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Neuromarketing powerful business arsenalWhat are these measures, and how useful are they for business? Typically, research firms attempting to capture these implicit thought processes assess brain responses to marketing stimuli in the form of electroencephalography (EEG) – the electrical signal generated by neural regions firing simultaneously – or by using medical imaging technology such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). To collect EEG data, participants are fitted with special headgear, which records the electrical signal on the scalp while viewers are exposed to marketing stimuli. Using this approach, responses of individual brain regions to stimuli may be examined continuously to provide diagnostic information regarding the impact of specific elements of the marketing stimulus. By contrast, functional MRI (fMRI) research provides more detailed but less dynamic ‘snapshots’ of brain responses. Opinions differ regarding the value of these measures in commercial contexts. Proponents of EEG research point to the unique ability of these measures to reflect dynamic changes in viewer responses to marketing stimuli. For the first time, advertisers and media organisations may capture audience responses linked to specific scenes or messages with little interference from rational and explicit thought processes. However, others point to the weak link between brain electrical activity measures collected in market research settings and constructs that usefully predict consumer behaviour. For example, Brian Knutson, professor of neuroscience and psychology at Stanford University, has likened the use of EEG for marketing research purposes to ‘standing outside a baseball stadium and listening to the crowd to figure out what happened.’ Clearly, the value of brain activity measures for commercial research is dependent on the extent that these measures can capture responses in commercially viable settings and still provide reliable and useful marketing research constructs. To date, peer-reviewed research literature provides limited support for the use of these techniques in commercial contexts. At this early stage, the jury is still out regarding the long-term prospects for market research techniques drawing on brain response metrics. Additionally, ethical issues associated with the use of brain responses to guide marketing programs remain an important but relatively unexplored source of debate. Neuroimaging methods provide the scope for a better understanding of the complexity of human decision-making processes. Commercial application of neuroscience techniques aside, rigorous implementation of these techniques in academic research contexts will support unique interdisciplinary advances in the application of marketing and neuroscience theory. Better understanding of human responses to marketing stimuli will play a key role in the future for more informed policy development regarding marketing communications and stimuli. Importantly, knowledge gained through the use of these scientific methods will provide both consumers and marketers alike with a better understanding of the role played by ubiquitous commercial stimuli in our everyday decision-making. Fancy a Coke, or Pepsi? Source: University of Melbourne.
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