Earlier the functions of marketing included advertising, selling and distribution but in today’s context, marketing has evolved into a more comprehensive science incorporating interdisciplinary fields such as neuroscience, psychology, and economics. A key challenge lies in measuring the effectiveness of advertisements, as consumers may not consciously understand or accurately report their preferences.
For instance, despite market research indicating potential success, Savlon failed against Dettol in India due to consumers’ subconscious biases. This underscores the limitations of relying solely on self-reported data and highlights the need for deeper insights into subconscious decision-making processes.
Behaviourist model has failed advertising fraternity since the mechanism of the brain is a mystery in so many of its functional aspects, which are yet to be decoded, it is impossible to fully understand it. This caused the rise of Neuromarketing.
Paul McLean’s triune brain model divides the brain into three interconnected systems: the reptilian brain (primitive instincts, survival responses), the limbic brain (emotions and social behavior), and the neocortex (rational thought and problem-solving). Effective advertising targets the emotional and primitive brains first to capture attention, which then engages the rational brain. This hierarchy explains why nonverbal, emotional stimuli often influence decisions more than logical appeals.
Neuromarketing is a branch of the general field of neuroeconomics, which is an interdisciplinary field that combines economics, neuroscience and psychology, to study the functioning of the brain in decision-making situations.
A specific branch of neuroscience is cognitive neuroscience that attempts to understand the neural mechanisms behind processes like reasoning, emoting, memory, decision making, and so on. This field when applied in marketing can help in brand positioning, hierarchy of effects, and brand loyalty.
Emotions get people’s attention and focus the rational brain on the matter under consideration. This may lead to satisfaction or dissatisfaction, and both satisfaction and dissatisfaction are short lived phenomenon. There have been multiple surveys suggesting that even satisfied customers walk away from the firm and dissatisfied may return after some time.
Neuromarketing analyses subconscious consumer reactions to stimuli like ads or brands.
As per brain scanning, the brain needs to be monitored while watching the advertisement, whichever area of the brain responses or lights up, indicates the subject’s unconscious thought patterns. This must match with the intent of the advertisement, example- passion, excitement, humour, hostility etc.; if the brain area is unresponsive then the advertisement has failed the test
Techniques used for Neuromarketing studies:
- fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging) is a medical procedure to measure the brain’s activity by detecting the oxygen level in blood flow.
- MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging). It helps in understanding the manner in which the human brain interprets processes and understands messages transmitted by the advertising content.
- EEG (Electroencephalography) measures and records the electrical activity of the brain.
- SST (Steady State Topography) measures and records the brain’s activity. Its high temporal resolution makes it possible to use SST in tests concerned with TV advertisements.
- MEG (Magnetoencephalography) offers information about the brains activity by using a magnetic field.
- Respiratory rate measures the number of breaths taken during one minute.
- Heart rate measures the number of heartbeats that occur during one minute.
- Pupilometer is “a device used to measure the dilation of a participant’s pupil in response to a visual stimulus”.
- Galvanic skin response or skin conductance measures the changes in the electrical properties of the skin, depending on the level of moisture.
- Eye tracking method tracks what the eyes are focusing at.
- Voice analysis records the psychophysiological stress responses that come across in human voice owing to the response of the vocal cords to such stress
Companies like Ford, Coca-Cola, and Google use these methods to refine branding, product design, and ad campaigns. For example, Campbell Soup redesigned labels after eye-tracking revealed consumers’ waning interest in crowded store shelves, emphasizing emotional engagement over clinical claims.
Use of Eye Tracking
Half of the money spent on advertising is wasted but advertisers are unaware of it. Eye-tracking uses cameras to record gaze patterns, revealing how consumers interact with visual content like websites or ads. It is possible to gauge objectively if a user has difficulty in locating information.
Some findings were:
– Text advertisements are more effective than graphic advertisements.
– Advertisements that blended into the content generally did much better; for example advertisements inserted into text columns did extremely well.
– Visual breaks between content sections tend to act as a visual dams, creating a high drop-off rate for further viewing.
– Top-placed ads receive more attention (55%, 14% on the bottom).
In 2005, Campbell Soup employed this method to discover that their label designs failed to evoke warmth, prompting a redesign focused on emotional appeal. Such data-driven insights help optimize ad placement and design for maximum impact.
Uses of Neuromarketing in Advertising
The Pepsi vs. Coke experiment demonstrated how branding overrides taste preferences. Blind taste tests activated reward centers for Pepsi, but brand awareness shifted brain activity to memory and emotion regions for Coke. This highlights the role of cultural and emotional associations in consumer choices.
Frito-Lay collaborated with NeuroFocus (using EEG) to analyze responses to Cheetos. Findings revealed that the snack’s messy residue evoked a “guilty pleasure” sensation, leading to the “Orange Underground” ad campaign. This approach, validated by neuroscience, earned industry recognition and demonstrated how subconscious emotional cues can drive successful marketing strategies.
Ethical considerations
Critics, however, raise ethical concerns about exploiting subconscious triggers, likening neuromarketing to seeking a “buy button” in the brain.
Neuromarketing faces ethical debates over privacy, cultural bias, and potential manipulation. Neural responses vary across cultures, necessitating tailored approaches for global brands. Thus, one of the major frontiers for Neuromarketing lies in building an understanding of the ways in which different societies relate to companies, advertisements and brands. The field’s future lies in balancing technological advancements with ethical considerations to avoid reducing consumers to predictable targets.
According to S. Pinker, when we talk about human brain we have to understand that the perception and self play very important roles in shaping human behavior. One’s concept of oneself as well as perception, are also shaped by one’s culture and belief. In fact, one of the most popular theories in intercultural communication argued that the languages we speak influence our thought and behavior and since cultures differ so widely in their language that they will also differ in the way we think and behave.
In conclusion, Neuromarketing offers tools to decode subconscious preferences, potentially reducing marketing failures. However, high costs, ethical concerns, and the need for interdisciplinary collaboration pose challenges. While critics warn of misuse, proponents like Martin Lindstrom argue it is a neutral tool for understanding consumer behavior. Cultural and neurological differences further complicate its application, requiring ongoing research to determine its long-term viability as a marketing science.