Ready to be manipulated by your hearing sense?

If the words, sounds and colors of ads on the media are not enough to make you want to buy "the car" or "the shoes", not to worry the next frontier when it comes to marketing is called neural advertising.

In an low economy, marketing is still generating $34 billion a year according Jeffrey Kluger on a recent Times article. If you are skipping the ads on your TV using DVR, wait what neuromarketing research is exploring. Martin Lindstrom in his book Buyology explains how people have gone under research to monitor brain activity, pupil dilation, an all physical responses to different stimuli.
These researchers have found that sound is as engaging as sight. Just try to remember your favorite jingle or how your stomach react to the sound of percolating coffee. Guess what is the most appealing sound of all for most people? it is not a kiss, or the ocean waves, it is a baby giggle!
How will marketers apply this results is very simple, you already have meaning to different sounds, so it is just a matter of play them in a specific place over an over to have a reaction on you. Don't be surprise to walk down the aisle in a supermarket and hear the sizzling sound of food, or a birdsong when you are looking for a vacation package, and even lapping water in the sportswear fragrance.
How we, regular mortals can avoid being manipulated? First thing is to recognize that our mind is very susceptible to manipulation, be aware of what you watch, for how long and the effects on you. For instance , what is it in an action/violent movie that attract people so much? If there are not explosions, gore or guns people get bored with the content easily.
It is also important to disengage from all the overload we receive. One of the yogic techniques and in many other spiritual paths is Mouna or silence. For one day a month, don't turn on the TV, radio, computer (hard), and don't talk (for many even harder). Just do your regular routine without talking. This will open not only a space for reflection but also an opportunity to watch your mind closely.
And if doing it by yourself is hard, look for a silent meditation retreat or day, it is quite of an experience!
We nee to practice disengage frequently otherwise let me tell you a secret revealed by Mr. Lindstrom's testing, "people respond to a sound better when it's subtler." If you don't do anything you won't even notice when they are moving you to act!

The positive side of the coin is that we can also use this information for positive means. As a yoga teacher I like to play very soft sounds and relaxing music to have a pleasant response on my students, uplifting phrases can also induce a behavior to mention along with a soft tone of voice. Self-hypnosis is another way to retrain the subconscious mind to respond different.

At the end of the day, even it is not getting easier it is up to us to respond or not to the environment.