INTRODUCTION

Neuromarketing is the merging of two disciplines namely neuroimaging and marketing (Obrenovic 2016).
Neuromarketing originated in the late 90s where the person widely considered to the founder was a Harvard Professor
by the name of Jerry Zaltman. Jerry Zaltman thought out of an innovative way to use the modern technology of brain
imaging for further researches on marketing and consumer behaviour issues. Hence Neuromarketing is essentially a
multidisciplinary subject that encompasses several disciplines such as psychology, sociology, neurology and marketing.
As Tourtoulou pointed out in his study in 2013 “Neuromarketing is the know how about the how information is
processed and decisions are made by humans and also to search for efficient ways in which businesses can communicate
with the brain in more detailed and precise fashion”. In the scientific journal for Psychophysiology, Neuromarketing is
defined as "the contribution neuroscientific methods can make to the understanding of marketing-relevant human
behaviour is likely to be considerable” (lee et al 2007). The main tenant of Neuromarketing is to help understand better
the various ways of consumer thinking, emotional reactions, suggestions or preferred value. The use of neuromarketing
can be found in diverse areas such as product development, pricing, innovation, communication mix creation and much
more. The main objective of neuromarketing is to have a better understanding and grasp of customer motivations,
needs and values. It serves as sort of prediction of consumer behaviour and their distinct responses to peculiar stimuli.
As a result we have seen the emergence of neuromarketing as a new area of marketing that concerns itself with the
psychological reactions of consumers in response to marketing elements such as such as brands, products and product
lines.

The aim of neuroscience as a scientific discipline is to help explore different parts of the nervous systems and how they
relate to each other. Neuroscience is described by L. Zurawicks as the fusion between numerous disciplines such as the
“molecular biology, electrophysiology, neurophysiology, anatomy, embryology and developmental biology, cellular
biology, behavioural biology, neurology, cognitive neuropsychology and cognitive sciences” (Zurawicki 2010).
Neuromarketing is usually termed as new marketing subcategory. In order to help identify and understand the human
brain which is responsible for the different customer behaviours we encounter and to increase effectiveness of
marketing activities, techniques adapted from neuroscience are often implemented. Neuromarketing is a contemporary
science that presents a fusion between neuroscience and marketing. Individual feedback provided by customers has to
be taken into consideration by professionals in this field. Further thinking has to conduct on the different ways
neuromarketing can impact on marketing research and activities.

NEUROMARKETING HISTORY

In 1960, it marked the beginning of neuromarketing when a pioneer by the name of Herbert Krugman conducted an
experiment where dilated pupils of consumers were measured as indicator of interest for particular products and
advertisement. Later the uses of galvanic skin reactions were employed to track emotional reactions when exposed to
products and advertisements (Obrenovic 2016). Now a new method is being employed to better assess interest in
advertising called eye tracking. Eye tracking helps in precise tracking of eye pupil revealing the places that help catch the
eye of human brain. In 1970, further study was conducted by Felming and Krugman on the hemispheres of the brain and
their process through encephalography where electrical activities of the brain were recorded. As a result these
techniques achieved great development in the science field. Unfortunately, no one has still been able to properly take
advantage of these techniques and apply it to marketing Hanlon 2007). In the early 2000s some American companies
started showing interest by retaining the services of an advisory which helped provide them with some researches in
neuromarketing.

