Neuromarketing Techniques and Their Scope in India

NEUROMARKETING
TECHNIQUES AND THEIR

SCOPE IN INDIA
Research Paper submitted to Advertising and Public Relations Department of
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi
IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

POST GRADUATE DIPLOMA IN ADVERTISING AND PUBLIC
RELATIONS
2017-18
SUBMITTED BY:
ANK ANJALIDEEP
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

Aruna Asif Ali Marg, New Delhi - 110067
DR. ABHAY CHAWLA DR. SURBHI DAHIYA
EXTERNAL MENTOR COURSE DIRECTOR, ADPR
INTERNAL MENTOR
Neuromarketing Techniques and their scope in India |1
DECLARATION
I, Ank Anjalideep, a bonafide student of Post-Graduation Diploma in Advertising and Public
Relations in Indian institute of Mass communication, New Delhi, would like to declare that
the research paper “Neuromarketing Techniques and their scope in India” submitted by
us in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the PGD in Advertising and
Public Relations is my original work.
Date: 13th April 2018
Place: Indian Institute of Mass Communication
Signature:
Department of Advertising and Public Relations

CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that the research paper entitled “Neuromarketing Techniques and their
scope in India” is a bonafide record of independent research work done by Ank Anjalideep
under my supervision and submitted to the Department of Advertising and Public Relations,
Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi in partial fulfilment for the award of the
PGD in Advertising and Public Relations.
Signature of Internal Signature of External

Mentor Mentor
(With Seal) (With Seal)
भभभभभभ भभ भभभभभ भभभभभभभ

Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Abstract
Neuromarketing is the upcoming trend in the field of consumer behaviour research.

Neuromarketing investigates important information that commonly consumer Purchase
Decision take place at a mental emotional and instinctive level those take place in the
subconscious brain that is under the levels of controlled awareness due to the striking motive
many businesses have already started exploiting various neuromarketing techniques to dig
deep into the brains of their customers’ subconscious mind and identify the pleasure centres.
This paper explores the journey of Neuromarketing and identifies various neuromarketing
techniques that have been discovered till date and compares them. This paper will also
identify various trends in neuromarketing with relevant examples of its application.
It is said that it takes a long time for things and studies to reach India so it’s the motive of this
case study to investigate the state of neuromarketing in India and identify how deep
neuromarketing has penetrated into the Indian market. The research paper will identify the
scope of neuromarketing in India and its possible applications in future.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Nothing concrete can be achieved without an optimal combination of inspiration and
perspiration. No work can be accomplished without taking the guidance of experts and
teachers.
It is an honour to be a part of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, which gave us an

opportunity to grow and develop intellectually at each step. We are also grateful to our Director
General, Mr. K.G. Suresh for his blessings and motivation at each step.
I owe this moment of satisfaction with deep and immense gratitude to our guide and mentor
Dr. Surbhi Dahiya and Dr. Abhay Chawla for their untiring and inspiring inputs in completing
this research paper. It could take shape in its present form, only because of their decisive and
informative mentoring. I would also like to thank Mr. Shikhar Chaudhary and Mr. Anand
Mahesh for their valuable inputs in this research. I would specially thank Shreyanka Basu
Ma’am for her help in getting contacts of the above-mentioned respondents.
I would like to thank our parents who have been a constant support and a source of motivation
for me. Their faith in all endeavours and decisions has helped us grow as an individual.
I would like to express our gratitude towards the department of Advertising and public
Relation, IIMC that has given me the opportunity to unleash my potential in the desired field
of study.

CONTENT
I. Introduction
II. Objectives of the Study
III. Benefits of the Stuidy
IV. Limitations of the Study
V. Background
VI. Neuromarketing techniques
VII. Scope of Neuromarketing in India
VIII. Review of literature
IX. Research Design and methodologies
X. Data Interpretation and Analysis
XI. Findings
XII. Conclusion
XIII. Suggestions and Recommendations
XIV. Annexure
XV. End Notes
XVI. References

Neuromarketing Techniques and their scope in India
1. Introduction:
The emerging application of neuroscience techniques in marketing by the name of

