The Science of Motion

It’s no mystery…like moths to a flame, people are drawn to videos.

We find them more appealing than flat, black and white text on a page or static images. Videos bring information to life, and that’s why they’re earning the lead role in many content marketing strategies.

Experts estimate that by 2018, video will account for 79 percent of all online traffic (Replay Science). With about 4 billion YouTube views taking place every single day, it’s safe to assume their predictions are right on track. But why? We can accept that video is more engaging than audio or text alone. But what is it about motion picture that makes it such a powerful vehicle for information? Turns out — the answer is more scientific than we realize.

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1. We Automatically Pay Attention to Faces

Thanks to the fusiform face area, or FFA (a part of the human visual system inside the brain that specializes in facial recognition) our brain is hard wired to see human faces as a source for credible information. When videos incorporate a person talking on screen, we are biologically fixated and furthermore — we believe the information as real and true more than if we were to read or hear it. In other words, seeing really is believing

2. Visual Information Is Stored In Long-Term Memory

When concepts are linked with strong visual representation, the brain stores the information in long-term memory as opposed to short-term. This explains why we are able to recall 6x more information from video than text (Replay Science).

3. Visual Information Get’s Processed Faster

We are biologically equipped to receive and process visual information. For example:

• 40 percent of all nerve fibers are linked to the retina
• Our eyes are capable of registering 36,000 visual messages per hour
• 90 percent of information transmitted to the brain is visual
• Our brains process imagery 60,000x faster than text

 In other words, making sense of visual information is easier for us than deciphering information from text. It’s the way our bodies were created to take in and respond to the environment around us.

4. The Human Voice Enriches Information

We respond to human voice before we’re even born (as early as 6 weeks inside the womb). It’s a biological response…when we hear another human talking — we inherently tune in. But it’s not just about familiar language — it’s about tone. We can say the same sentence in monotone, or using excitement, or with sarcastic inflections — and the meaning of the sentence can be completely altered. i.e. there’s a richness added to information when conveyed using tone of voice.

5. Audio/Visual Evokes Emotion

Imagine you’re in a dark movie theatre watching the latest horror flick. You are fully aware that nothing can leap off the screen and hurt you, but that doesn’t prevent your palms from sweating, your heart from racing, or your entire body from squirming in its seat. And as the music escalates, so does your emotional reaction of fear.

 Video is the strongest purveyor of emotion because it stimulates more than one sense at a time, thereby triggering multiple complex processes in the brain. Researchers believe that the same part of the brain that processes our senses also has a hand in emotional memories (Live Science). Hence, the reason why certain smells or a particular song can make you feel nostalgic.

 The benefits of this are two-fold:

• Inciting emotions help people to connect with information on a deeper level.
• When we process emotion, we are engaging several parts of the brain, which means we are committing a greater percentage of information to memory and moreover, we are better able to recall this information.

6. Emotion is Contagious

Even more interesting is the theory that emotions are contagious. Cells in our brain called mirror neurons become activated when we watch others performing actions. When this occurs, they mirror the behavior as though we ourselves are performing the same actions. This may explain why we respond emotionally to emotions portrayed on video. The next time you’re at a movie theater, and something really happy is taking place on-screen, look around you. Odds are, you’ll see a lot of residual smiles in the audience.

7. Motion Detection is a Primal Instinct

Peripheral movement is in our anthropological DNA for survival, and has been since the beginning of time. Whether it’s to detect danger, hunt for food, or understand our surroundings, we are inherently cognizant of movement. This explains why video out-performs static imagery. Lack of motion gives us less to engage with, and eventually text or static images fail to hold our attention.

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Still not convinced video is the most effective way to get your message across? Check out these mind-blowing video statistics.