Nokia tunes make people feel physically sick

Global marketing guru Martin Lindstrom says: "What we learned was amazing. The most important senses when building brands were the sense of sound followed by smell then followed by sight. It's ironic that 83 per cent of all brand communication only appeals to the sense of sight," said Mr Lindstrom, the author of the best-selling book Buyology -- Truth and Lies About Why We Buy.

"We learned that the Nokia tune turns people off. It is so disliked in our brains that we almost feel physically sick when hearing it. The reason for this is that it reminds people about work, missed deadlines and their boss calling them."

Danish-born Mr Lindstrom, who advises companies including McDonald's, Microsoft and Walt Disney, said his book was based on the world's largest neuro-marketing study that scanned the brains of 2000 consumers across five countries.

The researchers used functional magnetic resonance imaging to scan consumers' brains as they were exposed to Johnson & Johnson baby powder, the smell of Play-Doh, the smell of Coca-Cola, the sound of a Nokia phone ringing and the sound of a Microsoft tune.