Getting on one’s Nerves

I came across the term coined by Ale Smidts i.e. ‘Neuromarketing’. It was interesting to read about this theory. Market research has vast application in this concept, though they have to spend big bucks for this. As wiki says:

“Neuromarketing is a new field of marketing that studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli.”

Let us try to analyze this concept. Answer the following questions as quickly as you can:
   1. Name one toothpaste brand
   2. Name one cricket player
   3. Name one fairness cream
Now keep your answers in mind and answers the following questions
   4. Which toothpaste brand are you using?
   5. Which cricket player do you like?
   6. Which fairness cream do you use?

Now I am sure if you an Indian, most of you must have answered Q1- Colgate, Q2- Sachin Tendulkar and Q3- Fair & Lovely. But your answers to the next three questions might have been different. Why so?


The mind-space of brands and the brands that you use are different, because there are some qualities in the products which one seek un-consciously. Like in toothpaste one would look for fluoride content, taste etc. Now, if the survey is conducted to know the impact of an advertisement on the consumers mind, the questionnaire designer has to make sure that he/she asks right questions so as to get the right information required.

Now you would say researcher can ask right questions and get the information, what is the need of Neuromarketing? My answer is: what if the consumer doesn’t know what he needs? But he still fulfills his needs by buying some or the other product. That’s right to know the reaction of the consumer in un-conscious level. Though it’s not so easy as to use a key and enter a room, but we have advanced equipments like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain, electroencephalography (EEG) to measure activity in specific regional spectra of the brain response, and/or sensors to measure changes in one's physiological state (heart rate, respiratory rate, galvanic skin response) to learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it.

Ya, I know now what are you thinking, who is going to use it in India? But we can be optimistic for some time and say that if a research company uses this technology it will be of great use to both; for company as well for the marketers.

Curious to know more about Neuromarketing here are some links:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromarketing
http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/
http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2009/3210/neuromarketing-is-the-future-but