This 2013 Discovery Explains Why Your Ads Won't Convert

Summary

Podcast Summary: Brain Driven Brands

Episode: This 2013 Discovery Explains Why Your Ads Won't Convert

Host: Sarah Levinger
Date: December 16, 2025

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Overview

In this episode, Sarah Levinger uncovers a 2013 neurolinguistics study and explains why English-language advertising constantly struggles to convert compared to its competitors. She dissects how the structure and tense of language—specifically, how we talk about the future—deeply affect customer psychology and buying behavior. Along the way, Sarah offers actionable tactics for e-commerce brands and copywriters to boost conversions by tweaking their language, plus an honest critique on the use of AI copywriting tools.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Hidden Psychology of Language Tense in Advertising

(Starts at 01:01)

• Sarah introduces a 2013 study by economist M. Keith Chen: "The Effect of Language on Economic Behavior."
• Key finding: Languages that do not clearly mark the future tense (like German, Mandarin, Finnish) cause speakers to behave as if the future is happening now. This leads to better financial decisions, healthier habits, and more forward-thinking compared to English speakers.
• Statistic: "Germans are 31% more likely to save money. They retire with 39% more wealth. They smoke less, exercise more, and are generally healthier than comparable countries like the US." (B, 01:20)

The Power of Present Tense

• In German, you say "It rains tomorrow," using the present tense, vs. in English, "It will rain tomorrow."
• These subtle grammatical differences foster a mindset where the future feels immediate and concrete.

2. Why English Ads Fail to Convert—and How to Fix Them

(Starts at 03:19)

• Sarah explains: English marketing copy often pushes action into the future ("Feel better today," "See results tomorrow"), psychologically distancing the customer from the action you want them to take.
• Quote: “Every time you say, feel better today, see results tomorrow, get improvements today, you're technically pushing the action you want them to take into the future.” (B, 04:05)
• Actionable tip: Bring the consequence/reward into the present. Don’t say, "Your future self will thank you," but rather, "Your future self thanks you."

Example Rewrite

• Old way: “You could wear this on your next date night.”
• New way: (More persuasive) “Friday night, you’re going out, date night, dancing. You've got your cowboy hat, shirt, jeans, boots, and you have nothing on your wrist.” (A, 04:25-04:49)
  • This pulls the reader into the present experience rather than a hypothetical future.

Copywriting Principle

• Use presumptive close techniques: write as if readers have already made the decision.
• Quote: "You need to bring the future closer so the brain understands what's at stake if it doesn’t take action right this second." (B, 05:12)

3. Fine-Tuning Language for Conversion

(Starts at 06:16)

• Precision in copy matters. Even shifting verb tense (“feel better today” → “feel better now” or “you feel better today”) makes a measurable difference.
• Quote: “Just a little bit of framing change can drastically change how people respond to you…” (B, 06:38)

The Importance of Manual Editing

• Over-reliance on AI writing tools (like ChatGPT) can lead to missed nuance and awkward phrasing.
• Quote: “I know it seems this very helpful and like, it might be important to move fast, but I would rather you get it right than just move fast.” (B, 06:30)
• Sarah suggests using AI only for structural ideas and always making careful manual edits, especially with verb tense and time framing.

4. The Pitfalls of Automated Copywriting (ChatGPT & AI)

(Starts at 08:54)

• AI tools often misinterpret or ignore tense, pushing actions into future tense and producing “bizarre, off the wall” results.
• Quote: “For this reason, half the time [chat] says stuff that’s just bonkers, bizarre, off the wall, or it will say things in a way that’s kind of offensive to people.” (B, 09:19)
• Manual review and rewriting is essential. Getting the last 5% right is where “all of the money is made.” (A, 09:36)

5. Experimenting with Conversational AI

(Starts at 10:15)

• Discussion turns to how AI lacks real conversational experience, which makes purely AI-generated copy less effective.

