What is Neuromarketing & How it works

Studies of the human brain’s response to specific products, their appearance and advertising content help marketers create the most effective advertising and predict what decisions the consumer will make. In this material, we deal with the concept of “neuromarketing”, which is a technology that combines the knowledge of cognitive psychology, neurophysiology and marketing.

What is neuromarketing

Neuromarketing is a direction that allows you to understand the motivation and preferences of buyers by measuring physiological and neural signals. Using specific procedures, neuromarketing helps you find out which product will sell best, which commercial will be more effective, or how best to place products on store shelves.

Neuromarketing research provides an opportunity to see the true reaction of the consumer. The fact is that participants in focus groups and polls can tell lies or embellish, sometimes without realizing it, because they want to seem better than they are, while subconscious reactions are always true.

Researchers record the reaction of the brain to a product or a marketing message and monitor the processes taking place in it without the participation of consciousness. This allows:

• identify customer needs on an instinctive level;
• increase the loyalty of potential customers;
• immerse the target audience in your offer;
• effectively promote the brand;
• increase sales of goods and services.

With the help of neuromarketing, product design is tested, A / B testing of advertisements is carried out, such studies also help to optimize calls for activity on the site and evaluate the impact of advertising images on neurons. Neuromarketing demonstrates the effectiveness of advertising in action and shows the direction for its adjustment.

How Neuromarketing Works

Marketing activities affect five main channels of human perception:

• the appearance of the product, its packaging, the colors used in the design – for sight;
• the sound environment in the store or the melody that sounds in the commercial – by ear;
• the smell in the store – for smell;
• what the product is like to the touch – to touch;
• also in the case of food, taste is taken into account.

The equipment used for research allows you to literally see the reaction to different stimuli: how attention was distributed, whether the person experienced any emotions from the interaction and how strong they were. Scientists monitor not only conscious reactions, but also those that the study participants themselves do not notice. This allows you to detect emotional responses to certain advertising materials, concentration of attention, style of behavior, receiving aesthetic pleasure by the test subjects, his stress reactions, associative array, etc.

All these processes are fleeting and deep in the brain, but they ultimately influence the impression and purchase decision.

Neuromarketing research is conducted with the participation of the target audience, after which the data is analyzed by marketers and neurologists, and as a result of this analysis, the true feelings of potential customers are revealed. Neurotechnologists are expensive specialists, so only large companies can afford neuromarketing research, ordering it from special laboratories or organizing it on their own.

As an example of the successful application of neuromarketing, we can cite a study by the world’s largest manufacturer of canned soups, the American company Campbell’s, due to which it was possible to significantly increase sales.

The study involved more than 1,500 people who were shown various packaging options for Campbell’s soup, while measuring biometric data such as skin moisture, heartbeat, breathing, etc. Based on the results, the company made changes to the design: for each type of soup, its color and picture on the label were determined, the plate was changed, the spoon was removed, and steam from the hot dish was added.

Another example is the experiment of the well-known online payment system PayPal, which, after conducting a study, completely changed its value proposition strategy. This brand turned to the neuromarketing company NeuroFocus in order to track users’ subconscious reactions to their product. Participants were hooked up to an electroencephalograph and asked to visit the company’s website.

Earlier in the ads, PayPal presented itself as a secure payment solution, believing that a “high security” strategy would appeal to online shoppers. However, it turned out that it was the one-click payment offer that really attracted visitors to the site, after which the company changed its brand message. As a result of the rebranding, the click-through rate increased by 400%.

Neuromarketing Methods

For neuromarketing research, the following methods and technologies are most often used:

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) – using magnetic fields, the device allows you to detect changes in blood flow in the brain caused by increased neuronal activity. The more excited certain areas of the brain, the more blood flows through them. Thus, the emotional reaction, the level of involvement, the response is measured. Scientists show the subject a product, advertisement or packaging, the rush of blood to certain areas of the brain increases, on the basis of which it is possible to draw conclusions about what colors, design or advertising message should be left and whether this advertising campaign will be successful.

Eye Tracker is a device for eye tracking, which allows using the camera to fix how visual attention is distributed, where the eye moves, where it is focused. This makes it possible to understand what attracts the attention of the consumer, what is the speed of his reaction and the level of involvement. For example, you can find out how much the subjects pay attention to advertising signs, product packaging, what exactly they focus on on the site, etc.

Electroencephalography (EEG) – using electrodes and sensors that are attached to the subject’s head, an electroencephalograph records the electrical signals of neurons and shows in real time which areas of the brain are activated when advertisements, logos or the goods themselves are shown. This method allows you to measure the level of involvement and response, it is used in the study of cognitive processes, such as attention, arousal, emotions, excitement, memory, reward, sensory perception.

Advantages and disadvantages of neuromarketing

Neuromarketing is used in conjunction with traditional marketing methods. Companies conducting such research receive a number of advantages over competitors. These studies allow you to study the behavior of customers in much more detail than traditional marketing research, which gives a deep understanding of buyers.

Neuromarketing allows you to collect reliable data, get honest feedback, since the subjects have no opportunity to lie. If you just ask a person what he thinks about something, he can easily deceive or misrepresent his emotions. Neuromarketing opens up the depths of a person’s subconscious and allows you to get answers that research participants are usually not aware of.

Critics of neuromarketing point out that research results cannot guarantee that an individual consumer will behave in a particular way after a particular stimulus. It can be argued that a business does not need to know how one client will behave, it is quite enough to understand how the majority of the target audience will act.

The downside can be considered the high cost of research, which is why they are available only to the largest companies. However, small businesses can use the least expensive tools of neuromarketing, and they can apply the basics of behavioral economics in their advertising by studying the results of cutting-edge research and building null hypotheses for experiments based on them. In addition, neuromarketing is criticized for being pseudo-scientific and manipulative.

Perspectives of Neuromarketing

Major brands such as Walt Disney, Pepsi, McDonald, Netflix, M&Ms, HP, Hyundai, Ebay, Frito-Lay, and Campbell’s have been using neuromarketing research to their advantage for many years. And some popular brands such as Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft and others have even formed their own neuromarketing departments. Despite this, neuromarketing still remains a little-studied area, although interest in it is gradually growing.

In the future, it is planned to combine virtual reality technology (VR headset) with an EEG device for collecting neurological data, which will reduce costs and facilitate consumer participation in neuromarketing research. VR systems can also be augmented with eye-tracking devices to determine where subjects are focusing their attention. And some experts predict the emergence of contact lenses for VR, with the help of which it will be possible to measure the size of a person’s pupil when watching ads.