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DEFINITION

neuromarketing
By Ben Lutkevich, Site Editor

u
What is neuromarketing?
c Neuromarketing is the study of how people's brains respond to advertising and other brand-
o related messages by scientifically monitoring brainwave activity, eye tracking and skin
response.
i
n These neuromarketing techniques are used to study the brain to predict consumer decision-
making behavior. It's also possible to use neuromarketing to try to manipulate consumer
behavior.

Marketers use neural and other physiological signals to gain insight into customers'
motivations, preferences and decision-making processes. They also use this research to
predict how a particular product, service or marketing campaign will perform.

What is neuromarketing used for?

Neuromarketing is used in a variety of ways. In 2007, a team of scientists from Carnegie
Mellon University, Stanford University and the MIT Sloan School of Management used
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to study what peoples' brains do when they
are making buying decisions. By using brain imaging to watch which neural circuits lit up or
went dark during the buying process, researchers found they could predict whether a person
would buy a product.

The results of neuromarketing research can be surprising. In his 2008 book, Buyology: Truth
and Lies About Why We Buy, Martin Lindstrom documented a three-year study, starting in
2004, that included the following findings:

Warning labels on cigarette packages stimulate neural activity in an area of the brain
associated with craving -- despite the fact that subjects said that they thought the
warnings were effective.
 Images of dominant brands, such as the iPod, stimulated the same part of the brain that
religious symbols activate.

An image of a Mini Cooper activated the part of the brain that responds to faces.

Some ways neuromarketing is used include the following:

product design testing;

user experience testing;

A/B testing to compare the effects of similar ads;

optimizing a call to action, such as "Visit our website";

assessing the neural impact of images in an advertisement; and

rebranding campaigns.

Neuromarketing research is expensive for companies to conduct themselves because neuro

technologies are expensive and specialized. They often hire neuromarketing consulting firms
to conduct this specialized research.

Benefits of neuromarketing
There are many benefits of neuromarketing, including the following:

Granular insight. Neuromarketing provides a more granular look at human behavior than
traditional market research, which evaluates consumer behavior at a higher level using
techniques such as surveys and focus groups. Neuromarketing strategies take a precise
look at consumer behavior, preferences and tendencies. They use data that is otherwise
unquantifiable data to determine how a customer is feeling or how they might react.
Neuromarketing can also provide moment-by-moment insights into customer behavior.

Honest feedback. Because customers cannot lie in a neuromarketing context, these

methods generate more reliable data. Just asking a person how they feel about
something can change their feelings. Neuromarketing bypasses this problem, generating
objective results that a traditional customer satisfaction survey cannot provide.

Subconscious revelations. The approach can reveal insights into the subconscious
mind, and short responses that people generally do not remember.

Cost effective. Neuromarketing can lower the price and increase the value of marketing
research.

Holistic strategies. Neuromarketing is paired with traditional methods for a more holistic
approach to marketing research.
Criticisms of neuromarketing
Critics of neuromarketing warn of a variety of dangers, including these three:

neuromarketing pros and cons

Manipulative. Anti-marketing
activists, such as Gary Ruskin,
w executive director of U.S. Right to
Know, warn that neuromarketing
could play on consumers' fears to
manipulate them or encourage
specific neural responses to
stimuli. Marketers insist that such
precise manipulation is not
possible or desirable. According to
BrightHouse, an Atlanta consulting
firm, neuromarketers aim to

k Check out the advantages and drawbacks of

neuromarketing.
understand how and why
customers develop relationships
with products, brands and
companies.

Pseudoscience. Neuromarketing is often conflated with pseudoscience and hype, and is

not backed by credible neuroscientific claims. Critics like University of Pennsylvania
professor Joseph Turow have dismissed it as a gimmicky way for marketers to gain
insight into consumer opinion.

No new information. Critics charge that neuromarketing uses science to explain in a

more complex way what could be deduced using intuition. They say it simply validates
things marketers already know about consumers.

Neuromarketing tools and measurement

Neuromarketing typically measures brain activity and other physiological signals. Two tools
used for brain scans are the following:

An fMRI tracks blood flow with continuous measurements. It is precise and a good tool
for tracking activity deep in the subcortical regions of the brain.

An electroencephalogram (EEG) uses sensors placed on subject's scalp to track

changes in brain activity. It is useful for tracking brain activity quickly, in fractions of a
second. And while an EEG is less precise than an fMRI, it is generally less expensive.
FMRIs cost millions of dollars, while EEGs cost tens of thousands.
There are also tools for measuring physiological proxies for brain activity. Some examples of
these tools include the following:

Eye tracking records where a person fixes their gaze for a certain amount of time,
indicating heightened interest on the fixation point.

Arousal is measured by specific physiological proxies and biometric data, including heart
rate, respiration rate, skin conductivity and pupil dilation.

Facial coding involves reading the subtle muscle movements of a person's facial
expressions to gauge their emotional response to something and perform sentiment
analysis.

Checklist of neuromarketing tools

k Neuromarketers use a variety of tools. Here are seven worth knowing about.

Examples of neuromarketing
In one 2003 neuromarketing study, Read Montague, a neuroscientist at Baylor College of
Medicine, used fMRI machines to study what he called the Pepsi Paradox. In the study,
subjects were evenly divided when they did a blind taste test of Pepsi and Coca-Cola.
However, when the subjects knew what they were drinking, three-quarters preferred Coke.
Montague saw activity in the prefrontal cortex, indicating higher thought processes. He
concluded the subjects were associating the drink with positive images and branding
messages from Coke commercials.

Other examples of neuromarketing include these three:

Hormone manipulation. In these studies, researchers examine how altering brain

hormones -- such as testosterone, cortisol and oxytocin -- influences consumer behavior.
One study measured the effects of increased testosterone on male consumers' interest in
 luxury goods. It found that the hormone compels men to engage in status-seeking and
status-protecting behavior, like buying more luxury goods.

Sleep nudging. In this type of study, subjects are stimulated during various phases of
sleep. For example, scientists have introduced the smell of rotten eggs and cigarette
smoke to subjects while they are sleeping with the goal of decreasing their smoking
habits.

Temporary neural inhibition. In this method, scientists use transcranial magnetic

stimulation to excite or depress regions of the human brain. For example, scientists have
temporarily inhibited the section of the brain that handles fear and disgust reactions to
enable subjects to be less reactive to insects and make the prospect of eating food
containing insects more appealing.

Future of neuromarketing
Although neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience have become mainstream
methodologies, they are still considered nascent fields. Part of the reason for this is that the
technology is expensive and still in development. As neuromarketing technology progresses
and becomes more accessible, more companies will adopt neuromarketing methods.

list of customer experience components

It's anticipated that virtual reality
(VR) will be a prominent part of
w neuromarketing in the future. A VR
headset could be combined with
an EEG device to collect
neurological data. This would be a
much cheaper option than buying a
standard EEG machine, and it
would make it easier for
consumers to participate in
neuromarketing research methods.

k Neuromarketing techniques can be used to positively

influence customer experience by influencing their
VR devices could also contain eye
trackers that follow what a
emotions, opinions and perceptions.
customer focuses on. Eye tracking
and facial recognition may also become prevalent in the retail and restaurant space to
improve customer experience.

Some also speculate that in the future there will be VR contact lenses available capable of
measuring dilation of a consumer's pupil size when viewing an advertisement.
The emergence of neuromarketing will involve businesses collecting and using many types of
customer data. Learn four best practices for collecting customer data.

This was last updated in April 2022

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