Neuromarketing: what it is and how to use it to enhance campaigns
Posted: Sun Dec 22, 2024 4:23 am
You walk into a convenience store and as you walk down the aisles, a familiar song plays in the background, making you feel nostalgic.
Without realizing it, you put a product in your basket that wasn't on your initial radar, but that, somehow, reminded you of a happy time.
This was no accident.
It is a practical example of how neuromarketing can influence consumer behavior.
By using brain data to understand customers' emotions usa email database subconscious responses, neuromarketing can target marketing actions more accurately and efficiently.
We developed this article to explain how neuromarketing, based on neuroscience, can be a powerful tool to improve the performance of your campaigns.
Next, we will explore the concept, practical applications and, most importantly, how you can integrate it into your marketing strategy to achieve impressive results.
Want to know how to transform brain insights into creative actions?
Let's read!
What is neuromarketing?
To begin with, you need to actually understand what neuromarketing is.
This is a field of study focused on neuroscience applied to marketing, seeking to understand how the human brain responds to different marketing stimuli, such as advertisements, colors, sounds and even smells.
The central idea is that, by analyzing consumers' neurological and psychological reactions, companies can create more effective and attractive campaigns.
Using technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalograms (EEG) and eye tracking, neuromarketing allows us to observe what happens in people's brains when they are exposed to products or advertisements. This reveals insights that are often not captured in traditional research.
While conventional market research relies on consumers’ conscious responses—which aren’t always accurate or honest—neuromarketing delves into people’s unconscious, automatic responses, providing deeper insights into their preferences and behaviors. For example, by studying which parts of the brain are activated in response to a commercial, researchers can determine whether it’s triggering positive emotions, such as joy and excitement, or negative ones, such as fear and disgust.
Martin Lindstrom and the logic of consumption
One of the most renowned authors in the field of neuromarketing is Martin Lindstrom, who popularized the concept in his book “ The Logic of Consumption: Truths and Lies about Why We Buy ”.
Lindstrom examines how emotional and subconscious factors influence consumers' purchasing behavior, often more than rational factors.
In the book, he reveals how purchasing decisions are often guided by unconscious impulses that can be measured and analyzed through neuromarketing techniques.
Lindstrom argues that companies that use these techniques are in a unique position to create more engaging and effective campaigns that align with consumers’ deepest desires. (1)
Watch the video in which Jeovet Baca, Master in General Philosophy, presents a summary and analysis of Martin Lindstrom's work:
Neuromarketing in practice
A practical example of the application of neuromarketing can be found in the use of colors in advertisements.
logo burger king; Neuromarketing
Neurological studies show that colors like red and yellow can trigger hunger or excitement, which explains why many fast-food chains, like McDonald's and Burger King, use these colors in their logos and campaigns.
In addition to colors, neuromarketing can also help determine which elements of an ad — such as background music, visual design, or even storytelling — are most effective at eliciting emotions and memories in consumers.
When used correctly, these insights help brands create messages that resonate on a deeper, more personal level, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
As neuromarketing continues to evolve, its application in the corporate world grows exponentially, offering business owners and marketing managers a competitive advantage.
Studying neurological responses allows brands to get ahead by creating campaigns that not only attract attention, but also create an emotional bond with the audience, leading to faster and more consistent purchasing decisions.
Evolution of neuromarketing: from the first studies to the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing, as a field of study, emerged in conjunction with the evolution of brain imaging technologies and growing discoveries about human behavior.
Over the past two decades, advances in these technologies have allowed researchers and companies to explore the emotional and subconscious impact of advertising campaigns in ways that were previously unimaginable. Here’s a brief timeline:
Emergence and first studies
The concept of neuromarketing began to take shape in the early 2000s, when neuroscience and marketing experts realized that the application of technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) could offer a new level of understanding about consumer reactions to marketing stimuli.
The term “neuromarketing” was introduced in 2002 by Professor Ale Smidts, a professor at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. Later, as we have seen, Martin Lindstrom popularized the term. It was this specialist who took neuromarketing from academia to practical applications in the market. (2)
Prior to this, studies on consumer behavior relied heavily on questionnaires and focus groups. However, it became clear that consumers’ responses often did not reflect their true emotions and motivations, many of which occur at an unconscious level. Neuromarketing emerged as a solution to access these deeper processes.
Expansion with brain imaging technologies
With the advancement of fMRI and EEG technologies, the field has taken a huge leap forward. fMRI has made it possible to visualize, in real time, which areas of the brain were activated when consumers were exposed to products or advertisements.
This helped identify specific emotional reactions, such as pleasure, fear or aversion. EEG, a more accessible and portable tool, measures the electrical activity of the brain, allowing more dynamic monitoring of consumers' momentary reactions.
These technologies were instrumental in early experiments that demonstrated how the subconscious plays a much larger role in purchasing decisions than previously believed.
For example, a pioneering study led by Read Montague in 2003, known as the "Pepsi Test," used fMRI to compare people's brain responses to drinking Coke and Pepsi.
The study showed that even when participants preferred the taste of Pepsi in a blind taste test, the Coca-Cola brand activated more areas of the brain related to pleasure when the brand was familiar, proving the power of branding over perceived taste. (3)
Watch a TED Talk video in which the neuroscientist talks about how the brain works and comments on the study we mentioned and other research in the field of neuromarketing:
Neuromarketing in the corporate market
Throughout the 2010s, neuromarketing began to be adopted by large companies to shape their advertising strategies.
Brands like Coca-Cola, Google and Procter & Gamble were some of the first to invest in this type of research.
