See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/318789692

Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour: an integrative literature

review between 2010 and 2015

Article  in  International Journal of Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence · January 2017

DOI: 10.1504/IJBFMI.2017.085371

CITATIONS READS

9 5,006

4 authors, including:

Marina Teixeira de Souza Jorge Henrique Caldeira Oliveira

University of São Paulo University of São Paulo
5 PUBLICATIONS   14 CITATIONS    57 PUBLICATIONS   630 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Janaina M. E. Giraldi
University of São Paulo
122 PUBLICATIONS   571 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

Country of Origin Image - a firm perspective View project

country branding: evaluation of residents' attitudes towards Olympics 2016 in Brazil View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Jorge Henrique Caldeira Oliveira on 08 July 2019.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

270 Int. J. Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, Vol. 3, No. 3, 2017

Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour: an

integrative literature review between 2010 and 2015

Icaro Luiz dos Santos Jordão,

Marina Teixeira de Souza,
Jorge Henrique Caldeira de Oliveira* and
Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi
School of Economics, Business Administration and
Accounting at Ribeirao Preto (FEA-RP),
University of Sao Paulo (USP), Brazil
Av. Bandeirantes 3900, Monte Alegre,
Ribeirão Preto (SP), CEP: 14040-905, Brazil
Email: jordao.icaro@gmail.com
Email: ts.marina@usp.br
Email: jorgecaldeira@usp.br
Email: jgiraldi@usp.br
*Corresponding author

Abstract: One of the biggest questions in today’s market is what drives

consumers to decide on one product instead of another; therefore there is a
growing interest in understanding how brain responses influence the decision
making process of consumers. Neuromarketing presents itself as one of the
main areas of study aimed at achieving this goal, however it is still a new
and constantly developing field. This research analysed the studies of
neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour over the last five years through
an integrative literature review, identifying how the studies on this subject are
being developed. This study concludes that major advances are being made in
the area, and that neuromarketing can really help in the understanding of
cognitive processes and their influence on decision-making, and it has a better
performance when used jointly with traditional marketing techniques.

Keywords: neuromarketing; consumer neuroscience; consumer behaviour;

literature review.

Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Jordão, I.L.D.S.,

de Souza, M.T., de Oliveira, J.H.C. and Giraldi, J.D.M (2017) ‘Neuromarketing
applied to consumer behaviour: an integrative literature review between 2010
and 2015’, Int. J. Business Forecasting and Marketing Intelligence, Vol. 3,
No. 3, pp.270–288.

Biographical notes: Icaro Luiz dos Santos Jordão received his Bachelor’s in
Business Management from the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. He is
the Former President of the Junior FEA-RP student body, an organisation
formed by USP students that provides business consulting services. His
research interests include neuromarketing and consumer behaviour.

Marina Teixeira de Souza is a Master of Science in Management of

Organizations student from the University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil. She
received her Bachelor’s in Business Management from the UNISEB-FGV

Copyright © 2017 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 271

University Center, Brazil. Her research interests include neuromarketing,

digital marketing and consumer behaviour.

Jorge Henrique Caldeira de Oliveira is an Associate Professor of Strategy and

Management at the Department of Business Administration, University of
São Paulo (USP), Brazil. He received his Doctoral and Master’s degrees from
the São Paulo State University (UNESP), Brazil. He has also attended a
post-doctoral period at UNESP. He is a co-Founder and Coordinator of the
G-Mind/USP & CNPq group of Neuromarketing and Neuroeconomics Studies.
His research interests include neuromarketing, marketing communications and
digital marketing.

Janaina de Moura Engracia Giraldi is an Associate Professor of Marketing and

Management at the Department of Business Administration, University of São
Paulo (USP), Brazil. She received her Doctoral and Master’s degrees from the
University de São Paulo (USP). She also obtained her Master’s of Science
degree from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KULeuven), Belgium. She is
a co-Founder and Coordinator of the G-Mind/USP & CNPq group of
neuromarketing and neuroeconomics studies. Her research interests include
neurmarketing, the country-of-origin effect, country image, country branding,
consumer behaviour and strategic marketing.

1 Introduction

Organisations aim to develop and launch products and services that can increase their
profits and market share, looking for initiatives that generate the expected demand and
especially be able to engage consumers on the benefits and qualities of the products and
services offered. The main objective is to generate an impact on the consumer, so that at
the time of decision making it is clear to the consumer why they must select the
organisation’s brand over the other (Plassmann et al., 2007).
Large sums are invested in this process that often do not produce the desired effect on
consumers, mainly by not generating proper engagement, making them not opt for the
brand or product in question, thus causing a great waste of money and ideas (Morin,
2011).
According to Vecchiato et al. (2014), over 70% of new products launched worldwide,
including cars and shoes, even when tested through traditional marketing techniques and
psychological interviews or questionnaires, fail within the first six months. This happens
simply because people do not say, or cannot state their true views about their interest and
buying motivation when interviewed about new products or advertising campaigns. In
this context, Plassmann et al. (2015) identified five main ways that neuromarketing can
help marketing professionals: identifying behaviour mechanisms that help validate,
refine, or extend existing marketing theories, measuring implicit processes in decision
making, dissociating between different psychological processes, understanding individual
differences and improving predictions of behaviour.
According to Ariely and Berns (2010), the main purpose of marketing is to help
create products that fit people. Under this assumption, marketing serves two main
proposals. The first is to guide the design and presentation of products so that they
become more compatible consumer preferences. The second is to facilitate the consumer
decision process.
272 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

