Neuromarketing And The Consumer Brain

Every year, large amounts of money are earmarked for advertising campaigns. Therefore, it is necessary to innovate in methods to understand how people react to ads. Thus, neuromarketing was born, offering cutting-edge methods to probe minds without the need for conscious or cognitive participation.

So while neuropsychology studies the relationship between the human brain and psychological functions, neuromarketing promotes the value of looking at consumer behavior from a brain perspective.

Perhaps it’s worth asking yourself: how did neuromarketing come about? The first research on this was carried out by the neuroscience professor Read Montague.

Pepsi or Coke?

Neuroscientist and professor Dr. Montague conducted a study with a group of people. In it, he asked them to drink Pepsi or Coca-Cola while scanning their brains on an MRI machine.

The study ended up revealing that different parts of the brain lit up regardless of whether people knew which brand they were consuming. The study therefore suggested that a brand like Coca-Cola has the power to “dispose” a piece of our frontal cortex.

The frontal lobe is considered responsible for our executive function, which manages our attention, controls short-term memory and is responsible for planning.

In conclusion, according to this study, when people know they are drinking Coca-Cola, they say they prefer that brand to Pepsi and their executive functions are activated. However, when they do not know which brand they are consuming, they prefer the Pepsi brand.

What happens is not the activation of executive functions. Instead, an older structure nested in the limbic system is activated. This area of ​​the brain is responsible for our emotional and instinctual behavior.

Thus, this study was the pioneer in highlighting the importance of the power of neuromarketing and the brain in decision making.

Neuromarketing: understanding the consumer’s mind

For decades, the goal of market research has been to predict and explain the effectiveness of advertising campaigns. However, for the most part, conventional techniques have failed.

Thus, neuroimaging techniques have offered interesting methodological alternatives. They allow marketers to understand the brains of consumers and gain valuable insight into the subconscious processes that explain why a message succeeds or fails.

Neuromarketing eliminates the biggest problem with conventional advertising research: trusting people to have the willingness and ability to report on how they are affected by a specific ad.

Neuromarketing and its techniques

There are many ways to measure physiological responses to advertising. However, there are only three well-established non-invasive methods. These are:

• Electroencephalography (EEG)
• Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
• Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)

electroencephalography

In the presence of a specific stimulus, such as an advertisement, our neurons fire and produce a small electrical current that can be amplified. These electrical currents have several frequency patterns called brain waves, which are associated with different states of activation.

When using the EEG for a market research experiment, electrodes are placed on the scalp of the investigated person. Thus, brain waves can be recorded in very short time intervals.

Magnetoencephalography

Neural activity creates a magnetic field that can be amplified and mapped by MEG. Magnetoencephalography has excellent temporal resolution and, more importantly, better spatial resolution than EEG.

However, although it continues to evolve as a technique, magnetoencephalography alone is not ideal for marketing studies. Market researchers use this technique in conjunction with fMRI to optimize temporal and spatial resolution.

Functional Magnetic Resonance (fMRI)

Unlike the previous ones, this technique is based on using a magnetic resonance (MRI) scanner to visualize the change in blood flow in the brain.

When neurons fire, they need to use energy that is carried in the bloodstream and quickly metabolizes itself.

Thus, this technique has the advantage of allowing the visualization of deep brain structures, especially those involved in emotional responses, of particular interest to market researchers. It is for this and other factors that this technique is considered the best when it comes to studying neuromarketing.

So, although neuromarketing is relatively new, it seems to be here to stay. Thus, it is worth asking: is it ethical to study the brain for this purpose?

Fortunately, for now, many of the ads coming from neuromarketing aim to change people’s self-destructive behavior and not make them consume unnecessary products.