In all the history of neuromarketing, the research that is considered a significant milestone. It was a research conducted
by Read Montague called the “Pepsi Challenge” during the 1975. The research demonstrated how much brand affect us
to the extent that it make us think our favoured brand is better compared to competition even though two products are
completely identical. Nowadays various techniques of neuromarketing are used to help in study of consumer
behaviours. The main techniques employed are:-
  Eye tracking – this method employs the recording of human eyes movement. The main component of this
method is the monitoring of intensity and frequency of the view. It helps indicate where and what people are
looking at for longer and more frequent fashion. Enlargement of pupils are also recorded (T, Perrachione, J.
2008)
 Electroencephalography – Originally founded in 1929, it is still one of the most widely used methods is
neuromarketing researches. Pulses generated in response to activation of neurons are measured through the
placement of electrodes on the human skin. This method is relatively affordable when compared to other
methods of neuromarketing that are more expensive (T, Perrachione, J. 2008).
 Magneto Encephalography – This method help measure activity of neurons by capturing the magnetic field
generated by it. It allows for accurate measurements with accuracy of a few millimetres. The time resolution is
similar to that of encephalography. This method is less frequently used due to the high financial cost for its
usage and acquisition (T, Perrachione, J. 2008).
 Functional Magnetic resonance imaging – This method helps in direct measurement of the neurons directly .
However it is a technique that measure brain activity indirectly. Mapping of brain response to various internal or
external stimuli are usually conducted using this method due to its ability for precise measurements in the parts
where the activities are occurring. This method is usually costly (T, Perrachione, J. 2008).
 Positron Emission Tomography – One of the most expensive techniques, it uses the method of nuclear
medicine. This technique makes the use of radioactive substances to measure the flow of the substances and
the places where it is accumulating. This method is rarely used in research and it is highly unlikely that it is used
for marketing research activity (T, Perrachione, J. 2008).

Neuromarketing Application for Packaging design

Companies are now relying more and more on Neuromarketing for their packaging design. Due to the fact that most of
the consumer decision are often made in store, in order to thrive in this competitive market capturing the consumer
interest through interesting and effective packaging is a must. Getting packaging design wrongly made can result in loss
of revenue for the company. Since time immemorial advertisers has always known that it not the inside that usually
counts but the outside. But with the help of Neuromarketing they took it to a whole new level. In order to redesign their
packaging, brands such as Campbell’s and Frito-Lay has employed neuro-imaging. During the test conducted, customers
were shown different packaging and the responses were recorded in 3 categories: - Positive, negative or neutral. On top
of that several tests were conducted in relation to the colour, text and images. The findings from the study was that
customers tend to shy away from shiny packaging whereas showed no negative response to matte packaging. Following
this Frito –lays scrapped all its shiny packaging in favour of matte one and this resulted in a significant improvement in
sales.
Neuromarketing Application for more impactful advertising

Human beings are irrational and emotional creatures by default. Hence people have a tendency to be motivated more
by the emotional value of a brand rather than other factors. According to a study conducted by Harvard, it was
determined that emotional connection is a much more influential factor in attracting potential customers than customer
satisfaction. One brand that took full advantage of this is the brand Airbnb. Airbnb is a business based in the hospitality
industry. The brand suffered from strong opposition from hotel businesses when it tried to penetrate the New York
Market. Airbnb was faced with a serious problem as the business wasn’t taking off. Then in order to create awareness to
the general public, a campaign with the slogan “New Yorkers Agree: Airbnb is great for New York city “and a video was
made featuring one of Airbnb hosts. In the video shared on social media by Airbnb, the brand told the story of how
Airbnb helped one of its hosts survive the financial crush after the demise of the host husband. This video gained more
than 300k views and resonated deeply with its audience making Airbnb a success in New York

Neuromarketing Application for online marketing

The current hottest trend on social media in this digital day and age is undoubtly Instagram and influencer marketing.
According to the site Influencer Marketing Hib, businesses for every dollar spent on influencer marketing earn an
average of 6 dollars in return. This is chiefly because as humans we have a tendency to trust industry experts. People in
themselves have an innate tendency to trust advice from an authority in an industry. This can be also seen in our daily
life as we tend to seek advice from seniors to validate our decisions. One example is the brand H&M

H & M is an up-and-coming clothing business that has joined fashion bloggers to market its brand. To showcase their
outfits on Instagram, the company collaborated with blogger Julie Sariñana and model Ela Velden. Indeed, the campaign
was pragmatic in its strategy i.e. to spread word of mouth awareness and, due to the participation of industry experts, it
achieved its target.
Neuromarketing for entertainment aspects

One of the fundamental elements that always sells is Humour. People want to associate themselves with a brand that
has a humorous personality and that is more important if one is targeting the younger population such as Millennials
and Generation. A study done by Chegg found out that ads with an element of humour has an 80% change of being
recalled. One funny ad that stands out is by Charmin. The brands use puns and repartee through its social media posts to
crack up its audience. This resulted in an impressive number of follower and sales owing to its humorous side.

