Neuromarketing.
A new article in Advertising Age by Mya Frazier takes a look at using neuroscience, or how the brain responds to various stimuli, to determine a consumer's propensity to purchase. According to the article, a company called Neurofocus, based in Berkeley, CA, is completing its 100th research assignment using an EEG machine to measure brainwaves. The company's CEO A. K. Pradeep says, "he needs only your print ads and TV spots, an empty hotel conference room, and a few dozen consumers. For the cost of a copy test, he'll give you back a number he calls the consumer's propensity to purchase."
All the science comments aside, the article raises perhaps a more pointed question: is neuromarketing any better than other current research methodology?
What do you think?
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I think the article had some good content, but seemed to be more of a debunking of current neuromarketing services as opposed to a discussion of the future potential of brain science to help us predict consumer behavior.
The current use of fMRI and EEG (for example) is fairly rudimentary - we don't yet have a lot of published data that closes the loop between ad analysis and actual ad performance. As I noted in my recent Don't Buy Button post, the "buy button" is an enduring fiction in this industry.
The potential, though, is huge. Traditional surveys and focus groups are notoriously bad when it comes to understanding underlying motivations and predicting future purchases. Even a fleeting glimpse of actual brain activity may give us better insight into what the customer really thinks.
Roger
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