At the same time, specialized companies emerged, such as NeuroFocus (acquired by Nielsen), which began offering neuromarketing services to brands interested in optimizing their campaigns.
Without realizing it, you put a product in your basket that wasn't on your initial radar, but that, somehow, reminded you of a happy time.
This was no accident.
It is a practical example of how neuromarketing can influence consumer behavior.
By using brain data to understand customers' emotions usa email database subconscious responses, neuromarketing can target marketing actions more accurately and efficiently.
We developed this article to explain how neuromarketing, based on neuroscience, can be a powerful tool to improve the performance of your campaigns.
Next, we will explore the concept, practical applications and, most importantly, how you can integrate it into your marketing strategy to achieve impressive results.
Want to know how to transform brain insights into creative actions?
Let's read!
What is neuromarketing?
To begin with, you need to actually understand what neuromarketing is.
This is a field of study focused on neuroscience applied to marketing, seeking to understand how the human brain responds to different marketing stimuli, such as advertisements, colors, sounds and even smells.
The central idea is that, by analyzing consumers' neurological and psychological reactions, companies can create more effective and attractive campaigns.
Using technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalograms (EEG) and eye tracking, neuromarketing allows us to observe what happens in people's brains when they are exposed to products or advertisements. This reveals insights that are often not captured in traditional research.
While conventional market research relies on consumers’ conscious responses—which aren’t always accurate or honest—neuromarketing delves into people’s unconscious, automatic responses, providing deeper insights into their preferences and behaviors. For example, by studying which parts of the brain are activated in response to a commercial, researchers can determine whether it’s triggering positive emotions, such as joy and excitement, or negative ones, such as fear and disgust.
Martin Lindstrom and the logic of consumption
One of the most renowned authors in the field of neuromarketing is Martin Lindstrom, who popularized the concept in his book “ The Logic of Consumption: Truths and Lies about Why We Buy ”.
Lindstrom examines how emotional and subconscious factors influence consumers' purchasing behavior, often more than rational factors.
In the book, he reveals how purchasing decisions are often guided by unconscious impulses that can be measured and analyzed through neuromarketing techniques.
Lindstrom argues that companies that use these techniques are in a unique position to create more engaging and effective campaigns that align with consumers’ deepest desires. (1)
Watch the video in which Jeovet Baca, Master in General Philosophy, presents a summary and analysis of Martin Lindstrom's work:
Neuromarketing in practice
A practical example of the application of neuromarketing can be found in the use of colors in advertisements.
logo burger king; Neuromarketing
Neurological studies show that colors like red and yellow can trigger hunger or excitement, which explains why many fast-food chains, like McDonald's and Burger King, use these colors in their logos and campaigns.
In addition to colors, neuromarketing can also help determine which elements of an ad — such as background music, visual design, or even storytelling — are most effective at eliciting emotions and memories in consumers.
When used correctly, these insights help brands create messages that resonate on a deeper, more personal level, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
As neuromarketing continues to evolve, its application in the corporate world grows exponentially, offering business owners and marketing managers a competitive advantage.
Studying neurological responses allows brands to get ahead by creating campaigns that not only attract attention, but also create an emotional bond with the audience, leading to faster and more consistent purchasing decisions.
Evolution of neuromarketing: from the first studies to the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing, as a field of study, emerged in conjunction with the evolution of brain imaging technologies and growing discoveries about human behavior.
Over the past two decades, advances in these technologies have allowed researchers and companies to explore the emotional and subconscious impact of advertising campaigns in ways that were previously unimaginable. Here’s a brief timeline:
Emergence and first studies
The concept of neuromarketing began to take shape in the early 2000s, when neuroscience and marketing experts realized that the application of technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) could offer a new level of understanding about consumer reactions to marketing stimuli.
The term “neuromarketing” was introduced in 2002 by Professor Ale Smidts, a professor at Erasmus University in the Netherlands. Later, as we have seen, Martin Lindstrom popularized the term. It was this specialist who took neuromarketing from academia to practical applications in the market. (2)
Prior to this, studies on consumer behavior relied heavily on questionnaires and focus groups. However, it became clear that consumers’ responses often did not reflect their true emotions and motivations, many of which occur at an unconscious level. Neuromarketing emerged as a solution to access these deeper processes.
Expansion with brain imaging technologies
With the advancement of fMRI and EEG technologies, the field has taken a huge leap forward. fMRI has made it possible to visualize, in real time, which areas of the brain were activated when consumers were exposed to products or advertisements.
This helped identify specific emotional reactions, such as pleasure, fear or aversion. EEG, a more accessible and portable tool, measures the electrical activity of the brain, allowing more dynamic monitoring of consumers' momentary reactions.
These technologies were instrumental in early experiments that demonstrated how the subconscious plays a much larger role in purchasing decisions than previously believed.
For example, a pioneering study led by Read Montague in 2003, known as the "Pepsi Test," used fMRI to compare people's brain responses to drinking Coke and Pepsi.
The study showed that even when participants preferred the taste of Pepsi in a blind taste test, the Coca-Cola brand activated more areas of the brain related to pleasure when the brand was familiar, proving the power of branding over perceived taste. (3)
Watch a TED Talk video in which the neuroscientist talks about how the brain works and comments on the study we mentioned and other research in the field of neuromarketing:
Neuromarketing in the corporate market
Throughout the 2010s, neuromarketing began to be adopted by large companies to shape their advertising strategies.
Brands like Coca-Cola, Google and Procter & Gamble were some of the first to invest in this type of research.
At the same time, specialized companies emerged, such as NeuroFocus (acquired by Nielsen), which began offering neuromarketing services to brands interested in optimizing their campaigns.