Neuromarketing for in-store marketing

The first piece of information that the consumer encounters is of uttermost importance. It usually set the base for any
consequent decision making and set the tone for any purchasing behaviour. As individuals we can’t evaluate the value of
something based on its intrinsic worth but instead use surrounding alternatives to compare it. This is termed as “the
anchoring effect”. For example, when Walmart puts up a promo on a certain item for e.g. Toothpaste tubs in promo will
be placed among others brands that are at higher price. As a result, people have a tendency to buy the one at promo
price. In this way designated items are sold with the anchoring effect.

Neuromarketing for increasing brand equity and value

One of the major way for increasing brand equity is through the usage of colours. Colours can help with brand recall and
also evoking a wide range of emotions. Studies have shown consistently that there is a link between certain colours and
emotions. The right ulitization of colors can prove out to be a strong and powerful marketing tool. One major example is
the Coca Cola pervasive use of the color red. Red is so inextricably related to Coca-Cola . With the typical flourish of
white, new, more minimalist packaging and advertisement has walked right back to the primary red.
FUTURE OF NEUROMARKETING

From the many companies implementing neuromarketing, below are some additional examples of how neuromarketing
is being implemented by companies to their business

 One well known example is IBM Watson by IBM. It is basically a computer designed to answer questions in
natural language and also predict customer preferences. It has been considered as a great input to gaining
insight in what the customer values and needs
 The use of eye tracking technique by Microsoft to help understand their client preferences and inclination for
deeper engagement. Data mining of EEG are also employed for a better understanding of human and computer
interactions. It also involves different types of feelings experienced by the subject as well as sense of satisfaction
or frustration
 Google has brought a change to biometrics. This helps in measuring the efficiency of video sharing websites such
as YouTube, Overlays vs. Pre-rolls. The result demonstrated that overlays were deemed as more useful

As neuromarketing will keep on evolving and increasing. New methods to better ascertain customer behaviour will be
found along with new methods for deeper customer engagement. Below are five predictions for how neuromarketing
will evolve in a future time frame

 Collaboration between various kinds of platforms will follow to ensure that sufficient comparison and adequate
collaboration are conducted. Hence researches will be able to share their outcomes in a confident manner.
 More and more studies will be conducted to help in better analyzing , understanding and comparing the
information and relevant data obtained. As a result deeper and more profound studies of the human mind will
ensure.
 A better benchmarking of companies will be implemented. Once implemented this will help in predicting buying
behaviour

CONCLUSION

During the last few decades, tremendous changes have been observed in the field of marketing. Those changes were
due to way that people way of consuming; their lifestyle and science itself were undergoing great changes. With the
advances in neuromarketing, never before marketing research has been so accurate and concrete. Opposed to
traditional methods of research where the consumer couldn’t always honestly and precisely answer to questions,
neuromarketing techniques go beyond that limitation. As a result, an unknown world of how our unconscious works lies
beyond us to explore. It is a relatively new field of research with little study done. However due to the nature of the
techniques being employed during research, many questions on ethics and precision of neuromarketing arises. The
increasingly danger and abuse that may result from its usage is often a subject of concern. However neuromarketing
research provides us with a precise and unique feedback about the efficiency of our marketing campaigns from the point
of the consumer. This feedback will ultimately help in creating more efficient campaigns in the future. In this regards we
can expect a prosperous future for the field of Neuromarketing.

References

https://ins-news.com/en/100/882/2582/Neuromarketing-leads-to-better-packaging-design.htm

https://imotions.com/blog/neuromarketing-examples/

https://www.relevance.com/neuromarketing-6-examples-of-brands-using-psychology-in-social-media-marketing/