One of the big questions that permeate society yet to be clarified is: what leads the
consumer to make a choice for a specific brand or product over the other, based on the
perceived costs and benefits (Hsu and Yoon, 2015; Solnais et al., 2013).
Faced with this question and technological development of the last decades, an
alternative to better understand consumer behaviour has gained strength against the
traditional existing in the marketing field; neuromarketing. Stanton et al. (2016) consider
neuromarketing as the use of neuroscience and physiological research techniques to gain
new insights into consumers’ behaviour, preferences, decision making, and other aspects
of human cognition and behaviour related to marketing.
The combination of the neuro and marketing terms implies the convergence of two
fields of study, neuroscience and marketing. Plassmann et al. (2012) indicate that
neuromarketing can be distinguished from consumer neuroscience by restricting the
former to industry applications and the latter to academic research. Consumer
neuroscience is thus a more rigorous version of neuromarketing, delivering findings that
are embedded in theory (Agarwal and Dutta, 2015).
One can make a parallel in which neuromarketing is to marketing as
neuropsychological is to psychology. While neuropsychology studies the relationship
between the brain and the cognitive and physiological functions of the human being,
neuromarketing promotes the value of inquiring about consumer behaviour from a
physiological perspective (Morin, 2011).
The use of brain monitoring techniques, which is fundamental to medicine and
biology, also contributes significantly to non-medical areas, such as marketing. The use
of some of these methods has been focused on analysing and understanding consumer
behaviour at the brain level (Oliveira et al., 2014), as well as allowed the development of
innovative models and techniques in order to understand experiences of the human
unconscious (Cruz et al., 2016).
The combination of cognitive neuroscience and marketing research has seen great
advances in scientific production, examining a wide variety of phenomena related to
market changes. Advances in neuromarketing techniques can offer a new perspective on
the various processes involved in these exchanges, such as pricing policy and strategy,
distribution channels, branding questions and other factors that influence consumer
behaviour (Senior and Lee, 2008).
In recent years, the application of neuroscientific techniques to the study of emotional
and cognitive responses of consumers has been growing, and is seen as one of the main
areas of studies on consumer behaviour for the future, and a great asset for companies to
improve their communication with consumers (Murphy et al., 2008).
This field becomes increasingly interesting to both researchers and the market, as it
provides more reliable information than that obtained through traditional marketing
methods such as consumer behaviour and the rationalisation of decision making
(Vlăsceanu, 2014a, 2014b). However, Stanton et al. (2016) indicate that, with the growth
of the field, criticisms and fears of neuromarketing’s purported power have grown,
including both immediate effects on individual consumers and long-term effects on
society as a whole, including positive rights to privacy, autonomy, and dignity as well as
negative rights not to be deceived, subjected to experiments without consent, or used as a
means only.
Moreover, Garcia and Saad (2008) state that the neuromarketing field of research
does not possess an overarching theoretical framework to guide its research agenda. A
more recent discussion provided by Ulman et al. (2015) declares that further scientific
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 273

research is still needed in order to establish a stronger basis for the validation of the
scientific background of neuromarketing. Nonetheless, Agarwal and Dutta (2015) believe
that consumer neuroscience itself has been able to address all concerns of the critics,
promising to further emerge as a more rigorous scientific discipline.
According to Dinu et al. (2010), new consumer behaviour study techniques should
contribute to decision making through the use of information to facilitate this process in
order to identify the real reasons for the purchase that should cause a major upheaval in
the companies, making these further focus their research on consumer behaviour. It
means that the development of the collaboration between neuroscience and marketing
researchers can help advance knowledge in several key areas, not only related to
consumer decisions, but also on how we interact, relate, and behave in the present context
of markets and organisations, being fundamental to the success of any market initiative
(Lee et al., 2007).
In this context, the main objective of this paper is to analyse neuromarketing studies
applied to consumer behaviour that have been published in the period from 2010 to 2015,
in order to assist the development of this field of study and to organise and consolidate
the knowledge already developed. The choice of those years is justified because of the
production peak on the subject in this time period, which was identified from a search in
major databases – Scopus and Web of Science – using the following key words:
‘neuromarketing’, ‘consumer neuroscience’ and ‘consumer behaviour’. Table 1 presents
the studies from 2010 to 2015.
Table 1 Studies located using the selected keywords

Neuromarketing Consumer neuroscience Consumer behaviour

Year Web of Web of Web of
Scopus Scopus Scopus
Science Science Science
2010 20 13 17 11 3,109 1,972
2011 21 16 17 12 3,370 2,107
2012 27 20 32 18 3,577 2,495
2013 21 16 18 15 3,991 2,175
2014 28 20 30 26 4,289 2,705
2015 40 33 39 30 4,152 3,268
Source: Formulated by authors
Table 1 shows that the number of studies over those years is increasing, being an
indication that this is a developing research area. In this regard, this paper has the
following specific objectives:
1 To classify the characteristics of these articles.
2 To describe the strengths and opportunities in the existing literature.
3 To highlight which topics should be addressed in future research to assist in the
development of the study field.
It is expected that this study will contribute to the consolidation of existing knowledge
and primarily suggest the main study opportunities existing in the neuromarketing field.
This will assist in the development of understanding of how the consumer behaves in the
face of various stimuli to which they are subjected to daily.
274 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

This paper is divided into the following parts: Section 2 presents the theoretical
framework on neuromarketing, the study of brain areas, techniques for research, and
problems faced in the neuromarketing area. Section 3 presents the methodology used in
this study and Section 4 presents the results, analysis and discussion. Finally, the
conclusions, limitations and perspectives are presented in Section 5.

2 Theoretical foundation

2.1 Neuromarketing
Marketing professionals use a wide range of techniques ranging from focus groups and
interviews to market testing. Generally, the simplest technique to be used incurs the
lowest cost, as in the case of focal groups. However, this type of technique has more bias
and may not be as assertive as some techniques that require greater investment (Ariely
and Berns, 2010).
In a particular moment or subject matter that may be delicate or some kind of taboo
before society, this emotional state causes the respondent to expresses a view that
sometimes is not theirs, but a common view defined by society on an issue. Some
responses however are expressed in a non-consistent manner with reality, with the
intention of impressing the interviewer (Hubert and Kenning, 2008). These approaches
can be combined with an emerging discipline, neuromarketing, and thereby bring better
results of the role and functioning of the brain during the decision-making process (Ohme
and Matukin, 2012).
According to Fortunato et al. (2014), neuromarketing can be defined as a technique of
neuroscience that identifies the cortical regions responsible for consumer behaviour, and
also as a research tool for observing the reactions of the brain during sustained market
stimulus by the consumer.
Neuromarketing is an interdisciplinary field that aims to understand consumer
behaviour, studying the brain through the use of various techniques, such as
neuroimaging. The research aims to measure the impact on an individual market stimuli
and thus provide new ways to understand how the consumer stores, comprises, processes
and uses the wide range of information which is received daily (Bercea, 2013).
According to Vlăsceanu (2014a), through neuromarketing it is possible to find out
how the consumer behaves and makes decisions by accessing unconscious thoughts,
emotions, feelings and desires that activate the buying decision. One can thus understand
how the unconscious influences the buying decision and its relation to the marketing of
products. In addition, it is hoped that a better understanding of the cognitive mechanisms
of the brain through new technologies, has the potential to explain many questions that
marketers face today. Consequently, efforts aimed at neuromarketing can help understand
the types of complex purchasing behaviour (Fortunato et al., 2014).
The degree of intensity of an experience directly influences the emotional
engagement that we have about it, that is, the higher the intensity, the more consumers
tend to engage on a particular experience, and this stimulation can influence at the time of
purchase decision a specific product or service. This process can be identified by
measuring brain waves when the consumer receives the stimulus, and the displayed
brainwave pattern may indicate success for memorising a particular stimulus. A high
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 275

degree of emotional engagement with an understanding of the presented stimulus may

indicate intent to purchase (Vlăsceanu, 2014a).
According to Ariely and Berns (2010), the assumption is that the data obtained by
neuroimaging would generate more reliable information on the preferences of consumers
than marketing pattern studies, and would be free of biases that are faced in traditional
research. This happens because traditional market research methods fail to tap into the
subconscious processes happening in the brain of the consumers. Rather, they seek to
evaluate consumers’ attitudes towards the brands, and these may not convert into the
actual behaviour at the point of purchase (Agarwal and Dutta, 2015).
Neuromarketing has been used in the study of the purchase decision process and also
consumer behaviour, focused on improving the information available for products and
sales outlet marketing actions, making them more effective from a clear direction of
where and how the consumer is more sensitive to a stimulus (Reimann et al., 2011).