• Quote: “Chat never had a real conversation with a person. Not really.” (A, 10:15)

• Sarah proposes experimenting with conversational voice features in AI to try to generate better, more natural copy, leaving a teaser for the next episode.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On the core insight:
  • “These like teeny tiny structural differences in grammar change whether you spend or save… and can even affect national GDP savings rates.” (B, 02:54)
• On making copy persuasive:
  • "To fix it, you need to bring the future closer so the brain understands what's at stake if it doesn't take action right this second." (B, 05:12)
• On copywriting evolution:
  • "I thought copy was like the least important part of the funnel... it wasn't until you wrote some ads for me that ripped... that I was like, that's interesting." (A, 06:49)
• On the limitations of AI:
  • "I've used it enough now where I'm just like, give me the bones. And then let me take it and rewrite everything you just said using the bones." (B, 09:14)
  • "All of the money is made in the last 5%" (A, 09:36)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:01 – Introduction to the 2013 study on language and economic behavior
• 02:13 – How languages handle future tense differently
• 03:19 – Impact of tense on marketing and conversion
• 05:12 – Copywriting tactics: Bringing the future into the present
• 06:16 – The importance of rewriting and testing copy
• 08:54 – The current problems with AI-written copy
• 10:15 – Philosophical tangent: Why AI can’t emulate real conversation
• 11:09 – Teaser for a conversational AI experiment (next episode)

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Conclusion

Sarah Levinger’s deep dive into neuromarketing and linguistics reveals how a minor grammatical choice can make or break a sale. The secret isn’t more tech or louder claims—it’s using present tense, immersive language that collapses the psychological distance between the customer and action. Every copywriter and marketer should re-examine both their verbs and their tools, relying on careful, human choices over automation to reach that critical last 5% of persuasive power.

Takeaway:
“Your future self thanks you.” Start using it now, not later.

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Transcript

[A]

Welcome back to Brain Driven Brands. I'm going to start this episode off with a quiz because I'm real tired of looking. You get it on all the quizzes that you give me. So we're going to go quick, rapid fire here.

[B]

Oh, God.

[A]

Okay, I'm going to ask you how many of each thing is on my desk right now?

[B]

Why is this the quiz that we always do? I always worry you're going to give me, like, CMO level quiz and I'm going to fail.

[A]

Okay, ready? How many whiskey bottles or glasses are on my desk right now?

[B]

But that's two different data points. Like, that's going to be very difficult to pred. Six. I'm gonna go with five.

[A]

Oh, no, wrong. Two. Okay, watches. How many watches are on my desk?

[B]

Three.

[A]

Yep.

[B]

Nailed it, nailed it, nailed it.

[A]

Okay, yep, last one. How many guns are on my desk?

[B]

I hope none.

[A]

One. One for three. This quiz thing.

[B]

Guns sitting on my desk during work.

[A]

Because I was out running errands. And then I got back and, oh, my God.

[B]

I have something interesting for you. It is not a quiz. I want to see if you know this particular study. I don't know if you. You've done any sort of, like, studying on the effects of the language you speak on how you perceive the world, but that's what we're going to talk about on this particular episode.

[A]

English or Spanish? Like that kind of language?

[B]

Like that kind of language, yes. Okay. So this came off of a 2013 study from a guy. He's an economist, M. Keith Chen. This study is called the Effect of Language on Economic Behavior. And it is fascinating. So we'll start with some stats. Germans are 31% more likely to save money. They retire with 39% more wealth. They smoke less, exercise more, and are generally healthier than comparable countries like the US And I want to figure out why this is a thing.

[A]

Well, I know exactly zero words in German.

[B]

Okay. So according to the Economist, this has nothing to do with the fact they're more disciplined or because they earn more. It has nothing to do with the fact that, like, you know, they're not, like, more culturally advanced or anything. It's because their language makes them think about the future all the time.

[A]

Whoa.

[B]

This is a super interesting one. So according to the study, Chen found that languages that don't clearly mark the future, like German, Mandarin, Finnish, make people believe and behave as if the future is happening right at this second. Which is different than how English makes you think. So if you speak German and you wanted to kind of remark about the weather per se, you would say it rains tomorrow. Rains being present tense, super interesting, rains tomorrow. In English, we say it will rain tomorrow. So these kind of like tiny structural.