neuromarketing, which conduct customer brain research in a managerial decision making, it
has been observed that neuromarketing is gaining popularity in the academics and business
world as well. Though, neuromarketing is a subject of neuroscience it was commercially
introduced in 2002 by companies such as SalesBrain and Brighthouse. These companies
started offering marketing and consulting services that were based in neuroscience
techniques. In the first neuromarketing study, McClure used fMRI data to find the neutral
correlates of participant’s preferences between Coke and Pepsi (Morin, 2013). Since, then
Neuromarketing has evolved a lot and various new techniques have sprouted and are being
actively used by businesses who are the main backers of these researches and often conduct
them privately. But, these developments have been centred around United States of America
and there is hardly any reputable research on this subject from India. This research will
investigate these techniques their penetration in India and Scope of these techniques in Indian
market.
The neuromarketing is also very important as it was observed in 2011 by Christophe Morin
that neuromarketing has the potential to investigate 4P’s of marketing- Product, Price,
Promotion and Place – and can contribute extensively to marketer’s understanding about
effectively marketing their products or services. It’s the reason why an increasing number of
marketing research papers, journals, schools, organizations and conferences utilize
neuroscientific data to develop better understanding behind the consumer buying decision-
making and the ways by which that knowledge can be utilized to develop innovative
marketing practices. Neuromarketing has offered lots of opportunities for companies to
constantly determine implicit reactions to marketing stimuli, the field is still at an emerging
stage. (Morin, 2011) Morin rightly observed that Neuromarketing is still at its nascent stage
but since 2011 it has developed a lot and many new players and innovative techniques have
emerged. But the above statement stands true as these practices are not mainstream yet only a
few big business houses have openly started to use these techniques even in markets of west.
But, the marketers in India should view this as an opportunity and should quickly gain an
understanding of these techniques and start researching the ways they can be implemented in
the Indian market. But for that we have to wait for the future a lot needs to be done in the

field of neuromarketing in India a subject that has just entered the academic discourse of this
nation.
2. Objectives of the Study
 To understand present state of neuromarketing in India

 To explore the scope of neuromarketing in India.
3. Benefits of the Study
"People are fairly good at expressing what they want, what they like, or even how much they
will pay for an item," says Uma R. Karmarkar, an assistant professor at Harvard Business
School who sports PhDs in both marketing and neuroscience. "But they aren't very good at
accessing where that value comes from, or how and when it is influenced by factors like store
displays or brands. [Neuroscience] can help us understand those hidden elements of the
decision process."i
Thus, in order to get aa better understanding of the consumer decision-making process it is

very important to move in the direction of Neuromarketing. As it will open gates to endless
opportunities for businesses.
4. Limitations of the Study
This lacks interaction with academia. The interaction with the Industry experts is also
limited. There is a considerable gap between the literature reviewed for this study and
present day.

5. Background
The combination of neuro and marketing implies the merging of two fields of study
(neuroscience and marketing). The term neuromarketing cannot be attributed to a particular
individual as it started appearing somewhat organically around 2002. At the time, a few U.S.
companies like Brighthouse and SalesBrain became the first to offer neuromarketing research
and consulting services advocating the use of technology and knowledge coming from the
field of cognitive neuroscience. Basically, neuromarketing is to marketing what
neuropsychology is to psychology. While neuropsychology studies the relationship between
the brain and human cognitive and psychological functions, neuromarketing promotes the
value of looking at consumer behaviour from a brain perspective.
The first scholarly piece of neuromarketing research was performed by Read Montague,
Professor of Neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in 2003 and published in Neuron in
2004. Specifically, the study suggested that a strong brand such as Coca Cola has the power
to “own” a piece of our frontal cortex. The frontal lobe is considered the seat of our executive
function (EF) which manages our attention, controls our short-term memory, and does the
best of our thinking—especially planning. The participants’ brains were scanned in a fMRI
machine.
Indeed, this study triggered a wave of heavy criticism towards neuromarketing because of the
fear that it harboured a hidden code to tweak our perceptions below the level of our
consciousness. The journal Nature Neuroscience published an article in 2004 entitled “Brain
Scam” raising the question of ethics behind neuromarketing studies and questioned morality
of neuromarketers. To this Dr. Michael Brammer, the CEO of Neurosense, a company whose
name was mentioned in the article came to defense.
Notably, this short-lived attack from the media did not dissuade Harper Collins from adding
the word “neuromarketing” to its dictionary in 2005. And by 2006, neither the critical article
from Nature Neuroscience nor the efforts deployed by the consumer advocacy group
Commercial Alert succeeded in curbing the popularity and growth of neuromarketing. Let’s
explore why.
For too long, both marketers and advertisers have relied on ancient ways to create and assess
effective advertising campaigns. Millions of dollars are poured each year into developing
products that will never see the light of day. Countless campaigns fail to attract consumer
attention and successfully impact our memory banks. Ignoring neuroimaging as a way to

understand consumer behaviour would be as absurd as astronomers refusing to use electronic

telescopes. Placing legitimate worries on ethics aside, there is no question that neuroimaging
provides powerful lenses through which we can observe and understand the mind of a
consumer. (Morin, 2011)ii
In India the Neuromarketing has just hit the academic circles with an article titled
‘Consumer’s Perception towards Neuromarketing in India with Special Reference to Kano
Model’ by Harit Kumar, Dr. Neha Mathur and Dr. Sangeeta Jauhari which was published in
International Journal of Research – Granthalayah in April 2017 which collected data on the
basis of a Kano Questionnaire from over 100 Academicians from states of Uttar Pradesh and
Madya Pradesh.iii

