Need to Know Neuromarketing

Most humans are a little more complicated than rats, of course. But we are largely motivated by what makes us feel good, especially when it comes to our purchasing decisions. To that end, many major corporations have begun to take special interest in how understanding the human brain can help them better understand consumers. Enter a nascent but fast-growing field called neuromarketing, which uses brain-tracking tools to determine why we prefer some products over others.

Neuromarketing research can predict the effect of TV ads, even before the commercial is made.

Effective TV commercials evoke a unique pattern of brain activity, the scientists from Neurensics concluded after studying over 150 commercials, including award-winning ads like Effies, humorous and even irritating ads. Functional magnetic resonance imaging makes it possible to read what is going on in people’s brains while seeing certain stimuli. By measuring emotions in the brain of the consumer with an MRI-scanner, the researchers discovered a ‘neural signature’ that predicts how effective a commercial is with a stunning accuracy up to 82%.

If you know how an effective commercial evokes activity in the brain, you can also determine how effective a storyboard is to the final production. This was the goal of a recently completed follow-up study, which showed that indeed the same brain pattern is activated when seeing storyboards and the final production.

The results are amazing! With a correlation of 80% between the storyboard and final production, the researchers could see whether the concepts had the effect promised by the creators. The study additionally revealed something beneficial for advertisers: even simple storyboards, where the imagination of the consumer is put to the test, gave the same high correlation rate with the final production. For the first time in history, companies are able to test propositions and concepts in advertising with neuromarketing techniques.

Using neuroscientific methods, researchers from Neurensics found out why sometimes ads work, and sometimes don’t, being able to see when viewers exhibited buying behavior.

The results indicated that each of the three categories caused a unique pattern in brain activity. The irritating commercials are, indeed, irritating – so much so that they trigger anger. The funny ads have an impact on the brain, attract attention and are original and fun to watch. Accordingly, they stimulate primarily the regions of the brain that process visual input. Finally, Effie selections have an average impact but excel at triggering positive emotions, while also defusing negative emotions. Researchers stated that this is because clearly effective commercials communicate their message in a concrete, appealing and rewarding manner. This is reflected in the increased activity in the auditory regions of the brain: people listen to Effies, and they receive very consistent scores.

On the flip side Neuromarketing’s critics dismiss it as a fad. Yet Neurofocus, the global market leader in neurological testing, has seen 100 per cent year-on-year growth over the last three years. It employs leading neuroscientists, works with major food, car, electronics and cosmetics companies, and has offices in London, Tokyo, Tel Aviv, Seoul, Bogotá, New York and Dallas, says Neuro Gadget.com

The website further states that India’s middle class consumption is roughly equivalent to Ireland’s total private consumption and is forecast to triple as a share of India’s total consumption over the next 15 years. And for corporations, the middle class in India thus presents significant business opportunities. The sales growth of consumer goods such as televisions and mobile phones to the middle class has already been established, but a new range of products such as financial services is increasingly being geared towards this group as well.