[A]

Differences, the word will and should and could, what's destroying America?

[B]

Yes, 110,000%. So that's what this guy is saying is that these like teeny tiny structural differences in grammar change whether you spend or save. They change whether you exercise, how much you exercise, how much you eat, how far ahead you plan in life, and can even affect national GDP savings rates.

[A]

That's insane.

[B]

I know. I don't like it.

[A]

That's really interesting.

[B]

So this is the reason why this happens. So because of the way the English language works, if you're marketing or talking to an English speaker, you could accidentally cause people to kind of like psychologically distance themselves from you just by how you say things. Let's pause for just a minute. This episode is brought to you by Motion, AKA the tool that finally showed me how Meta actually saw my ads with Andromeda, grouping creatives more aggressively than ever. Diversity isn't optional anymore. Motion's AI tagging breaks down every ad in your ad account and tells you which ones are distinct, which ones are being grouped, and where your next creative opportunities actually are. So go try the analyze this report AI task inside your Motion account today and see it for yourself. You can start your free 14 day trial at motion app. Com, that's motionpp.com and now back to the show. So every time you say, feel better today, see results tomorrow, get improvements today, you're technically pushing the action you want them to take into the future. Because you're saying you're going to get this, you're going to improve. You will see results later in life, not right now.

[A]

That's super interesting.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So I'm like, oh, gosh, I wish you told me this when I was at og because the ad example, all in the present tense, is like, Friday night, you're going out, date night, dancing. You've got your cowboy hat, shirt, jeans, boots, and you have nothing on your wrist.

[B]

Yep. Imagining the future.

[A]

Yeah. Suck. That's way more persuasive than being like, oh, you could wear this on your next date night. I.

[B]

That they're both technically doing the same thing.

[A]

Right?

[B]

Technically, you're telling. In both instances, we are telling people think about the future. You. What you actually want to do is do what the Germans do and phrase it in a way that makes them think about right now, even though what they're getting is in the future. This is like. It hurts my brain to even think about this. Okay, so to fix this, I'll give you a solution for this and then we'll walk through some examples. To fix it, you need to bring the future closer so the brain understands what's at stakeholders stake if it doesn't take action right this second. So instead of saying things like, your future self will thank you, say, your future self thanks you. Future self thanks you now for doing this. Not your future self will thank you later. Your future self thanks you.

[A]

Yeah. It makes it sound like it's already happened. Or happened.

[B]

It's already happening. Yeah. Your future self has already decided to do. This is technically what this ad is saying. Now. You need to rewrite your language so that you're not assuming that they. They haven't got it yet. You need. We've talked about this with buttons before where you need to just assume that they've already made the decision to do it.

[A]

Yeah, it's like almost like a presumptive close of, like, you already decided to. To do it. And because you are doing it, your future self thanks you.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

By the way, this might be the copy for Adapt's new Year campaign. I'm writing it today.

[B]

Your future self. Thank you. I love this. This is super interesting too, because I'm deep into language. Language is so critically important, especially when it comes to copywriting. And I had to tell a client this week, please stop writing with chat for a minute. Like, I know it seems this very helpful and like, it might be important to move fast, but I would rather you get it right than just move fast.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And this is the reason why, because if you miss out on things like this, where just a little bit of framing change can drastically change how people respond to you, you're just doing yourself a disservice.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And you're wasting money.

[A]

And like, let me call this out because it's been a while since I have. And we have a lot of new listeners here. So welcome everyone. Three years ago, four year years ago, I thought copy was like the least important part of the funnel. I didn't. Yeah, I slept on copy, like early on in my career a ton. And it wasn't until you wrote some ads for me that ripped. Even though I thought they looked worse and weren't good, they ripped. And I was like, that's interesting. And then we tested and tested and tested and like, we, we got down to testing, like, individual words.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

That can make a big, big difference in conversions. So for all you listeners out there that are like, that won't work. It works, and I'm gonna prove it to you with your future self. Thanks you over the next 60 days.

[B]

So I can't wait for that.

[A]

That's really good.