N e u r o m a r k e t i n g T e c h n i q u e s a n d t h e i r s c o p e i n I n d i a | 10
6. The Neuromarketing Techniques
6.1. Functional MRI (fMRI)
The technique uses an MRI scanner to measure the blood oxygenation level-dependent
(BOLD) signal. The BOLD changes are generally correlated with the underlying synaptic
activity. Spatial resolution is 1–10 mm, and temporal resolution is 1–10 s. In general, the
higher the spatial resolution, the lower the temporal resolution. Of all the imaging
technologies described in this paper, fMRI has a substantial advantage in resolving small
structures and those that are deep in the brain. However, some important brain regions,
especially the orbitofrontal cortex, are affected by signal artefacts that may reduce the ability
to obtain useful information. State of the art MRI scanners cost approximately US$1 million
per Tesla and have annual operating costs of $100,000–$300,000.
6.2. Electroencephalography (EEG)
EEG uses electrodes applied to the scalp and measures changes in the electrical field in the
brain region underneath. EEG has very high temporal resolution (milliseconds) and can
therefore detect brief neuronal events. Because the skull disperses the electrical field, EEG
has low spatial resolution (~1 cm) that depends on how many electrodes are used. The
number of electrodes can be as few as two or range up to hundreds in high-density arrays.
The greater the number of electrodes, the better the spatial resolution. Apart from the low
spatial resolution, EEG has poor sensitivity for deep brain structures. Equipment costs can be
low (<$10,000) but increase with high-density arrays and the concomitant resources needed
to process the data. A common technique is to measure the left–right asymmetry of the
frontal EEG. This is typically measured by the power in the alpha band (8–13 Hz). This
research has suggested that relatively greater activity in the left frontal region is associated
with either positive emotional states or the motivational drive to approach an object.
Although there are strong correlations between frontal EEG asymmetry and personality traits,
the degree to which the asymmetry changes from moment to moment is still debated. Some
have suggested a minimum of 60 s to reliably estimate power asymmetry, in which case the
temporal advantage of EEG over fMRI is lost. Although some have used this approach to
measure momentary fluctuations in emotion in response to advertisements, without
accounting for autocorrelations in time or multiple statistical comparisons, the validity of
such approaches is dubious.

6.3. Magnetoencephalography (MEG)
An expensive cousin of EEG, MEG measures changes in the magnetic fields induced by
neuronal activity. Thus, MEG has the same advantage of high temporal resolution and
because the magnetic field is less distorted by the skull than is the electrical field, it has better
spatial resolution than EEG. Like EEG, MEG is most sensitive to superficial cortical signals
(primarily in the sulci). MEG requires a magnetically shielded room and superconducting
quantum interference detectors to measure the weak magnetic signals in the brain. An MEG
set-up costs approximately $2 million.
6.4. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS)
TMS uses an iron core, often in the shape of a toroid wrapped in electrical wire, to create a
magnetic field strong enough to induce electrical currents in underlying neurons when placed
on the head. TMS can be used as a single pulse, paired pulse or repetitive stimulation, and the
neuronal effects range from facilitation to inhibition of synaptic transmission. As a research
tool, TMS has been used to study the causal role of specific brain regions in particular tasks
by temporarily taking them ‘offline’.iv
6.5. Eye-tracking
Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze (where one is looking) or the
motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions
and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in
psycholinguistics, marketing, as an input device for human-computer interaction, and in
product design. There are a number of methods for measuring eye movement. The most
popular variant uses video images from which the eye position is extracted. Other methods
use search coils or are based on the electrooculogram.v
6.6. Facial Coding
Facial coding is the process of measuring human emotions through facial expressions.
Emotions can be detected by computer algorithms for automatic emotion recognition that
record facial expressions via webcam. This can be applied to better understanding of people’s
reactions to visual stimuli.vi
6.8. Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)

