Going Deeper With Neuromarketing

The Big Picture

As marketers, we are constantly trying to understand the motivations behind consumers’ purchasing decisions. This is made harder because people cannot always articulate exactly what drives them! That is because these choices — like why someone chooses one brand’s product over its competitor’s — are oftentimes subconscious. That’s why I am so fascinated by neuromarketing and its ability to pull back the curtain on how consumers truly feel. Neuromarketing marries neuroscience and marketing principles to study how peoples’ brains respond to marketing stimuli like logos, colors and packaging — getting to the root of how they feel about a brand or product.

?This approach provides an invaluable level of insight — it gives us a view into the subconscious by studying brain activity through a range of methods from fMRI and EEG to eye tracking, facial coding, biometrics and more. This gives us access to tremendous data-driven insights that can be used to anticipate consumer behavior and better understand what people find engaging and memorable. ? In short, neuromarketing taps into the gut reaction people have before they are able to overanalyze, overthink or try to rationalize their response.

?

?

Why this Matters for Marketers

Marketers have a prime opportunity to build up their brands’ connection with consumers by using new technologies and techniques. Neuromarketing, for instance, helps brands tap into the subconscious drivers of decision-making, allowing them to craft strategies that resonate on a deeper emotional level.

Though the science behind neuromarketing is not new, it is not yet in every marketer’s toolbox — here is why I think it should be.

Better market research

Marketers have historically conducted focus groups, run surveys, monitored trends, and analyzed sales, website, and social media data. But those methods rely on consumers’ rational thinking and self-reported responses, which inherently contain biases: If you ask someone why they made a purchase, they might post-rationalize their decisions — attempting to provide logical reasons for something subconscious. Traditional research methods fail to tap into the emotions that influence consumers’ impulses.

?Neuromarketing removes biases and captures people’s emotions in a straightforward way to cut down on guesswork, providing more detailed results, quicker, while using a smaller sample size.

?Brand building

?Neuromarketing findings can help shape a brand identity by informing what properties to feature in advertising, packaging, and communications; identify the most promising creative directions for campaigns to best engages viewers; and optimize communications strategies. Brands can learn what big ideas will engage their audience and what will not.

?Limitations

Neuromarketing methods can be quite costly compared to other research techniques, which has historically made it less accessible. However, as methods like biometrics continue to reach the mainstream, it will become more widely available and affordable to marketers.

?New findings about the brain continue to emerge – making this field incredibly exciting and full of potential. However, we are only beginning to scratch the surface in understanding brand perceptions in a deeper and more nuanced fashion. As we advance in applying these insights, it is essential to act responsibly, ensuring transparency with our findings and conducting assessments with full disclosure to participants. When used ethically, neuromarketing can be a powerful tool in any marketer's toolkit – helping them build greater success.