2.2 Neuromarketing and the study of the brain areas

According to Reimann et al. (2011), consumer neuroscience identifies several areas of the
brain as being important for research. The first is the striatum, which consists of several
subareas, the most important being the putamen, caudate nucleus and nucleus accumbens.
According to studies, the striatum is the area where social factors have greater influence,
and are directly linked to the purchasing decision, resuming preference for products and
also making the relation of expectation and reward of previous purchases (Knutson et al.,
2007).
Also according to Knutson et al. (2007) the insula is another area of great importance
in decision making, especially because it is an area affected by negative stimuli, such as
previous experience of frustration or very high risk, being fundamental at the moment of
deliberation for making a decision.
The amygdala appears as an important modulator of memories and the strengthening
process, whether positive or negative, and therefore is very important in understanding
and analysing marketing stimuli and their position in long-term memory. The
hippocampus also appears as a closely related memory area, especially taste and products
already experienced and used by the consumer. Thus, both areas also have great
importance in the study of the brain (Murray, 2007; Reimann et al., 2011).
The orbitofrontal cortex integrates sensory and affective information from different
regions of the brain as a way to understand and determine various trade-offs presented to
us and their possible results, being positive or negative. This type of information is of
fundamental importance to anticipate the sense of value for the individual in question in
evaluating the success or otherwise of an initiative (Wallis, 2007).
The final area is the ventral tegmental area, which is largely responsible for the
transmission of dopamine among brain areas. The modular role of dopamine is decision-
making, and can be of fundamental importance in understanding an advertisement or a
stimulus made by a company and its sense of reward for the individual affected, thereby
determining the success, or not of the stimulus (Fields et al., 2007). Dopamine and
another neurotransmitter called serotonin are very promising to neuromarketing, as they
affect neural activity in cerebral structures associated with adaptive behaviours,
especially that involving decision-making and reinforcement learning which are recurrent
situations in consumer behaviour (Lichters et al., 2016).
276 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

2.3 Neuromarketing and techniques for research

Some of the main techniques used in research related to neuromarketing are
functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), positron emission tomography (PET),
magnetoencephalography (MEG), the electroencephalogram (EEG), galvanic skin
response (GSR) and eye tracking.
Huettel et al. (2014) explain that fMRI is a neuroimaging technique that measures the
amount of deoxygenated hemoglobin and, to Vecchiato et al. (2014) it is a technique
which returns a sequence of well refined images of cerebral activity by measuring the
level of oxygen within the cerebral blood flow. The technique is characterised by a high
spatial resolution, hence capable of detecting activations also in deep brain structures.
However, some limitations are: they are the difficulty scale (only in a laboratory or
clinic, with high cost and highly specialised); low temporal resolution, the activity is on
average for several seconds; it is noisy and difficult to infer a particular mental process,
based only on observations of brain regions.
PET, as with fMRI, is a spatial imaging technique, but uses radioactive particles
(positrons) that must flow through the body of the person, so that when activation in the
brain occurs it is possible to identify the part of the stimulated brain, since the substance
causes a reaction. This technique is considered invasive and expensive, which ultimately
decrease the amount of studies that use it (Tovino, 2007).
Brain activity is due to electrochemical signals between neurons, which create a
magnetic field that can be mapped by MEG techniques which detect variation in the
magnetic field generated by the electric currents produced by activity. This technique has
a great temporal resolution but loses out in spatial resolution to EEG for example. One of
the MEG limitations is in relation to identification of where on the brain surface is the
activity, therefore it should be used when there is already a pre-determined area to be
stimulated (Morin, 2011).
EEG is a technique in which electrodes are placed on the scalp of the individual to
measure brain waves associated with various stimuli. It is less invasive and less
expensive than other techniques and in addition, provides excellent performance in the
assessment of emotional styles, meaning an excellent temporal resolution (millisecond
changes in brain activity) (Stanton et al., 2016). Being less sensitive to motion, EEG can
be used in most experiments that require action by the participant, for example,
experiments in supermarkets. In use, at least two points on the scalp must be set since the
device takes reference points in space where these reference electrodes will be
positioned. As a disadvantage, the fact that it is only effective in identifying most
superficial electrical signals can be observed (Vecchiato et al., 2011).
GSR is a technique that allows to assess states associated with emotion, cognition and
attention (Vecchiato et al., 2010) through electrodes attached to the fingers of the person
that are sensitive to the change of local skin conductance due to activation of sweat
(Fontanella et al., 2012). Furthermore, GSR boost results and possibilities of use, e.g.
how to relate emotions to good or bad feelings about a particular stimulus (Gakhal and
Senior, 2008).
Eye tracking is a technique that measures where the person is looking, the time spent
looking at one point, and where the individual has set their vision for longer, that is,
where they had more attention. Through this technique it is possible to identify the focus
of consumer attention. As a disadvantage, the fact can be mentioned that this technique
cannot capture stimuli related to the emotions and the areas activated by the individual
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 277

during the search. Usually, eye tracking is used with other techniques in a complementary
manner, and it has gained a lot of attention because of the great visual pollution we
experience in the world, enabling researchers to identify the main focus of the research
participant, and thus achieve better results with visual campaigns (Perrachione and
Perrachione, 2008; Santos et al., 2015).

2.4 Problems faced by the area of neuromarketing

According to Oliveira et al. (2014), through neuromarketing it is possible to find out if
the person just likes a product or has a real desire to purchase it. With this it is possible
that in the future we can determine the probability of people buying certain products
according to the influence they have in brain activation. Neuromarketing is a way of
using science to increase understanding of everyday experiences and its role in consumer
decision-making, making the products more effective and serving the expectations of
consumers (Lindstrom, 2008).
In spite of all the advances in research related to neuroscience and neuromarketing,
the field of study still has some limitations, such as the heterogeneity of the methods used
(Solnais et al., 2013), which makes it difficult to generalise the results so that they can be
as significant as the results of traditional methods of consumer research.
Another important aspect that should be taken into account and that appears as an
obstacle to the broad development of research in neuroscience applied to the consumer,
relates to the ethical problems related to studies and how they are conducted, both for the
sample components, consumers and their free will to choose, and to universities and
companies in the segment (Fisher et al., 2010).
In this line of analysis of ethical problems, the main points raised are the invasion of
privacy and the consequent threat of free choice. This discussion is generated due to the
possibility of obtaining personal data through neuromarketing techniques, which allow
marketers to seek more efficient means of influencing consumer choice without the
consumer necessarily having control of the situation (Wilson et al., 2008). Oliveira et al.
(2015) alerts about several ethical nuances in neuromarketing studies in regards of
purpose (private wellness or society’s wellness), organisational type (profit-seeking,
public sector, or non-profit entity), and industrial sector (impact on public health,
education, etc.).
For Fisher et al. (2010) a situation which ultimately delays the development of
research in the neuromarketing field is the lack of publication of results by companies
using this methodology, since they want to preserve their competitive advantage.
However it is clear that it would be of great value if these results were published in the
academic literature. In addition, there is also the question of the use of some proprietary
software to interpret the data obtained by neuroimaging tools, which culminate with the
problems of replication studies mentioned above, mainly due to the lack of review and
comparison of those already made (Perrachione and Perrachione, 2008).
The advance on ethical questions can also help demystify the ability of neuroscience
and its equipment to read the consumer’s mind (Logothetis, 2008). One of the main
concerns regarding the development of neuromarketing is the ideal that it is possible that
the studies in this field find the ‘buy button’ in the minds of consumers and thereby
propitiate corporations the opportunity to create and develop advertising campaigns that
would be almost irresistible to the consumer, since the campaign would directly access
the subconscious (Lee et al., 2007).
278 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

