I recently met thinker and writer Jeremy Bagnall. He shared this report on the application of neuromarketing, and I was intrigued. The term “neuromarketing” has been thrown around a fair amount, and it only takes a glance at the exciting research coming from neuromarketing to understand that it’s a concept worth noticing. Jeremy Bagnall sheds some light on the subject with his report, which is a great introduction to the foundations of neuromarketing in the 21st century.
At FitzMartin, we’ve always relied on a solid base of cognitive science and behavioral marketing to inform our decisions for clients. We understand the value of knowing the science behind how and why consumers react the way they do, and the implications this has for business best practices in all areas. In this particular article, a new friend of ours, thinker and writer Jeremy Bagnall explores the implications that neurology can have on marketing, and what methods have already been used to improve the effectiveness of advertising.
Neuromarketing, or the application of neurology to marketing, is a concept that has been gaining momentum as technology increasingly evolves. As you’ll see in this first part of Jeremy’s writing, neuromarketing has the potential to impact how we approach marketing initiatives. Interesting food for thought...
Sean
Neuromarketing is the study of how the human brain responds to marketing techniques and why consumers make purchasing decisions. It is a scientific approach to consumer purchasing behavior and how the brain reacts to the promotion and advertising that companies use to market themselves.
Recently, neuromarketing research has become more prominent with organizations that are willing to cover the necessary expenses and human capital. There are a few main methods that are called upon when companies choose to use this type of research. Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Electroencephalography (EEG), and eye tracking. Traditional marketing research has been found to be flawed because of mistakes that occur within the research. Neuromarketing minimizes the flaws and travels straight to monitoring brain behavior with medical equipment such as fMRI, EEG, and eye tracking. Many companies are turning to neuromarketing techniques to discover the attitudes that consumers have towards the current advertising campaigns and techniques that they are deploying. The question is whether the campaigns are effectively reaching the consumers that the companies want to target.
Traditional marketing techniques have been shown to be objective to many elements within the methods used. For example, the use of questionnaires to gather information from a company’s consumer population has been proven to be occupied with issues. For instance the issues are stated as follows; “Numerous difficulties are associated with deploying questionnaires to gather information from consumers. Low return rates, the inability of respondents to recall past events, people making false statements, an inability to further probe consumer responses, the potential for consumers to misunderstand the wording of questions, and other shortcomings have led to concerns regarding the validity and reliability of results (MacPherson 17)”.
The popular method of focus groups is over rated and also entails a few concerns. It is common for participants in a focus group to lie about certain topics in order to conform to groupthink. It is also a frequent occurrence for certain personality types to come into play when a focus group is being administered. For example, imaginative and creative personalities will be full of conversation and ideas to infuse in a focus group. While protective and independent personalities will tend to be stubborn and stand by their opinions without regard for others. People with passive personalities may be left without a say in a focus group, while dominant personalities may over power other participants’ opinions.
With breakthroughs, in neuromarketing, in the last decade, much attention has been fixated on the science that is revolutionizing the ability for companies to market to consumers. The knowledge that can be attained from neuroscience research on consumers can be beneficial for a company. Measurements of participants’ brain activity, when exposed to a new advertisement, can be used to determine whether the advertisement’s product or service is successfully attaining the consumers’ attention and if there is a need for the product or service. This information could help marketer’s better situate themselves and their strategy to promoting the item to the market segment that they are looking to target. Evidence has shown that companies are able to predict buyer behavior, and with neuromarketing they can make changes to be more appealing to the customer.
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About the Author:
Jeremy Bagnall is a graduate of the University of Montevallo Stephens College of Business where he studied Marketing. He was also a student of the baseball diamond and one of the leading members of the Falcon Pitching Staff. Jeremy's passion for advertising is directly relevant to his passion on the pitcher’s mound. As he explains it, pitching comes down to the constant mental battle with the player at home plate. The pitcher is continuously striving to stay one step ahead, and plan his next move based upon what pitches he has displayed for the hitter. Both players are trying to get inside one another’s thought process and predict what is coming up next. Marketing is essentially the same concept; attempting to stay ahead of the curve and decipher consumer responses, behavior, and buying habits.
Contact Jeremy:
(734) 775-4076
BBA Marketing -- University of Montevallo
