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RESEARCH, ANALYSIS & TRENDS

This research has attracted the attention of the public
through “neuro-imaging”, e.g., the visual representation
of a brain in which different areas are highlighted in col-
or. Images of this kind can now be found in almost eve-
ry report on neuromarketing, as they are extremely con-
cise and seemingly intuitively identify what (or at least
how) is being thought.
Not to mention that applied market research can be
The combination of economics, psychology and neuro- used in the long term by empirically validating psycho-
sciences is characteristic of neuromarketing, which be- logical concepts and established dialogue marketing
comes obvious when one realizes that human infor- theories.
mation processing is at the center of interest in these
three research areas. By researching brain functions, a The aim is always to use the temporal and spatial activ-
bridge can be built between the three disciplines, be- ity patterns of brain regions to provide information
cause human behavior is ultimately controlled by the about which mental processes are involved in the data
brain. The first two disciplines mentioned make the the- processing. This is possible because psychological
oretical contribution and help the neurosciences to in- concepts are mapped in the brain in certain spatio-
terpret empirical approaches. For marketing and dia- temporal activation patterns. This research field is still
logue marketing in particular, this research field results in its infancy, but it reviews, validates and supplements
in a number of new perspectives: The classic AIDA existing knowledge of brain research and helps to de-
model (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action), which de- scribe the basic neural processes that are necessary to
picts the buying process as a series of steps running understand information processing more precisely.
one after the other, should in future only be heuristic, This essentially also applies to marketing, because
but no longer have any explanatory value. In fact, it here, too, well-known concepts are being scrutinized –
turns out that (purchase) decisions are made very such as the extent to which brands can actually be
quickly, spontaneously, and often all at once without seen as “personalities”, how purchasing decisions can
going through all stages. Likewise, the long prevailing
model of the rationally calculating “homo economicus” be predicted, or how emotions are related to brands. In
weighing its benefits and costs will also be a thing of the future, with these methods, marketing-relevant con-
the past. People are subject to systematic bias when cepts such as wishes and rewards, or loyalty and aver-
they make decisions: they are risk-taking or risk-averse, sion, will certainly move more into the focus of re-
they evaluate a possible loss more strongly than a po- search. However, to derive a paradigm shift for market-
tential gain, they choose different alternatives – given ing from the findings of this exciting and time-
the same chances of winning – simply through a nega- consuming research is grossly exaggerated. In the fu-
tive or positive formulation of the problem. Rarely do ture, the practical work will still be about product, price,
they make decisions as one would predict with thought- place, promotion, and this research will not find the
ful reflection. Instead, the focus has shifted to the im- “buy button” either. So, the expectations that came with
portance of intuition and emotion for decision-making this new method will certainly have to be scaled down
processes. to a reasonable level.
The established research methods used to date, e.g.,
“Gut decisions” enable us to act very quickly and usual- surveys, observation and consumer panels, will not
ly appropriately under time pressure. These are judg- become obsolete because of this research. Instead,
ments that pop up quickly in consciousness, the under-
lying motivations of which we are not aware of, but neurophysiological perception research is a useful ad-
dition to these methods when it comes to the content of
which are strong enough to respond to. Emotions are a
central variable in the process of information pro- consciousness that cannot be grasped well with the
cessing: they accompany all cognitions, occur before known methods. If consumers have little access to their
the cognitions and are processed more quickly. thoughts and feelings or cannot verbalize them, and
therefore classic interview concepts from market re-
The fact is that neurophysiological advertising percep- search cannot adequately explore consumer behavior,
tion and impact research in dialogue marketing can then neurophysiological research can contribute to a
open up new opportunities for communication research. better understanding of human experience and behav-
ior. ◊

By Daniela La Marca

November 2021: Neuromarketing & Predictive Analytics 5