But scholars attest that it is more likely that cognitive neuroscience demarcates a
‘buying process’ rather than a ‘buy button’, in understanding how multiple brain
processes intertwine and take the decision to purchase or not a particular product or
service. Neuroscience techniques should be considered just one of the many methods that
allow scholars to refine and improve their predictions of consumer behaviour, in addition
to surveys, focus groups, experiments, and other traditional research techniques (Stanton
et al., 2016).
Furthermore, most ethical objections to neuromarketing refer to risks of harms and
violations of rights. However, some of these fears are not distinctive of neuromarketing,
since they do not involve any new controversy beyond the ones attributable to traditional
marketing, meaning that neuromarketing is supposed to have powers that it cannot obtain
in the near future (Stanton et al., 2016).
Thus the integrity of the consumer is preserved at the same time that products more
similar to their profile and needs are developed (Venkatraman et al., 2012). Another
contribution in this respect, according to Lee et al. (2007) would be the exploitation of
the critical elements of an advertisement in relation to knowledge, attitudes and
evaluation, which can thus reduce the firms’ investment in shock tactics, such as use of
sexual images or disasters. Neuromarketing can help to understand how humans create,
store and retrieve information about the activities of their daily lives and connect with the
messages of advertising campaigns, generating better campaigns and better results for all
stakeholders.

3 Methodology

This study was developed through an integrative literature review which is a rather useful
method in integrating and analysing research results on emerging issues, collecting and
analysing the state of the literature relating to the subject, and identifying challenges to
the development of future studies (Huisingh, 2012).
The literature review is a common method to investigate completely different
approaches to a topic in study, which is expected to have as a result a good use of the
proposed classification method, as well as the use of analysis results as a stimulus for
further research on the subject (Lage and Godinho Filho, 2010).
For the literature review to succeed and show the content that has already been
studied on the subject, in addition to future challenges in the area, some steps must be
followed, which are described below (Jabbour, 2013; Lage and Godinho Filho, 2010;
Whittemore and Knafl, 2005):
• First step: definition of the research problem.
• Second step: search of articles published on the subject to be investigated from
reliable academic bases and definition of inclusion/exclusion criteria.
• Third step: development and application of the classification system to structure the
existing knowledge on the subject and provide a short summary of the contribution
made by each of the studies.
• Fourth step: data analyses and presentation of a profile of scientific literature on the
subject in accordance with the articles found.
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 279

• Fifth step: presentation of the review results and suggests opportunities for future
research on the subject.
The search was conducted in the months from July to November 2015 in electronic
databases of renowned sites such as the ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, and Science
Direct with the key words ‘neuromarketing’, ‘consumer neuroscience’ and ‘consumer
behaviour’. We used the Boolean connector ‘AND’, which resulted in the following
search strategy: ‘neuromarketing AND consumer neuroscience AND consumer
behaviour’.
Upon completion of the search according to the previously defined strategy, an
overall result of 35 items that correspond to the subject were obtained from the consulted
databases, among which five were duplicates and four were triplicated, on the basis that
the research was performed.
Subsequently the reading of the title and abstract of the articles for compatibility with
the subject researched was performed, and no article was excluded. Thus the next step
was the reading of all full text papers, resulting in a total of 16 selected studies that are
presented in Table 2 in Section 4.
Table 2 Presentation of the scientific production profile of the selected articles

Code Author Journal Method Year Country

01 Ohme and IEEE Pulse Qualitative 2012 Poland
Matukin
02 Hillenbrand Journal of Product & Brand Qualitative 2013 Mexico
et al. Management
03 Boksem and Journal of Marketing Research Qualitative 2015 Holland
Smidts
04 Stallen et al. Journal of Economic Psychology Qualitative 2010 Holland
05 Khushaba et al. Expert Systems with applications Qualitative 2013 Australia
06 Babiloni IEEE Pulse Review 2012 Italy
07 Kenning and Journal of Consumer Protection Review 2011 Germany
Linzmajer and Food Safety
08 Fisher et al. Harvard Review of Psychiatry Review/ 2010 USA
exploratory
study
09 Javor et al. BMC Neurology Review 2013 Austria
10 Orzan et al. Journal of Medicine and Life Review 2012 Romania
11 Morin Society Review 2011 USA
12 Vecchiato et al. Computational and Mathematical Qualitative 2014 Italy
Methods in Medicine
13 Vlăsceanu Procedia – Social and Behavioral Review 2014a Romania
Sciences
14 Venkatraman Journal of Consumer Psychology Review 2012 USA
et al.
15 Solnais et al. Journal of Economic Psychology Review 2013 Spain
16 Plassmann and Journal of Marketing Research Qualitative 2015 USA
Weber
280 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

4 Analysis of the results

It can be observed that in recent years, neuromarketing has increased its representation in
several areas of academic research, having published articles not only in journals from
the neuroscience area, but also in journals such as Journal of Marketing Research,
Journal of Consumer Protection and Food Safety, Computational and Mathematical
Methods in Medicine, IEEE Pulse, and Harvard Review of Psychiatry, demonstrating that
it is a science with applicability in various areas of study, and development potential for
better understanding of consumer behaviour and of the variables that influence the
decision to follow certain stimulus.
Furthermore, the major part of studies (shown in Table 2) is qualitative in nature, and
has great heterogeneity in the methods and procedures used. This corroborates the
statement of Solnais et al. (2013) that neuroscience consumer studies are heterogeneous,
and diversity of procedures end up becoming difficult to generalise. But Venkatraman et
al. (2012) estimate that due to the currently available technology, consumer neuroscience
can be used in conjunction with traditional methods of marketing, being possible to
generalise the results in order to arrive at representative values of the entire population.
Additionally, it can be seen that literature reviews are prepared and published in the
field of neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience, which shows that it is an area in
search of solidification of knowledge, and that is applying the arising theory of
neuroeconomics on economic marketing behaviour cases, focusing on better
understanding of how consumers respond to stimuli and make decisions. These revisions
have as a main objective to bring together the knowledge developed in exploratory and
qualitative studies to build a more solid direction to be followed by neuromarketing, and
show which direction academic research should follow (Vlăsceanu, 2014b).
Finally, when conducting an analysis of the countries where the studies have been
published, a predominance of the European continent was observed, with 10 of the
15 articles having their origin in this continent’s domains. Three articles were developed
in the USA, and Latin America is represented only once, with an article published in
Mexico. Australia appears as the sole representative of the southern hemisphere in the
collected sample. Therefore, one can see that neuromarketing arouses the interest of
various academic groups, with worldwide research development, but with predominance
of European research institutions.