[B]

So I had somebody come back and say, okay, so instead of just saying, feel better today. A better option would be feel better now or just feel better. So be very careful when you do this. So one of the ways that it.

[A]

To you for review. Don't worry.

[B]

Okay. One of. One of the ways you can use chat with this is to make sure. Go ask chat to make sure all of your copy is in present tense, not future tense. So feel is the issue because it's a future tense. Feel better today is still pushing it out. Because you will feel better today is technically what you're saying. To alter it, you need to say something like, today, you feel better today. Bring the tense into the conversation earlier is what I will say. Because they're weird in the English language.

[A]

I've heard that the opposite way. The. There's like a story. It's like a fable or something of, like, a guy with a hole in his roof. And he never fixes it because when it's sunny, he doesn't need to fix it. And when it's raining, he can't work in the rain, so it never gets fixed. And, like, I think that's just the opposite of this German thing of, like, the future is always front of mind for them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Whereas if you don't, then people aren't gonna do what's wrong and do well.

[B]

And I find it's really interesting because we've given all of our copywriting over to chat these days. And chat. Unfortunately, you gotta treat him like he's three. I'm slowly starting to change my tune on chat. So I apologize for anybody who's listening to old episodes where I was like, oh, chat. But I'm just like, for the record, it's getting worse.

[A]

It's definitively getting, like, it's getting worse.

[B]

I. I've used it enough now where I'm just like, give me the bones. And then let me take it and rewrite everything you just said using the bones. Because for this reason, half the time it says stuff that's just bonkers, bizarre, off the wall, or it will say things in a way that's like. That's kind of offensive to people. I know you don't know chat, but you shouldn't say that to people. Yeah, I can't do it anymore. I can't do it.

[A]

Yeah. You know, I'm not a big robot fan, and, like, the way that I'm thinking about it these days, like, I think I can get you 95% of the way there, but, yeah, all of the money is made in the last 5%, so. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And I think, like, is everything this kind of, like, tense? To change from future to present is one of those things that, like, I don't think we can prompt chat. We can tell it to do it in the present tense, but, like, I guarantee it spits out some weird stuff.

[B]

I think it's gonna struggle. Yeah. Because it doesn't understand time. It understands, like, verbs, adjectives, sentence structure, but it doesn't understand time.

[A]

Do you know what the problem with chat is? This episode just turned into an anti chat. Chat never had a real conversation with a person.

[B]

Ooh.

[A]

Not really.

[B]

Dang, man, that's true.

[A]

You know what I mean?

[B]

Very true.

[A]

Yeah. And you can be like, yeah, yeah, I talk to Chad all the time. You don't talk to Chat like, you talk to any human in your life.

[B]

Nope.

[A]

And if you do, you should reconsider how you talk to those humans.

[B]

This is the reason why we call it prompting and not talking. Yeah, we don't ever say talk to chat. We say, go prompt chat. Oh, dang. I want. Okay, so, yeah, now we're gonna have to do a whole episode on, like, what's the difference between talking to chat and prompting chat? And will you get a different response if you just talk to it? Which you can. I mean, now chat has, like, a voice kind of capability where you could just sit there and have a conversation with it. I want to see you draft some copy this week by Talking to chat and see if it comes up with something different.

[A]

Conversational chatting.

[B]

Conversational chat. And then come back next week and tell us.

[A]

I love the next episode.

[B]

What if it comes out really good? Like, what if it's, like, really well done and it's.

[A]

We're about to find out.

[B]

Yeah, true. All right.

[A]

And if you guys want to find out, then make sure you tune in to the next episode of Brain. Given brand subscribe, leave a review on Spotify or Apple. We'd appreciate that. And you can follow us if you want to. I don't really care. But go to tetherinsights IO if you want customer research, and we will see you next time.

[B]

Thank you so much for joining us on the show today. Appreciate you guys listening. If you want to follow me, I'm Sarah Levenger. Anywhere you consume content. He is aytelegos. If you like this show and if you like this episode, go ahead and like subscribe. Share with a friend. Drop us a review when you have a minute. We would appreciate it. Otherwise, have a great week. See you next time.