Why “Know, Like & Trust” Isn’t Enough
A lot of marketers talk about the importance of the “Know, Like, and Trust” factor, but they very rarely take the time to actually implement marketing mechanisms that address all three parts.
According to the Edelman Trust Institute, 88% of buyers say trust is a deciding factor in purchase decisions. Yet, far too many companies today are prioritizing manipulative marketing tactics like peer pressure, fake scarcity (FOMO), urgency countdowns, bait-and-switch offers, exaggerated guarantees, and pressure-driven funnels.
Which leaves me wondering... Why do companies still treat their audience members like pawns when research shows it’s damaging, particularly in B2B deals?
Respecting a buyer’s intelligence and emotional needs is not just ethical — it’s strategic. Instead of manipulation through unethical, high-pressure means, give people what they want: clarity, support, hope, trustworthiness, and a path to actualizing what they desire.
Here’s how neuroscience helps us break the “Know, Like, and Trust” factor down into practical action items.
“Know” = Dopamine
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a critical role in the brain to drive functions associated with reward, pleasure, motivation, goal-directed behavior, attention, focus, and mood regulation. The brain releases dopamine when a person is experiencing novelty, discovery, progress toward goals, and instant gratification.
This is the neurotransmitter most critical in forming a positive, lasting bond with your brand the moment someone first discovers you. When you have the opportunity for that first impression, you want it to be a positive one that cements you in buyers’ brains as a brand that makes them feel good — even if they can’t articulate why they feel good.
Research from UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business “found that information acts on the brain’s dopamine-producing reward system in the same way as money or food.” When your marketing strategy prioritizes providing novel or valuable information for your ideal buyers, especially in the early stages of change, you can stimulate dopamine release, enhancing users’ interest in and engagement with your brand.
So, how do you trigger dopamine in marketing? There are dozens of ways, but the primary focus should be on making it easy for people to find the exact information they’re looking for, offering quick wins (such as through templates, calculators, quizzes, or guides), and providing knowledge that closes gaps and moves them closer to their goals.
For example, you could build a diagnostic quiz that gives them insight in 3 minutes, followed by a simple action plan that links to content further explaining your concepts. Your quiz landing page should be SEOptimized for keywords where the intent of the search is focused on goal-oriented behavior, such as “how to improve your data dashboards.”
The person has a goal for improvement, they’re actively seeking information, and your quiz provides them with instant gratification (results in 3 minutes) as well as an action plan that helps them feel like they’ve overcome the unknown and now have a plan (progress toward goals). Both the instant gratification and the feeling of overcoming the unknown activate the release of dopamine!
“Like” = Oxytocin
Oxytocin is the neurotransmitter of trust, love, and connection. While it’s most famously associated with relationships and bonding through skin-to-skin contact (such as when a mother holds her baby to her chest after birth), we have countless opportunities for experiencing the bliss of oxytocin throughout our lives.
With the rise in device usage around the world, the human brain is facing an unprecedented deficiency in oxytocin experiences, which gives your brand the opportunity to stand out and form deep, loyal connections with buyers.
Oxytocin is released during emotional storytelling that causes people to feel seen, heard, and validated, as well as when people experience community belonging, empathy, and the surprise-and-delight effect.
Research published in Scientific Reports found that oxytocin facilitates the formation of relationships not only between individuals but also between consumers and brands, highlighting its role in building brand loyalty. Another study, published in PLoS One, shows that oxytocin administration increased participants’ perceptions of brand competence and their willingness to pay more for branded products.
Oxytocin enhances trust and positive evaluations of brands, including allowing you to form deeper bonds and relationships with potential buyers as they interact with your marketing.
To produce oxytocin experiences through marketing:
Tell real, vulnerable stories that evoke shared emotion
Focus on positioning your ideal buyer as the hero
Make people laugh or feel uplifted
Connect your target audience members to others through communities or events that offer peer validation
Use words that your target audience uses and images that represent experiences they are experiencing
For example, you could create a video case study that not only shows the results you were able to achieve for one of your customers but also reveals the human journey behind the struggles your team overcame to support the bigger vision for your customer. Your case study should showcase a person who looks approachable and relatable, words that tie directly to internal experiences before and after, and a happy, accomplished customer on the other side of it all.
“Trust” = Endorphins
Endorphins are the feel-good hormones that alleviate stress and boost mood. While most people are familiar with endorphins as the friendly little neurotransmitters that make you feel really good after a long run or a challenging workout, you can also trigger endorphins through marketing experiences.
Endorphins are released when someone feels relief, pleasure, and a sense of progress. They are a sign that “all is well,” “we did good,” and “this worked!” They are the neurochemical equivalent of a successful trust fall.
A study published in Advances in Sciences and Humanities examining fast fashion’s appeal found that rapid production cycles and instant gratification mechanisms in marketing stimulate dopamine and endorphin responses, driving consumer desire and satisfaction. Marketing strategies can trigger endorphins by leaning into the human desire for instant gratification and a positive consumer experience.
In marketing, we can produce endorphins for our ideal buyers by:
Alleviating common pain points (such as tech overwhelm, confusion, and frustration over not getting the answer or result someone has been working so long to find).
Adding delight through humor, visuals, interactivity, or unexpected and altruistic gifts, such as during live virtual events.
Creating content experiences that focus on making someone feel good, rather than just delivering the functional or informational outcome they expect.
Think of your pathway to endorphins as going above and beyond what people expect and what your competition is willing to do.
For example, an endorphin-producing marketing asset could be as simple as a funny explainer video that makes a boring topic feel joyful and easy while incorporating proof-providing statistics and showing the human side of your brand. Or it could be as complex as hosting a 2-day live virtual event where you surprise your attendees by offering a randomly selected guest a free year’s subscription to your tool or something else they love and enjoy.
When applying this neuroscience-based framework to the popular “Know, Like, Trust” factor of marketing, your content doesn’t just “check the box”; it builds emotional chemistry — and that’s what makes people want to stay in your orbit.
Aligning your marketing methods with your message and your buyer’s emotional journey creates assurance: the internal emotional state where your buyer thinks, “I trust you. I feel safe moving forward.”
It’s what closes deals, and it’s created through consistent, empathetic delivery methods that reinforce trust, not urgency or hype.
Nowadays, businesses have the burden of accomplishing 20+ touchpoints with a B2B buyer to gain that person’s trust and move them along to the Decision stage. If you want those touchpoints to be as effective as humanly possible, you need to activate these powerful neurotransmitters, which help you leave a lasting positive impression on your prospect.
Check out our ELITE Method Toolkit for a systematic approach to building out a neurotransmitter-friendly marketing strategy.