4.1 Analyses of qualitative studies

Ohme and Matukin (2012) conducted a study in order to verify that neurophysiological
techniques can help in understanding the subconscious consumer reactions to new
product advertisements. A combination of traditional marketing with neuromarketing
tools was used, which was initiated by a survey in which consumers should express their
assessment of what part of an advertisement drew more attention to them. After this,
through EEG, the subconscious response of this person to the same question in relation to
the advertisement was verified.
When making the comparison between the two results, the authors found that the
answer provided by the subconscious differs from the answer given by the person at the
beginning of the research. In addition, Ohme and Matukin (2012) identified at what
moment the advertisement aroused more attention and also that the combination of sound
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 281

and image were fundamental to obtain a favourable result in the creation of a positive
memory in the consumer.
Another important factor, in addition to understanding how the consumer will receive
an advertisement of new products, is to identify how the strength of the brand can
influence the consumer’s decision. Seeking to obtain the physiological perceptions of
processing these in the brain to identify how to compose a brand name or product that
arouses more consumer attention, there was a study that found that names are more
effective when they suggest the main benefits of the product to the consumer, as in the
case of new semantic compositions which use word passages pointing out these benefits
(Hillenbrand et al., 2013).
A qualitative study of the response of individual preferences in relation to movie
trailers was conducted to determine which neural measures highlight what the consumer
is interested in from a particular movie, and understand their stated preferences (Boksem
and Smidts, 2015).
Boksem and Smidts (2015) found that some components that are measured by EEG
such as beta and gamma waves, function as preference indicators. The case of beta waves
being for individual preferences, and gamma waves for population preferences.
Therefore, an increase in these frequencies may suggest that the movie or product will be
a commercial success. However, as in many neuromarketing studies, the authors point
out that care should be taken when generalising the results for the population and suggest
that this technique is allied to the traditional marketing methods for greater assertiveness
in predicting success or failure of the new release.
One of the products that cause the greatest fascination in the market is women’s
shoes. Another phenomenon that is often considered important in the buying decision is
linking a famous person to a product. With a view to these two factors, a study was
designed to see if there is any neural correlation between evaluation of a product and the
fame of the person advertising it (Stallen et al., 2010). Through fMRI, Stallen et al.
(2010) concluded that there was an increase in orbitofrontal cortex activity with the
pairing of a celebrity with products during testing, which confirms the hypothesis studied
that there is a transfer of affection and/or admiration from the person to the product being
endorsed.
However, fame alone does not change the intention of buying a product, but fame
causes an increase in memory performance for products, i.e. for an advertisement with
celebrities to be effective, it must focus on highlighting positive memories that connect
the person to the product and the celebrity in question generating enough motivation to
complete the purchase.
As suggested by some researchers (Khushaba et al., 2013; Vecchiato et al., 2014;
Vlăsceanu, 2014a) studies that combine neuroscience tools for more conclusive results
about brain activity while undergoing stimuli, begin to gain strength. A first example that
combines two neuroscience tools to perform the research is the case of Eye Tracking and
EEG. The focus was on understanding what different characteristics of the development
of cookies, i.e., taste, shape and covering, are more susceptible, causing positive stimulus
to consumers, and also to evaluate how the cortical activity of different brain regions
interrelate (Khushaba et al., 2013).
In the study by Khushaba et al. (2013), the authors observed that the synchronisation
of the brain channel appears as an interesting tool for understanding how the variation of
brain activity influences decision making and also how it affects the subjective preference
for a product or service. In addition, some changes observed in the total power spectrum
282 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

suggest that the frontal, temporal and occipital regions are important in decision making
as they present a greater amount of mutual information regarding the stated primary
preference for flavour and covering of cookies, while the recipe itself is not important in
the decision making.
Using more than one neuromarketing tool to obtain more conclusive results, a
qualitative study was focused on understanding how gender differences affect the
observation of television commercials. This study used three neuroscience tools: EEG,
GSR and heart rate. It can be seen that the major difference between the genders occurs at
the time they observed perfume television commercials, related to appreciation and
spontaneous memories, both being higher responses in women. Regarding memory it was
observed that there is no difference between genders (Vecchiato et al., 2014).
An orientation suggested by Vecchiato et al. (2014) relates to differentiation
according to the selected target audience messages, developing a version which is better
suited to the expected public profile for the product. Moreover, the results obtained in this
study may help producers to decide which scenes are cut from a movie, allocating
resources more efficiently and optimising results.
Plassmann and Weber (2015), in turn, have shed light on a question of great
importance for the new studies of consumer behaviour from the point of view of
neuromarketing: the identification of individual behaviour in relation to the placebo
effect (the so-called marketing placebo effects – MPE) and the potential of manipulations
of stimuli to alter perceptual results.
The qualitative studies elaborated in this theme cover a wide range of objectives.
There are still no papers that seek to replicate results obtained, which does not allow a
better analysis of the impacts and the accuracy of these works.

4.2 Analyses of review studies

With the growing importance of studies about neuromarketing and how it relates to the
identification of the mannerisms of consumers and also how they make decisions, some
literature reviews have been made on the subject, both focusing on methods, techniques
and limitations, and the potential that neuroscience has for a given area of study.
Consumer neuroscience begins to show its potential for several areas of work,
including being presented as one of the possible templates for future understanding of
consumer behaviour, indicating that professionals from diverse backgrounds, including
biomedical engineers, must heed the opportunities that will appear in this field (Babiloni,
2012).
Additionally, the area of pharmaceutical drug advertisements has turned its attention
to how neuromarketing can impact on the development of advertising campaigns to be
more effective to consumers, suggesting that the largest amount of research in the sector
is required, focusing primarily on qualitative testing (Orzan et al., 2012).
Orzan et al. (2012) show that neuromarketing can bring a new perspective to decision
making, helping the consumer to decide what is right or not for their health. However,
ethical and moral aspects that are related to medicines that are part of advertising
campaigns in the pharmaceutical segment should be taken into consideration.
Neurologists also show great interest in the contributions that neuromarketing can
bring to neurology, especially in understanding how the relationship between reward
systems and decision making can relate to symptoms of some diseases (Javor et al.,
2013). Javor et al. (2013) used confidence matches to understand how the underlying
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 283

