The main component of marketing is to read the thoughts of consumers to plan enduring relationship strategies. In order to do this, marketers use hundreds of different techniques such as surveys and focus groups. However, this information is never fully reliable and there is no guarantee the actions taken will be successful. The problem with this approach is the marketers’ nightmare: your thoughts could be biased.
We marketers need a way to get into the consumer’s mind, and one of trends is the use of neuromarketing, which is just a scientific approach in a discipline that has always relied in artistic forms of expression to gain the consumer’s preference.
Currently the majority of studies regarding neuromarketing are performed with the standard procedure: they are under the consent of the test-takers (who also get paid) and the tests are performed in controlled environments. Marketers and neuroscientists will make you wear some MRI equipment and take you to a dark room to watch some commercials. They will turn up the volume and record your brainwaves changes, your pupils’ pointing (that is, specifically what are you looking at), and changes in your salivation. Easy enough, right?
There is nothing wrong with this, as it is just the same as when they call you for some market research, making you take some samples and state your opinion on them. But remember, that opinion may be based in things other than what you really think of the product. However, with the implementation of neuromarketing that would not happen because you cannot fool the system – for now. Do you know how to trick a lie detector? Some people would say this is a potential invasion of privacy, yet others would claim this could improve our quality of life, by only giving you the stuff you want, and reducing the spam and excess of information you receive. Now another question pops up: do you know what you want and what you need? What is the different between both? The questions are not that easy to answer.
What is neuromarketing’s objective? One thing for sure: get more info to sell more, not necessarily what you need, but what your brain thinks you want. What is the next step? Will they take DNA samples to see a potential disease, and then sell you insurance? It then gets a little creepy.
In the near future, consumers will not know they are being watched and monitored, so a lot of ethical issues will arise. Will neuromarketers be able to change the way you think by “reverse-engineering” your brain’s responses and reprogram you to do what they want?
Let’s hope not - I guess I have been watching too many Matrix movies.
Neuromarkeing could improve quality of life, however I agree that it will become more of an ethical issue in the business world. And who will decide what limits to put on advertisements? There will be no control on what companies could use neuromarketing for as you mentioned determining potential diseases. Privacy issues are still a major concern, and that is why neuromarketing is just a fad in the marketing field.
ReplyDeleteWell, I am sure that Dr. David Lewis, the Neuromarketing pioneer, would not like people calling Neuromarketing “a Fad” since he has spent 30 years studying the scientific facts that support this relative new science. Actually, would be a great idea, if everyone who is posting comments on this topic, visit Dr David Lewis website and get informed about the beginning of his research and how he developed a computer program called mind scan which reads on real time the brain waves when people are observing for the first time a TV commercial. He created a simple graph called “The Index of Cortical Arousal” where it can be found which objects are more attention grabbing than others. He got important conclusions out of it that now are being used for many companies. It is a whole science that still has much to offer.
ReplyDeleteReference:
http://www.drdavidlewis.co.uk/neuromarketing.html
I completely agree with the comment "it might be getting creepy". Neuromarketing can start with a good concept behing it, but, privacy issues can defenitely play a big part in the development of this new way of doing market research. Having marketing companies pry into your brain and later on disclosing this information to other companies for profit is scary.... it can defenitely get out of hand.
ReplyDeleteAlthough neuromarketing brings a lot of benefits, we should not ignore its cost also. Technology will help marketer to advertise and sell all products they make. As long as products meet consumers’ physiological standard, consumers will buy them. These products actually improve our quality of life?
ReplyDeleteI agree that there will be a lot of ethical issue.
In addition, the cost of marketing should not outweigh benefits. According to an article, high technology device such as MRI scanners for brain mapping cost an estimated $2 million each and the huge number of scans have to be done to general accurate and enough information. Before marketers actually conduct neuromarketing, they must consider pros and cons of high technology marketing.
Source:
http://www.nerac.com/nerac_insights.php?category=articles&id=205