The Galvanic Skin Response (GSR), also named Electrodermal Activity (EDA) and Skin
Conductance (SC), is the measure of the continuous variations in the electrical characteristics
of the skin, i.e. for instance the conductance, caused by the variation of the human body
sweating. The traditional theory of the GSR analysis is based on the assumption that skin
resistance varies with the state of sweat glands in the skin. Human body sweating is regulated
by the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS). In particular, if the sympathetic branch (SNS) of
the autonomic nervous system is highly aroused, then sweat gland activity also increases,
which in turn increases skin conductance, and vice versa. In this way, skin conductance can
be a measure of the human Sympathetic Nervous System responses. Such system is directly
involved in the emotional behavioural regulations in the humans. Additional studies
highlighted the relationship between GSR signal and some mental states, such as stress,
drowsiness and engagement.vii
Skin conductance is captured using skin electrodes which are easy to apply (such as the
Shimmer GSR+ module). Data is acquired with sampling rates between 1 – 10 Hz and is
measured in units of micro-Siemens (μS). The time course of the signal is considered to be
the result of two additive processes: a tonic base level driver, which fluctuates very slowly
(seconds to minutes), and a faster-varying phasic component (fluctuating within seconds).
Changes in phasic activity can be identified in the continuous data stream with bare eyes as
these bursts have a steep incline to a distinctive peak and a slow decline to the baseline level.
Whenever investigating GSR signal changes in response to sensory stimuli (images, videos,
sounds), researchers focus on the latency and amplitudes of the phasic bursts with respect to
stimulus onset.
This is also referred to as Event-Related Skin Conductance Response (ER-SCR).

Interestingly, changes in GSR can also be described within a longer time interval, e.g., while
watching a video or movie. In that case, Non-Stimulus-locked Skin Conductance Responses
(NS-SCR) characteristics are analysed such as the number of peaks and inter-peak latencies
within a longer time window in order to characterize a respondent’s emotional arousal.
Tyler et al. (2015) recently published results describing a significant reduction in arousal (as
reflected by reduced modulations in skin conductance) by transdermal electrical
neurosignaling. In their study, Tyler and team used iMotions Biometric Research Platform to
monitor the changes in skin conductance.

The synchronized acquisition of GSR with other sensors (such as optical heart rate, EEG or
facial EMG) as well as video-based facial expression analysis opens completely new horizons
towards multimodal experimental setups and cross-sensor analysis strategies which provide
insights into the interaction of autonomous processes and higher cognitive-behavioural
systems.viii
6.9. Comparative Analysis of Neuromarketing Techniques
As suggested earlier fMRI is the far most accurate technique than any other technique
mentioned in this paper. High Spatial resolution makes it very accurate but at the same time
makes to very expensive too. This is the reason why only very biff organizations can sustain
long and expensive researches which are based on fMRI technique. Also, there is a concern
of safety when it comes to using fMRI techniques. According to the information available in
the public domain MRI scanners are prone to accidents and severe accidents can also lead to
the death of the subject. This fact had made people very critical of this technique.
EEG on the other hand is also a good method to dig deep into the minds of the customers and
is very less expensive as compared to fMRI technique. It is one of the techniques which have
been extensively used by the industry for conducting researches. But, due to less spatial
resolution its far more less accurate than the fMRI. To counter this Magnetic equipment was
added to the EEG mechanism which increased the accuracy but also added considerably to
the operating costs, making the method unviable.
TMS on the other hand were less used and experimented upon technique due to the success of
fMRI and EEG technique-based researches.
But these above-mentioned techniques have become a centre of controversy as they require
experimentation on a living human brain. The morality of the neuromarketers using these
techniques are often questioned.
Eye-tracking, facial coding and GSR are far safer and less controversial techniques but the
data provided is very vague and is hard to interpret which makes it difficult for the researches
to uncover the secrets of the subconscious mind. But the equipment costs and operating costs
of theses researches are fractional as compared to the other methods mentioned above. It is
the reason a large number of organisations have taken up these methods for conducting
researches on the customer behaviour to develop products. These include not only the smaller
organisations but large organisations like Johnsons and Johnsons.

6.10. NeuroFocus – Revolutionising EEG
NeuroFocus is a science-based consumer-research firm based out of Berkeley, California

founded by A.K. Pradeep and owned by Nielsen Holdings N.V. CEO of the company
Pradeep had recently introduced their latest innovation a product called Mynd, the world’s
first portable, wireless electroencephalogram (EEG) scanner at 75th Advertising Research
Foundation conference held at New York. This product has the potential to change the future
of consumer behaviour research market. But, its not the first time for NeuroFocus to disrupt
the research market.
NeuroFocus promises access to the nooks and corners of the subconscious mind. It’s a
tantalizing claim, given that businesses spend trillions of dollars each year on advertising,
marketing, and product R&D, and still according to certain estimates 80% of the products
fail. The hope that neuroscience can provide more accurate results than traditional focus
groups and other traditional market research is why Citi, Google, HP and Microsoft, as well
as soda companies, retailers, brewers, manufacturers and media companies have all become
NeuroFocus clients in the past six years.
One of the most significant success story of NeuroFocus is that of Frito-Lay.
In 2008, Frito-Lay hired NeuroFocus to look into Cheetos, the junk-food staple. After
scanning the brains of a carefully chosen group of consumers, the NeuroFocus team
discovered that the icky coating triggers an unusually powerful response in the brain: “a
sense of giddy subversion that consumers enjoy over the messiness of the product”. In other
words, the sticky stuff is what makes those snacks such a sticky brand. Frito-Lay leveraged
that information into its advertising campaign for Cheetos, which has made the most of the
mess. For its efforts, NeuroFocus earned a 2009 Grand Ogilvy award from Advertising
Research Foundation for advertising research, given out by the Advertising Research
Foundation, for “demonstrating the most successful use of research in the creation of superior
advertising that achieves a critical business objective.”
Frito-Lay is just an example of various feats achieved by NeuroFocus and with Mynd EEG
scanner it has opened by possibilities for smaller organisations which don’t have large R&D
budgets to get inside the subconscious minds of their customers.ix