pathophysiology of pathological gambling affects Parkinson’s disease, frontotemporal

dementia, epilepsy and also Huntington’s disease. Furthermore, another subject,
compulsive shopping, is also a common field in neurology and neuroscience of the
consumer. Both can benefit from advances in research techniques, since the confidence of
research in the medical context lacks empirical evidence of behaviour, something that
consumer neuroscience can provide, provided the research techniques comply with the
ethical questions about the methods used.
One of the main points still discussed in relation to neuromarketing and neuroscience
are ethical issues and free decision-making. Both are carefully observed by scholars in
the field, including having the development and dissemination of a code of ethics as one
of the main points to be resolved to further boost research. Ethics are also discussed in
the professional context, since some companies use neuromarketing techniques and do
not disclose their results, making the transparency and effectiveness of their methods to
be questioned (Fisher et al., 2010; Kenning and Linzmajer, 2011; Orzan et al., 2012).
Also, according to Kenning and Linzmajer (2011), neuroscientific tools deliver
objective results and assist in the understanding of the influence of emotions in decision
making, making them complementary to traditional methods of marketing that obtains a
larger amount of subjective information about tastes and preferences. Exactly at this
point, according to Fischer et al. (2010) the greatest care is necessary, since one must
appreciate a good relationship between industry and academia for continuing advances in
research in the neuromarketing field.
Morin (2011) presents a concept that recurs in neuromarketing literature, the reptilian
brain, which is a more primitive part of our brain, preverbal which does not understand
complex messages, and seeks to avoid pain during emotions, causing decision-making to
be faster by opting for shortcuts rather than long analyses of the available information.
Moreover, this area renders images without visual cortex, explaining that we prefer
images rather than words at the time of stimulation. The reptilian brain is responsible for
humans to be more instinctive in decision making, therefore it is an area to which
advertising should be directed, mainly through images that can engage consumers in
order to increase the influence on decision making, reaching what could be the ‘trigger’
of decision making of consumers (Vlăsceanu, 2014b).
Morin (2011) also makes a fundamental distinction between neuroeconomics and
neuromarketing, considering that the first has become a purely academic and integrative
field that aims to explain economic behaviour, while the second appears to be more
applied, focusing on understanding how consumer response to stimuli works and how it
leads them to make a decision.
As already presented in the qualitative studies section, one of the major remaining
gaps in neuroscience research and traditional marketing concerns the assessment of the
brands. Venkatraman et al. (2012) focus their work in addressing the deficiencies in this
area. The main results of the study indicate that neuroscience can be more successful
when able to work more effectively with heterogeneous samples, which can later be
generalised to the population. Moreover, it demystifies the idea of being able to find a
‘buy button’, claiming to be more feasible to find a ‘buying process’ in which one can
understand consumer behaviour throughout the stages of decision making.
For Venkatraman et al. (2012) the three main areas where neuroscience has
contributed significantly to brand marketing are the preferences of measures, sensitivity
according to the context, and individual differences. By combining this set of areas with
traditional methods, it is believed that new relevant insights can be obtained.
284 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

The main conclusion of the study by Venkatraman et al. (2012) is that they believe
neuroscience will not replace traditional marketing methods, but provide additional
information about the choice processes and types of consumers. Thus, market
segmentation is assisted making marketing practices be more effective, since the brand
communication will be directed to the correct audience.
Finally, Solnais et al. (2013) state that the focus of future research should be on
standardisation and improvement of methods and procedures in the field of consumer
neuroscience. They also point out that the multidisciplinary teams in the study of
neuromarketing tend to be of fundamental importance to expand the frontiers of
knowledge and that the combined use of different research methods shows to be essential
for a better understanding of consumer behaviour.
The review studies analysed show that there is more optimism and good prospects
with regard to neuromarketing than pessimism. Although occasional observations on
problems have been occasionally highlighted, the general view is that neuromarketing is
a research area that should consolidate and reach the marketing mainstream in companies
and academia.

5 Final thoughts

This study concludes that in recent years there have been great advances in research on
neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour, mainly focusing on the development and
improvement of techniques and research tools. The studies analysed in the integrative
literature review demonstrate how marketing stimuli affect the cognitive processes of
consumers and their perception regarding advertising campaigns, creating new products,
and the entire purchase decision process. The types of studies developed over the period
between 2010–2015 and the countries from where they were developed indicate a balance
between empirical and theoretical reviews, with predominance of European research
institutions.
Thus, it appears that neuromarketing tools can be important to better understand
consumer behaviour, and they generate more effective results when combined with the
traditional marketing research techniques for providing more complete information in
relation to consumers’ decision making. An important path for the scientific community
in neuromarketing studies will be to validate researches that have already presented
interesting results, because there are still no studies that systematically seek to replicate
the results obtained, making it impossible to identify the qualitative accuracy of these
studies. In this survey it was also identified that there is a concern about the ‘overselling’
possibilities of neuromarketing, so one of the most promising lines for those interested
will be the studies that will seek to identify the real potential for predictions about
consumer behaviour, distinguishing what can and what can not be identified through the
techniques of applied neuroscience.
Regarding the limitations of this study, it can be mentioned that the nature of the
method of integrative literature review is subjective and it was limited to the defined
scope of neuromarketing in the period from 2010 to 2015. The intention was to help
organise and consolidate the knowledge already developed, and some works that were
published outside this time frame or without the specific words were not considered.
In conclusion, to effectively reach the expected level in relation to the results on
neuromarketing researches, one of the focuses for future studies should be in relation to
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 285

the development of ethical aspects and research protocols, that even with advances, need
to be better worked to ensure respect of consumer rights with regard to the invasion of
privacy, free choice and also scientific ethics. Standardisation of research methods in
order to facilitate further analysis and comparison of results from different studies in the
area should also be undertaken.
Hence, the paper has demonstrated the potential of neuromarketing to be recognised
as a science that can help to advance the understanding of consumer behaviour, enabling
the creation of products and advertising campaigns that increasingly meet the needs of
consumers, generating greater satisfaction to all parties involved.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by the Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP,
2014/22576-4).

