It’s easy for businesses to keep track of what we buy, but harder to figure out why. Many articles have been written on how to track the consumers during their digital journeys. However, when it comes to explain the ‘why’ of their actions, the whole picture becomes blurry and we normally resort to market research and/or eye tracking technologies. People usually tell market researchers what they think they want to hear. As Dan Cobley very successfully explained, applying the Heisenberg's uncertainty principle in marketing: the act of observing consumers, changes their behavior. Eye tracking on the other side shows where the people focus their attention but not what they are thinking at that moment. What if we could add into that arsenal a nascent field called neuromarketing?

Most people are good at expressing what they want, what they like, why they buy something and even how much they are willing to pay for an item. On the other hand, they are not good at understanding where the value comes from or from which factors they have been influenced like store displays or brands. Neuroscience can shed some light on understanding those hidden elements of the decision process.

To understand how neuromarketing works, we need to first understand sensation. Which basic senses do we have? Can we use neuroscience to better understand, assess and influence consumers? While many companies use odors, sound themes and other effectors in the attempt to affect consumers, less is known about how it actually works. How does an odor lead to a rush of memories from the past? Have you ever wondered when walking outside a bakery why there is always a smell of freshly baked bread? No doubt you have noticed that when walking into a supermarket, there is always a flower or a bakery section just in the entrance. What is the common denominator?

One of the main reasons for the rise of neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience is the realization that human decision making deviates from “rational choice”. Despite our experience of the contrary, our decisions are not particularly rational or optimal; we do not make decisions after carefully exploring all options. Our decisions are rarely driven by conscious planning. Rather, consumer choices are driven by at least two main processes: an unconscious “quick and dirty” valuation of immediate options, and conscious experiences of making the choice.

What is Neuromarketing? 

In short, it is the commercial use of neuroscience tools to improve consumer insights and marketing effects. Researches use medical technology to determine consumer reactions to specific slogans, brands & advertisements. How cool (or scary) would it be if only by observing the brain activity, we could actually predict whether you prefer Pepsi or Coke more accurately than you can?

How Neuromarketing actually works? 

Using electroencephalography tests (essentially a plastic swimming cap complete with electrodes to measure brain signals), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI, which measures brain activity by looking at changes in blood flow), and eye-tracking technology.

Electroencephalography (EEG) measures fluctuations in the electrical activity directly below the scalp, which occurs as a result of neural activity. By attaching electrodes to subjects’ heads and evaluating the electrical patterns of their brain waves, researchers can track the intensity of visceral responses such as anger, lust, disgust, and excitement.

EEG and fMRI have different strengths and weaknesses, and even EEG has some limitations in its reach. The cap of electrodes sits on the surface of your head, so you’re never going to get to the deep areas of the brain with EEG.

The fMRI uses a giant magnet to track the blood flow throughout the brain as test subjects respond to visual, audio, or even taste cues. The technology has its own logistical limitations. Running an fMRI scanner could be expensive for SMBs and while EEG lets subjects move around during testing, fMRI requires them to lie very still inside a machine that can be intimidating.

Bringing it all together, as a scientist, marketer & analyst, I am very excited of what we could achieve if we combine the following in order to understand the customer’s journey: 

• On-page analytics to keep track of what people buy.

• Eye tracking technology to actually see where people focus their attention.

• Real-time insight tools to measure & profile who sees our online content.

• Post-purchase surveys so that we can talk directly to our customers.

• Neuroscience tools, to observe the brain activity & get a feeling of what the consumer thinks of our brand/product.

So, imagine how easy it would be to get consumer insights if you had access into a platform that contains self-declared, first party data and also in one that contains data on how a brain reacts to specific images/odors/tastes/sounds.

Would that be a new era for marketing?