Neuromarketing: A Tool To Understand Consumer Psychology

Abstract

Consumer mind is a complex black box and it is difficult to understand what he thinks, says, does and feels (Martínez 2012). Feelings of consumers have gained strategic importance for marketers rather than only focusing on need identification and satisfaction. Neuromarketing has emerged as a strategic tool which tries to map brain activity, consumer sensorimotor and emotional responses of consumers to understand their responses to different marketing activities carried out by organizations (Kumar & Singh, 2015).

The concept of Neuromarketing was introduced in 1990 in Harvard University with a purpose to sell advertising but later in 2002 the concept was named as “Neuromarketing” by Dutch marketing professor Ale Smids. The concept uses medical science technology i.e. fMRI (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to measure the brain activity by detecting changes associated with blood flow. Market Specialists make the use of fMRI to map the changes in brain activity, to know which part of brain is triggered and to understand what tell consumers to make the decision (Dooley, 2019). Neuromarketing is being considered as one of the tools to gain attention of the consumers in order to understand the impact created on sensory  organs of the prospective target audience and generate brand awareness (Kumar & Singh, 2015).

The paper discusses about how marketers are using neuromarketing as a tool to understand the behaviour of their consumers and position themselves as shining stars in the eyes of the consumers. Exploratory research design is employed to conduct the study. A conceptual model is framed to understand the impact of neuromarketing tools on behaviour of consumers leading to final purchase. The research study will be beneficial for marketers, academicians and organizations as it is an emerging field where practitioners apply neuroscience techniques to understand marketing practices and consumer psychology.