| 
  • If you are citizen of an European Union member nation, you may not use this service unless you are at least 16 years old.

  • You already know Dokkio is an AI-powered assistant to organize & manage your digital files & messages. Very soon, Dokkio will support Outlook as well as One Drive. Check it out today!

View
 

Neuromarketing

Page history last edited by Glenn Jason T. Nasser 8 years, 3 months ago

Title of the Essay, Author, and Date

N euromarketing - Is Big Brother in your head? by Nikki Williams (April 22, 2013)

 

Title of the Reflection

Marketing Research

 

First Impression

A n essay on how to put marketing in someone's head and achieved more

 

Quote

If neuromarketing techniques are used properly, we’ll have better ads, better products and happier customers

 

 

Coined in 1990 by two Harvard psychiatrists, the term “neuromarketing” refers to a science that has its roots in Plato’s theory that human behavior is driven by both emotion and reasoning. Over the years, neuromarketing has gained momentum and research has backed up its efficacy, so much so that a specific technique was patented in the late ‘90s by Harvard professor Jerry Zaltman. The resultant, Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) is a prominent marketing tool for companies like Coca-Cola, Nestle and General Motors, and its use continues to gain popularity.

 

Online knowledge site Tech.FAQ notes that, While neuromarketing is a relatively new technique, it has been widely implemented in recent years and nearly every marketing agency and medium-large company in the world now uses it.More alarming than the widespread usage of neuromarketing is the fact that this technique’s influence extends beyond simple sales of products and services.

 

Advertising has always ranked poorly when it comes to perceived ethical standards. In a 2011 survey on honesty and ethics in professions, Gallup pollsters found that advertisers ranked third from the bottom in a list of 22 professions, just above members of Congress and car salesmen. Part of what makes neuromarketing so frightening is its ability to get inside your head—literally. Typical neuromarketing studies delve inside the brain using high-tech resources like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), steady state topography (SST), electroencephalography (EEG) and facial coding and biometrics to look at how the physical brain reacts to, and is changed by, advertising images, sounds and other stimuli. One of my favorite examples of online neuromarketing involves Microsoft’s neuromarketing-enhanced Xbox LIVE ads. Test subjects had their brain activity, heart rate, blink rate, skin temperature and breath rate measured while being shown several campaigns over a variety of media. Brain scans showed that consumers who played an Xbox LIVE game with interactive billboards were able to recall brands 90% more often, making advertising of video games a lucrative choice for online advertisers.

 

There is still much we don’t understand about the way the human brain functions. Neuroscience has a long way to go before significant progress is made in mapping the processes of the brain. And the jury is still out on the effectiveness of current neuromarketing efforts. However, the potential exists for access to, and control of, subconscious decision-making that casts a decidedly sinister pall on this new addition to the marketing arsenal and takes the term “Buyer Beware” to a whole new level.

 

5 Things That I've learned from the article:

  

  1. “neuromarketing” refers to a science that has its roots in Plato’s theory that human behavior is driven by both emotion and reasoning.
  2. Even political parties are tapping into neuromarketing to design campaigns that tip the scales in favor of the “right” candidate by appealing specifically to swing voters.
  3. The brain is segmented into three parts: the new brain (logic, research); the middle or limbic brain (gut feeling, intuition, emotion); and the old, or reptilian, brain (instinct). Science shows that 95% of our decisions are made subconsciously by the reptilian and limbic brain areas. 
  4. . Research showed that the female brain’s larger anterior cingulate cortex caused women to be more prone to feelings of guilt (presumably brought on by snacking on some Fritos). To mitigate this and encourage women to snack, Frito-Lay is changing packaging from shiny to matte bags and showing pictures of “healthy” ingredients such as spices on the packages; both of which were proven through brain imaging to prevent triggering of emotional guilt responses.
  5. Online neuromarketing involves Microsoft’s neuromarketing-enhanced Xbox LIVE ads. Test subjects had their brain activity, heart rate, blink rate, skin temperature and breath rate measured while being shown several campaigns over a variety of media. Brain scans showed that consumers who played an Xbox LIVE game with interactive billboards were able to recall brands 90% more often, making advertising of video games a lucrative choice for online advertisers.

     

    5 Integrative Questions

     

    1. What neuromarketing gained momentum and research backed up its efficacy?
    2. Why and what are the reasons there is widespread usage of neuromarketing?
    3. What research work delve inside the brain using high-tech resources like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), steady state topography (SST), electroencephalography (EEG) and facial coding and biometrics to look at how the physical brain reacts to, and is changed by, advertising images, sounds and other stimuli? Why the use of these technologies?
    4. Where companies like Frito-Lay have the budget to deeply explore neuromarketing, why even smaller companies are jumping on the bandwagon using relatively inexpensive techniques such as biometrics to reduce testing costs?
    5. Why would consumers really be better off if companies annoyed them with ineffective yet costly ad campaigns?”

     

    Comments (0)

    You don't have permission to comment on this page.