7. Scope of Neuromarketing in India
 Brands like Tata Motors have already started to engage the consumers with products
(in the case Tata Tiago particularly) through virtual reality. The techniques like eye-
tracking and facial coding can help brands to collect real time biometric data to
analyze how well the product or campaign has been received by the customer. The
combination of virtual reality and neuromarketing can be a revolutionary step to
determine success of products and brands in India.
 On the basis of Kano model various features of a product can be categorized into
categories – must-be, one-dimensional, attractive, indifferent or reverse. This will
help marketer to identify the right set of features which appeal to customers the most.
This will help in development of the most desirable product. Also, it can help market
the same product to the different audiences by identifying the set of features which
will appeal to a specific audience and another set of features which will appeal to
another target audience. Thus, Neuromarketing can have a potential application in
product development.
 Neuromarketing can play a major role in improving internal Communications within
an organization. Various techniques can be used to identify the factors which would
make working at a certain organization more pleasurable for the employees. Also,
neuromarketing techniques could be used as tools to measure the level of pleasure and
satisfaction of employees working at uncertain organization. It can then be used to
identify the best organizations to work at and the best work cultures. These techniques
could help holder organizations which are struggling with their employees or weren't
able to evolve their culture according to the new age to help develop and work culture
in which the employees are most satisfied. Happy employees mean more happily they
will work, thus productivity will increase drastically.
 In a price conscious market like India there are many social stigmas associated with
pricing. For example, people are not very open when it comes to discussion of
pricing. Neuromarketing can play a vital role in understanding the true nature and
desire of its customer. As personal bias doesn’t have any effect on Neuroimaging
devices.
 Neuromarketing can have application in Public Relations and especially politics. It
can help understand the mindset of customers thus help in devising campaigns which
are more appealing.

 Neuromarketing can have application in Brand Placement and Brand Perception

management.
 Techniques like GSR which are a good way to study the reactions to visual stimuli
can have wide range of applications in Entertainment Industry.
 Nueromarketing techniques can also have a potential applications in development of
FMCG products and retail sector. The techniques like eyr-tracking are already being
used for this purpose in the west.

8. Review of Literature
o Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Behavior (Christophe Morin,

2011) This paper gives a brief history and background on evolution of
neuromarketing. It discusses various neuromarketing techniques and compares them.
Its presents before us the further scope of Neuromarketing and mentions some
learnings.
o Consumer’s perception towards neuromarketing in India with special reference
to Kano model (Harit Kumar, Dr. Neha Mathur, Dr. Sangeeta Jauhari, 2015)
This paper takes responses from around 100 academicians across marketing colleges
in states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on basis of a Kano Questionnaire to
measure their perception of Neuromarketing on the basis on Kano’s Model.
o Big Data, the perfect instrument to study today’s consumer behavior (Cristina
Stoicescu,2015) This is an in-depth study of how Big Data is being used in today’s
age to understand the customer behavior. It talks of its advantages, disadvantages,
applications and scope.
o What is ‘neuromarketing’? A discussion and agenda for future research (Nick
Lee, Amanda J. Broderick, Laura Chamberlain, 2015) This research paper
identifies various areas in which neuromarketing techniques can be applied to get
desirable results.
o Top Neuromarketing Trends To Watch In 2017 (Sean Loony, 2016) This article
published in Adage India talks of various less known and relatively new
neuromarketing techniques like eye-tracking, facial coding and GSR and their
interesting applications.
o NeuroFocus Uses Neuromarketing To Hack Your Brain (Adam L. Penenberg,
2011) This article which was published in Fast Company give in-depth information
about NeuroFocus which a science-based customer-research firm founded by A.K.
Pradeep. It mentions how they have been associated with leading business
organizations and yield some interesting results for them. It also mentions the future
potential of the company and neuromarketing field and how it can revolutionize the
customer research and product R&D.
o Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in business (Dan Ariely,
Gregory S. Berns, 2010) This is one of the articles which has discussed
neuromarketing as a subject in great depth. The article discusses various