References
Agarwal, S. and Dutta, T. (2015) ‘Neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience: current
understanding and the way forward’, Decision, Vol. 42, No. 4, pp.457–462, doi:10.1007/
s40622-015-0113-1.
Ariely, D. and Berns, G.S. (2010) ‘Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in
business’, Nature Reviews Neuroscience, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp.284–292, doi:10.1038/nrn2795.
Babiloni, F. (2012) ‘Consumer neuroscience – a new area of study for biomedical engineers’, IEEE
Pulse, Vol. 21, No. 6, pp.21–23, doi:10.1109/MPUL.2012.2189166.
Bercea, M.D. (2013) Quantitative Versus Qualitative in Neuromarketing Research, MPRA Paper
No. 44134, pp.1–12, Munich [online] https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/44134/.
Boksem, M.A.S. and Smidts, A. (2015) ‘Brain responses to movie trailers predict individual
preferences for movies and their population-wide commercial success’, Journal of Marketing
Research, Vol. 52, No. 4, pp.482–492, doi:10.1509/jmr.13.0572.
Cruz, C.M.L., Medeiros, J.F., Hermes, L.C.R., Marcon, A. and Marcon, E. (2016) ‘Neuromarketing
and the advances in the consumer behaviour studies: a systematic review of the literature’,
International Journal of Business and Globalization, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp.330–351, doi:10.1504/
IJBG.2016.078842.
Dinu, G., Tanase, A.C., Dinu, L. and Tanase, F.D. (2010) ‘The new techniques for handling
consumer behaviour’, Annals of DAAAM & Proceedings, Vol. 21, No. 1, p.1115.
Fields, H.L., Hjelmstad, G.O., Margolis, E.B. and Nicola, S.M. (2007) ‘Ventral tegmental area
neurons in learned appetitive behavior and positive reinforcement’, Annual Review of
Neuroscience, Vol. 30, No. 30, pp.289–316, doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094341.
Fisher, C.E., Chin, L. and Klitzman, R. (2010) ‘Defining neuromarketing: practices and
professional challenges’, Harvard Review of Psychiatry, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp.230–237,
doi:10.3109/10673229.2010.496623.
Fontanella, L., Ippoliti, L. and Merla, A. (2012) ‘Multiresolution Karhunen Loéve analysis of
galvanic skin response for psycho-physiological studies’, Metrika, Vol. 75, No. 3,
pp.287–309, doi:10.1007/s00184-010-0327-3.
Fortunato, V.C.R., Giraldi, J.M.E. and Oliveira, J.H.C. (2014) ‘A review of studies on
neuromarketing: practical results, techniques, contributions and limitations’, Journal of
Management Research, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp.201–220, doi:10.5296/jmr.v6i2.5446.
286 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

Gakhal, B. and Senior, C. (2008) ‘Examining the influence of fame in the presence of beauty: an
electrodermal “neuromarketing” study’, Journal of Consumer Behavior, Vol. 341, No. 10,
pp.331–341, doi:10.1002/cb.255.
Garcia, J.R. and Saad, G. (2008) ‘Evolutionary neuromarketing: darwinizing the neuroimaging
paradigm for consumer behavior’, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 7, Nos. 4–5,
pp.397–414, doi:10.1002/cb.259.
Hillenbrand, P., Alcauter, S., Cervantes, J. and Barrios, F. (2013) ‘Better branding: brand names
can influence consumer choice’, Journal of Product & Brand Management, Vol. 22, No. 4,
pp.300–308, doi:10.1108/JPBM-04-2012-0120.
Hsu, M. and Yoon, C. (2015) ‘The neuroscience of consumer choice’, Current Opinion in
Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 5, No. 5, pp.116–121, doi:10.1016/j.cobeha.2015.09.005.
Hubert, M. and Kenning, P. (2008) ‘A current overview of consumer neuroscience’, Journal of
Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 292, No. 10, pp.272–292, doi:10.1002/cb.251.
Huettel, S.A., Song, A.W. and McCarthy, G. (2014) Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging,
3rd ed., Sinauer, Sunderland MA.
Huisingh, D. (2012) ‘Invitation to authors to prepare & submit, comprehensive/integrative review
articles’, Journal of Cleaner Production, July, Vols. 29–30, p.290 [online]
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2012.02.006.
Jabbour, C.J.C. (2013) ‘Environmental training in organisations: from a literature review to a
framework for future research’, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, May, Vol. 74,
pp.144–155 [online] https://doi.org/10.1016/j.resconrec.2012.12.017.
Javor, A., Koller, M., Lee, N., Chamberlain, L. and Ransmayr, G. (2013) ‘Neuromarketing and
consumer neuroscience: contributions to neurology’, BMC Neurology, Vol. 13, No. 1, p.13,
doi:10.1186/1471-2377-13-13.
Kenning, P. and Linzmajer, M. (2011) ‘Consumer neuroscience: an overview of an emerging
discipline with implications for consumer policy’, Journal für Verbraucherschutz und
Lebensmittelsicherheit, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp.111–125, doi:10.1007/s00003-010-0652-5.
Khushaba, R.N., Wiseb, C., Kodagodaa, S., Louviereb, J., Kahnc, E. and Townsend, C. (2013)
‘Consumer neuroscience: assessing the brain response to marketing stimuli using
electroencephalogram (EEG) and eye tracking’, Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 40,
No. 9, pp.3803–3812, doi:10.1016/j.eswa.2012.12.095.
Knutson, B., Rick, S., Wimmer, G.E., Prelec, D. and Loewenstein, G. (2007) ‘Neural predictors of
purchases’, Neuron, Vol. 53, No. 1, pp.147–156, doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2006.11.010.
Lage Jr., M. and Godinho Filho, M. (2010) ‘Variations of the kanban system: literature review and
classification’, International Journal of Production Economics, Vol. 125, No. 1,
pp.13–21, doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2010.01.009.
Lee, N., Broderick, A.J. and Chamberlain, L. (2007) ‘What is “neuromarketing”? A discussion and
agenda for future research’, International Journal of Psychophysiology, Vol. 63, No. 2,
pp.199–204, doi:10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2006.03.007.
Lichters, M., Brunnlieb, C., Nave, G., Sarstedt, M. and Vogt, B. (2016) ‘The influence of serotonin
deficiency on choice deferral and the compromise effect’, Journal of Marketing Research,
Vol. 53, No. 2, pp.183–198, doi:10.1509/jmr.14.0482.
Lindstrom, M. (2008) Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy, Doubleday, New York, NY.
Logothetis, N.K. (2008) ‘What we can do and what we cannot do with fMRI’, Nature, Vol. 453,
No. 7197, pp.869–878, doi:10.1038/nature06976.
Morin, C. (2011) ‘Neuromarketing: the new science of consumer behavior’, Society, Vol. 48, No. 2,
pp.131–135, doi:10.1007/s12115-010-9408-1.
Murphy, E., Illes, J. and Reiner, P. (2008) ‘Neuroethics of neuromarketing’, Journal of Consumer
Behaviour, Vol. 302, No. 10, pp.293–302, doi:10.1002/cb.252.
Murray, E.A. (2007) ‘The amygdala, reward and emotion’, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 11,
No. 11, pp.489–497, doi:10.1016/j.tics.2007.08.013.
 Neuromarketing applied to consumer behaviour 287

