributed this to alcohol, disillusionment, mindlessness and political unrest. But researchers close to the problem discovered that contrary to these beliefs many of these clashes were highly organised, committed sober and entirely for excitement. Peter Marsh in his book Aggro: An Illusion of Violence uses ethological theory to explain this behaviour – showing that these groups of men were carrying out highly ritualised, territorial actions. They were pre-programmed to crave the violence that football provided. They were no different to tribal warriors before them or a troop of apes before that.
What does this mean for us? Well we just need to understand that there is a part of every human that thirsts for excitement on some level. The brands that can provide that will find it much easier to cut-through and grab attention.
(5) Protecting territory. One trait that humans share with animals most keenly is our territorial instinct. For as long as communities have existed we have built literal and metaphorical walls to protect us. Isn’t it interesting that the world’s most powerful man got elected (at least partly) due to a policy to build a wall? It’s what we look for in our leaders, the ability to protect us from foreign invaders. And rightly so because the desire to invade and conquer new territory is almost as strong as the instinct to protect what is ours. Anyone who thinks that the acts of historical conquerors is any different to chimpanzees should read Jane Goodall’s study of the animals in Gombe. The troops she studied invaded rival areas for territory, resources and females. How many human conquests have been launched on exactly the same premise? This similarity is highlighted in Peter Ardey’s book The Territorial Imperative.
One interesting sub plot of this territorial drive is highlighted in Noah Yuval Harari in his brilliant book Sapiens. He talks about our fear of pollution. A protective animalistic instinct designed to protect us from disease and infection of other human tribes. Listen to the rhetoric of far right politicians throughout history and you will be amazed how many times language uses words like dirty, disease, pollution and rape. These words play on our survival instincts. Engrained deep within us. Designed for a different world; but still capable of influencing our rational thoughts.
(6) Flight complex. One of the most interesting pre-programmed instincts we have is the freeze, fight or flight effect. When faced with danger we usually react in one of these three ways: we freeze, we flee or we fight. These instincts belong to our reptilian or ‘cave man’ brain. They were designed to evade sabre-tooth tigers, but they still emerge in our everyday life. Have you ever frozen in a presentation when nervous? Felt the urge to quit a team or project when something goes wrong? Or got irrationally angry when someone encroaches your area of responsibility? These are all pre-programmed instincts. A great example of how this can affect marketing is in the case of cancer screening. Campaigns that use fear tactics to shock people into getting check-ups have proved to be very ineffective. The reason being is that people avoid or ‘flee’ this type of messaging. Recently cancer campaigners like Feeling Nuts and Coppafeel have used fun and friendly messaging to take away the fear of what you might find out. These have proved to be much more successful.
(7) Energy conservation. Humans are lazy. Anyone who’s tried to go running on a Sunday morning will know just how tough motivation can be. But what you probably don’t know is that you’re pre-programmed to feel like that. The human brain devours calories so elsewhere our bodies do everything possible to reduce energy. Nearly all animals do this. Everything is a balance between calories gained and consumed. As we haven’t yet realised that food is available with little to no effort at all, our bodies still crave efficiency.
A recent study put leg braces on subjects that made it difficult for them to walk. Within minutes the human brain had automatically found a more efficient technique of moving without any conscious decision from them at all. This is one of the most important instincts marketers can should be aware of. We are lazy in all our decisions. It is automatic. High-involvement processes are a real barrier to us. Like water we will nearly always take the path of least resistance. It’s one of the main reasons that frictionless experiences like Uber and Deliveroo have become so popular so fast.
(8) Herd behaviour. We are tribal animals. We are strongly influenced on an instinctive level by the behaviour of those around us. Mark Earls in his book Herd brilliantly talks about why this is so important for marketers. He claims the only way to change mass behaviour is by tapping into the instinctive impulses we all feel as animals. The below picture of a Pokemon stampede makes me laugh because it beautifully highlights how far we’ve come and how little we’ve changed from our ancestral selves.
Observing animal behaviour and studying ethology is vitally important in understanding how humans behave. This is particularly true for marketers. Whilst psychologists are interested in the individual psyche, and anthropologists diverse social and political influences, marketers are interested in how people behave. There is no better way to explain some of the more inexplicable behaviour in our society than by taking a look at our furry friends.