neuromarketing techniques in-depth as well as the researches which were conducted

with the help of those techniques. It discovers implication of neuromarketing in
various fields such as advertising, culture, food products, entertainment, architecture,
politics and product design. It also sets certain guidelines for future researches in this
direction.
o Neuromarketing: Tapping Into the 'Pleasure Center' of Consumers (Carmen
Nobel, 2013) This article was published in the Forbes magazine. It takes into account
the ability of the present Neuromarketing techniques to certain deep sections of
Human brain called the ‘pleasure centers’. This Article takes input from Associate
Professor Uma R. Karmarkar who teaches at Harvard Business School and has PhD
both in Marketing and Neuroscience.

9. Research Design and Methodologies
This research is a predominately a Qualitative research. The various existing research papers
and scholarly articles have been used understand extract the data which is fundamental to this
research. This research also takes into account information collected from websites which has
been used to validate the academic data with data from the Industry.
In order to get Industry perspective two Industry experts were identified for Telephonic
Interview. The information collected from the Industry experts is very critical to the research
and helps in getting a view of present scenario.
9.1. Research Tools
1. Research Papers
2. Scholarly Articles
3. Web Articles
4. Webpages
5. Telephonic Interview
9.2. Data Type
The data used in this research is both secondary as well as primary.
10. Data Interpretation and Analysis
Telephonic Interview with Shikhar Chaudhary, CEO, Neurons Asia on 16th April 2018.
Ank(A): How mainstream is neuromarketing in India?
Shikhar (S): It has been just a few years Neuromarketing is not that mainstream in India.
Only big companies like Coke. Unilever etc. have been employing neuromarketing
techniques. It is predominantly used for advertising and media testing.
A: Which neuromarketing techniques are prominent in India?
S: Mainly it’s eye-tracking. The techniques like Heart-rate sensing, GSR etc. which analyse
the sensory reactions to visual stimuli are used. As mentioned earlier they are mainly used for
media testing.
A: Neuromarketing taps in to the brains of consumer to predict his or her behaviour. In

your view is that ethical way to research consumer behaviour?

S: No issues with ethics at all. Neuroimaging devices are just measuring devices. All those
allegations of testing on humans are wrong. As neuroimaging experiments are different from
clinical experiments and have no effect whatsoever on the subject. Also, people with their
own consent volunteers for neuromarketing research.
A: What are the present research methodologies to understand consumer behaviour? In

your view how neuromarketing is going to disrupt the consumer research market?
S: For the past 150-100 years tools used for market research were surveys, focus groups,
asking questions which all are stated response. Neuromarketing goes way beyond that, it is a
measure of Cognitive and emotional response. Most of the people take 85-95% of their
decisions subconsciously and a few decisions are made rationally. Thus, neuromarketing not
only let’s us know what decions people are taking but also why they are taking that decions.
This will surely disrupt the consumer research market.
A: There are some critics who state that Neuromarketing Research data is not
sustainable in long run. What’s your take on this?
S: Completely invalid point. Right from the product conceptualization till thw product hits
the stores, and even after that Neuromarketing data plays a vital role in success of the
product.
A: In today’s market Big Data and analytics are being used in extensive manner to
understand consumer behaviour. How neuromarketing is going to affect this trend?
S: Big Data is a very different approach it collects large amount of data. It can’t tell how to
make products better. Yet it plays an important role to understand consumer. Let’s look it it
in this way Neuromarketing is micro-research which focuses on one participants and extracts
huge data from a single consumer on the other hand Big Data is macro-research it also stores
a huge amount of data but it is collected from a huge number of customers. Both are very
important are going to co-exist.
A: Are Neuromarketing techniques used in Politics?
S: Political parties might as well use Neuromarketing techniques but not in an very open
manner.
A: Can state examples of Neuromarketing being used in India?