Ohme, R. and Matukin, M. (2012) ‘A small frog that makes a big difference: brain wave testing of
TV advertisements’, IEEE Pulse, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp.28–33, doi:10.1109/MPUL.2012.2189169.
Oliveira, J.H.C., Giraldi, J.M.E. and Santos, R.O.J. (2014) ‘Opening the “black box” in the
consumer’s mind: understanding what is neuromarketing’, International Journal of Business
and Management, Vol. 9, No. 9, pp.96–107, doi:10.5539/ijbm.v9n9p96.
Oliveira, J.H.C., Giraldi, J.M.E., Jabbour, C.J.C., Netto, C.F. and Betti, K.C.M. (2015) ‘Improving
business innovation and research through the application of neuromarketing with ethics: a
framework’, International Journal of Business Innovation and Research, Vol. 9, No. 1,
pp.52–64, doi:10.1504/IJBIR.2015.065953.
Orzan, G., Zara, I.A. and Purcarea, V.L. (2012) ‘Neuromarketing techniques in pharmaceutical
drugs advertising. A discussion and agenda for future research’, Journal of Medicine and Life,
Vol. 5, No. 4, pp.428–432.
Perrachione, T.K. and Perrachione, J.R. (2008) ‘Brains and brands: developing mutually
informative research in neuroscience and marketing’, Journal of Consumer Behaviour,
Vol. 318, No. 10, pp.303–318.
Plassmann, H. and Weber, B. (2015) ‘Individual differences in marketing placebo effects: evidence
from brain imaging and behavioral experiments’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 52,
No. 4, pp.493–510, doi:10.1509/jmr.13.0613.
Plassmann, H., Kenning, P. and Ahlert, D. (2007) ‘Why companies should make their customers
happy: the neural correlates of customer loyalty’, Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 34,
No. 1978, pp.735–739.
Plassmann, H., Ramsoy, T.Z. and Milosavljevic, M. (2012) ‘Branding the brain: a critical review
and outlook’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.18–36, doi:10.1016/
j.jcps.2011.11.010.
Plassmann, H., Venkatraman, V., Huettel, S. and Yoon, C. (2015) ‘Consumer neuroscience:
applications, challenges, and possible solutions’, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 52,
No. 4, pp.427–435, doi:10.1509/jmr.14.0048.
Reimann, M., Schilke, O., Weber, B., Neuhaus, C. and Zaichkowsky, J. (2011) ‘Functional
magnetic resonance imaging in consumer research: a review and application’, Psychology &
Marketing, Vol. 28, No. 6, pp.608–637, doi:10.1002/mar.20403.
Santos, R.O.J., Oliveira, J.H.C., Rocha, J.B. and Giraldi, J.M.E. (2015) ‘Eye tracking in
neuromarketing: a research agenda for marketing studies’, International Journal of
Psychological Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, pp.32–42, doi.org/10.5539/ijps.v7n1p32.
Senior, C. and Lee, N. (2008) ‘A manifesto for neuromarketing science’, Journal of Consumer
Behaviour, Vol. 271, No. 10, pp.263–271, doi:10.1002/cb.250.
Solnais, C., Perez, J.A., Fernandez, J.S. and Abela, J.A. (2013) ‘The contribution of neuroscience
to consumer research: a conceptual framework and empirical review’, Journal of Economic
Psychology, Vol. 36, No. 6, pp.68–81, doi:10.1016/j.joep.2013.02.011.
Stallen, M., Smidts, A., Rijpkema, M., Smit, G., Klucharev, V. and Fernandez, G. (2010)
‘Celebrities and shoes on the female brain: the neural correlates of product evaluation in the
context of fame’, Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp.802–811,
doi:10.1016/j.joep.2010.03.006.
Stanton, S.J., Sinnott-Armstrong, W. and Huettel, S.A. (2016) ‘Neuromarketing: ethical
implications of its use and potential misuse’, Journal of Business Ethics, pp.1–13 [online]
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3059-0.
Tovino, S.A. (2007) ‘Imaging body structure and mapping brain function: a historical approach’,
American Journal of Law & Medicine, Vol. 33, Nos. 2–3, pp.193-228.
Ulman, Y.I., Cakar, T. and Yildiz, G. (2015) ‘Ethical issues in neuromarketing: ‘‘I consume,
therefore I am!’’’, Science and Engineering Ethics, Vol. 21, No. 5, pp.1271–1284,
doi:10.1007/s11948-014-9581-5.
 288 I.L.D.S. Jordão et al.

Vecchiato, G., Astolfi, L., Fallani, F.V., Cincotti, F., Mattia, D., Salinari, S., Soranzo, R. and
Babiloni, F. (2010) ‘Changes in brain activity during the observation of TV commercials by
using EEG, GSR and HR measurements’, Brain Topography, Vol. 23, No. 2, pp.165–179,
doi:10.1007/s10548-009-0127-0.
Vecchiato, G., Astolfi, L., Fallani, F.V., Toppi, J., Aloise, F., Bez, F., Wei, D., Kong, W., Dai, J.,
Cincotti, F., Mattia, D. and Babiloni, F. (2011) ‘On the use of EEG or MEG brain imaging
tools in neuromarketing research’, Computational Intelligence and Neuroscience, Vol. 2011,
p.643489 [online] http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/643489.
Vecchiato, G., Maglione, A.G., Cherubino, P., Wasikowska, B., Wawrzyniak, A., Latuszynska, A.,
Latuszynska, M., Nermend, K., Graziani, I., Leucci, M.R., Trettel, A. and Babiloni, F. (2014)
‘Neurophysiological tools to investigate consumer’s gender differences during the observation
of TV commercials’, Computational and Mathematical Methods in Medicine, Vol. 2014,
No. 1, p.912981, doi:10.1155/2014/912981.
Venkatraman, V., Clithero, J.A., Fitzsimons, G.J. and Huettel, S.A. (2012) ‘New scanner data for
brand marketers: how neuroscience can help better understand differences in brand
preferences’, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 22, No. 1, pp.143–153, doi:10.1016/
j.jcps.2011.11.008.
Vlăsceanu, S. (2014a) ‘Neuromarketing and evaluation of cognitive and emotional responses of
consumers to marketing stimuli’, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 127,
pp.753–757, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.349.
Vlăsceanu, S. (2014b) ‘New directions in understanding the decision-making process:
neuroeconomics and neuromarketing’, Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 127,
pp.758–762, doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2014.03.350.
Wallis, J.D. (2007) ‘Orbitofrontal cortex and its contribution to decision-making’, Annual Review
of Neuroscience, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp.31–56, doi:10.1146/annurev.neuro.30.051606.094334.
Whittemore, R. and Knafl, K. (2005) ‘The integrative review: updated methodology’, Journal of
Advanced Nursing, Vol. 52, No. 5, pp.546–553, doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2005.03621.x.
Wilson, R.M., Gaines, J. and Hill, R.P. (2008) ‘Neuromarketing and consumer free will’, Journal
of Consumer Affairs, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp.389–410, doi:10.1111/j.1745-6606.2008.00114.x.

View publication stats