This is the time of year for “top” lists, and I thought I’d list the most popular Neuromarketing posts for 2010. This list isn’t my opinion of which are best, but rather is based purely on popularity. These posts all generated some combination of social media traffic from Twitter, Facebook, and Stumbleupon as well as blogs and other content sites. In essence, these are “Readers’ Choice” selections, and the selections are suitably diverse: everything from Steve Jobs brainwashing to a giant 3D brassiere. So, in case you missed any of 2010’s biggest Neuromarketing hits, here they are:



In addition to being a design genius, Steve Jobs has cleverly built the loyalty of Apple fans by using marketing that pits Apple against its competition. Read Revealed: How Steve Jobs Turns Customers into Fanatics.



Magicians are experts in holding your attention, and can teach marketers a thing or two. Read Six Selling Secrets From Magicians.



The theory that the brain rewires itself constantly and that associations can become firmly implanted dates back to Sigmund Freud and psychologist Donald Hebb, but neither of them was thinking about the branding opportunity allowed by that phenomenon. Read Neurons That Fire Together Wire Together.



From decoy menu items to priceless prices, here are ways to optimize a restaurant menu. Read Neuro-Menus and Restaurant Psychology.



It seems way too simple, but one small sentence in an advertisement caused customers to rate the firm higher in every category tested. Read Ten Words That Build Trust.



We all hate websites that are confusing and difficult to use, and brain scans show that our stress levels increase significantly on those sites when compared to easy-to-use sites. More stress, less time on site, fewer return visits. Read Websites That Suck Increase Stress.



Stories have been used to market products and services for millennia, and fMRI scans show how and why stories activate our brains differently than other messages. Read Your Brain on Stories.



Need to get a customer to do something? Simple fonts imply half the effort of the same instructions printed in a more complex font. Read Convince with Simple Fonts.



Presenting prices with simple numerals and no currency symbols boosted restaurant sales, and a similar strategy could work for any business. Read Pricing Lessons from Restaurants.



Blame our early ancestors for the power of anecdotes, which will almost always be more potent than mere facts. Read Why Stories Sell.



Neurofocus CEO AK Pradeep comments on the neuromarketing reasoning behind the lack of love for Gap’s new logo. Read New Gap Logo a Neuro Failure.



Don’t haul away the printing presses just yet – it turns out that information on paper can deliver a bigger emotional impact than the same information on a screen. Read Paper Beats Digital For Emotion.



Yet another way men start making less then optimal decisions when influenced by the opposite sex, in this case merely after viewing a photo of an attractive woman. Read Attractive Women Make Men Impatient.



This guest post by Denise Lee Yohn explores how customer needs and emotions create a hiearchy of customer service expectations. Read Maslow, Emotion, and a Hierarchy of Service.



While the “smoking billboard” may have been more novel, the feature of this just-for-fun post was a Wonderbra billboard whose model “grew a couple of cup sizes” when viewed with 3D glasses. Read Giant 3D Boobs Distract Drivers.

Hope you enjoy any Neuromarketing posts you missed. And if your favorite post of 2010 didn’t make the cut, feel free to post a link in the comments!