S: In India Neuromarketing techniques as I told earlier are used for advertising testing and
media testing. For example, to check how well a pilot episode of a serial is received by the
viewer. FMCG products and retail companies use GSR techniques to analyse various sensory
reactions like touch, taste, smell of their products sometimes in a real-time store like
environment.
A: Does this mean it has a Virtual Reality angle to it?
S: Definitely yes. There recent studies conducted by FB which focused on new virtual reality
techniques.
Telephonic interview with Anand Mahesh, Head, Mavxomm Consulting (PR) conducted on
16th April 2018
A: How mainstream is neuromarketing in India?
M: According to me 40-50% agencies are using it in one way or another. It has become quite
central to the development of consumer research and consumer psychology- in moulding
opinions. From the era of World War Propaganda model to present day PR model research
plays a very important role in understanding people’s behaviour that’s why neuromarketing is
quite mainstream.
A: How are neuromarketing techniques used in India?
M: They are used in a very subtle method. As I’m in the field of PR these techniques are used
from brand placement. To Understand the customers. For example, in case of luxury cars
they are used to make achievers accept the brand.
A: Neuromarketing taps in to the brains of consumer to predict his or her behaviour. In

your view is that ethical way to research consumer behaviour?
M: Its completely ethical. Uncovering Customer’s buying motivation is not unethical. The
data collected from subjects is used in an external method is means no harm to the subject.
Neuromarketing in itself is not something unethical but it has be seen how and for what
purpose the information is used.
A. In your view how neuromarketing is going to disrupt the consumer research market?
M: The ways in which brands will try to gain competitive advantage will completely depend
upon the competition. Every brand will have different motivation.

Neuromarketing has helped to understand the way in which product is used. It can tell them
how to mould their communication strategies.
Social Media advertising itself on TV is something that companies understood through

customer insight they got from neuromarketing techniques. SO, it has already started to
disrupt the Research market.
A: In today’s market Big Data and analytics are being used in extensive manner to
understand consumer behaviour. How neuromarketing is going to affect this trend?
M: Dependence on Big Data and analytics will remain high even after neuromarketing’s
entry into consumer research domain. However, in my view they are inter-related. Big Data
and Analytics help in understanding the online behaviour.
In my view the neuromarketing will do product marketing too. The space which was
revolutionised after the advent of Big Data and analytics.
Automotive industry, mobile phone industry – have benefited from neuromarketing

applications like – consumer insight of a Selfie for better Instagram stories have been very
successful sales idea.
A: How Indian companies and agencies are adapting to Neuromarketing Techniques?
M: Indian Companies are into neuromarketing research but most of them are not available in
public domain they keep them confidential.

11. Findings
 It can be said that neuromarketing in India is in its embryonic stage and is not that
mainstream phenomenon;
 But, it has to be noted that in a time span of few years a lot of agencies have taken
interest or have already started researching in neuromarketing techniques;
 The most prominent neuromarketing techniques used in Indian market are the ones
which are cheap like eye-tracking, facial coding, heart rate sensing and GSR due to
the expensive nature of fMRI and EEG researches and due to lack of and availability
of technology, they are not a viable option for businesses in India;
 Most of the industry experts believe that neuromarketing is completely ethical as long
as the use of data procured is external and is done with the proper consent of the
subjects. They view imaging devices at measuring tools;
 It can be noted that there has been nothing disruptive in the field of market research in
centuries so neuromarketing can be viewed as attend which have the tendency to
disrupt the consumer research market;
 Experts believe that neuromarketing techniques can be used for long term market
research and product development;
 Industry experts don't view neuromarketing as threat to big data and Analytics, they
believe that both big data and neuro marketing techniques can coexist with each other
as their approaches are completely different;
 It has to be noted that the points which have been mentioned in the scope of
neuromarketing in India the industry has taken steps to inculcate neuromarketing
techniques in certain area which were mentioned above;
 Political parties might be using neuromarketing techniques but they are not very open
about it;
 neuromarketing is an exceptional tool for brand placement and molding the
perception of consumers;
 You know marketing has wide applications in marketing product development Public
Relations and brand development;
 It also has to be noted that many major Industries have already taken insights from
neuromarketing and has successfully used that device communication strategies
which are more effective;
 Indian companies due to some reason are very confidential about their
neuromarketing research

12. Conclusion
Neuromarketing may be considered to be still in its embryotic stage but it has been
adopted by the Industry at a rapid pace. The businesses already have started to reap
benefits out of Neuromarketing research. expensive equipment and lack of technology
cab be a problem that Neuromarketing faces in India but Indian Industry should not stop
looking to other options in order to catch up with the businesses in the west. With
development of more innovative technologies like Mynd scanner by NeuroFocus, the
Neuromarketing will become more and more cheaper as well as accessible to businesses
around the world. Indian Businesses have to keep a tight watch on these developments.
The Scope of Neuromarketing is unending in India and has possible applications in many
sectors.

13. Suggestions and Recommendations
 In a country like India if businesses use neuromarketing techniques to extract data

from the subconscious mind of the customers in order to make product appeal to
the people then this may cause people to become more brand conscious. In a
country like India where income gap is very high this could have severe negative
impact on ones who have low incomes. Also, it will have severe impact on brand-
less products (indigenous products) and local brands which might not be able to
exploit benefits of neuromarketing techniques to full extent at least not
immediately.
 In India government should come up with a policy regarding neuromarketing.
Neuromarketing techniques have been criticized for experimentation on human
brain. Also, Non-government regulating bodies such as Market Research Society
of India (MRSI) should also take up responsibility to make certain guidelines for
neuromarketing in India.
 Neuromarketing can have a severe impact on the people if it is misused for
political means. Government bodies and Election Commission of India should
make sure that neuromarketing research in the field of politics is highly regulated.

14. Annexure
Telephonic Interview Questions
Q1. How main stream is neuromarketing in India?
Q2. Which neuromarketing techniques are prominent in India?
Q3. Neuromarketing tabs in to the brain of consumer to predict his or her behaviour in your
view is this ethical way to research consumer behaviour?
Q4. What are the present research methodology to understand consumer behaviour and how
can neuromarketing disrupt them?
Q5. In your view is neuromarketing a relevant methodology to understand consumer

behaviour in long term?
Q6. In today’s market big data and analytics are being used in extensive manner to
understand and predict consumer behaviour how neuromarketing is going to change this
Trend?

15. End Notes
i
Neuromarketing: Tapping Into the 'Pleasure Center' of Consumers (Carmen Nobel, 2013)\
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/02/01/neuromarketing-tapping-into-the-
pleasure-center-of-consumers/#38f4a6702745
ii
Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Behavior (Christophe Morin)
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-010-9408-1
iii
Consumer’s perception towards neuromarketing in India with special reference to Kano model (Harit Kumar,
Dr. Neha Mathur, Dr. Sangeeta Jauhari)
granthaalayah.com/Articles/Vol5Iss4/14_IJRG17_A04_234.pdf
iv
Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in business, (Daniel Areily and Gregory S. Berns
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2875927/
v
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_tracking
vi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facial_coding
vii
Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) Copyright © BrainSigns
https://www.brainsigns.com/en/science/s2/technologies/gsr
viii
What is GSR (galvanic skin response) and how does it work? https://imotions.com/blog/gsr/
ix
NeuroFocus Uses Neuromarketing To Hack Your Brain (Adam L. Penenberg, 2011)
https://www.fastcompany.com/1769238/neurofocus-uses-neuromarketing-hack-your-brain
16. References
1. Consumer’s perception towards neuromarketing in India with special reference to Kano
model. (2018). International Journal of Research - GRANTHAALAYAH, [online] 5(4), pp.135-
142. Available at: http://granthaalayah.com/Articles/Vol5Iss4/14_IJRG17_A04_234.pdf
[Accessed 14 Apr. 2018].
2. Morin, C. (2011). Neuromarketing: The New Science of Consumer Behavior. Society, [online]
48(2), pp.131-135. Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12115-010-9408-
1 [Accessed 4 Mar. 2018].
3. Lee, N., Broderick, A. and Chamberlain, L. (2007). What is ‘neuromarketing’? A discussion
and agenda for future research. International Journal of Psychophysiology, [online] 63(2),
pp.199-204. Available at:
https://is.muni.cz/el/1421/jaro2012/PSB_323/.../2007_What_is_Neuromarketing.pdf
[Accessed 5 Mar. 2018].
4. Ariely, D. and Berns, G. (2010). Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in
business. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, [online] 11(4), pp.284-292. Available at:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2875927/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2018].
5. Nobel, C. (2018). Neuromarketing: Tapping Into the 'Pleasure Center' of Consumers. [online]
Forbes.com. Available at:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2013/02/01/neuromarketing-
tapping-into-the-pleasure-center-of-consumers/#38f4a6702745 [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].
6. Looney, S. (2018). Top Neuromarketing Trends to Watch in 2017. [online] adageindia.in.
Available at: http://www.adageindia.in/digital/digitalnext/top-neuromarketing-trends-to-
watch-in-2017/articleshow/55882128.cms [Accessed 12 Apr. 2018].
7. Penenberg, A. (2018). NeuroFocus Uses Neuromarketing To Hack Your Brain. [online]
fastcompany.com. Available at: https://www.fastcompany.com/1769238/neurofocus-uses-
neuromarketing-hack-your-brain [Accessed 4 Mar. 2018].

Neuromarketing Techniques and Their Scope in India

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NEUROMARKETING

TECHNIQUES AND THEIR

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT FOR THE AWARD OF

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MASS COMMUNICATION

Date: 13th April 2018

Place: Indian Institute of Mass Communication

Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Signature of Internal Signature of External

भभभभभभ भभ भभभभभ भभभभभभभ

Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Neuromarketing is the upcoming trend in the field of consumer behaviour research.

Department of Advertising and Public Relations

It is an honour to be a part of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, which gave us an

Department of Advertising and Public Relations

Department of Advertising and Public Relations