A neuropsychology study, in 2012, used neuroimaging to measure brain responses of a group of adolescents while listening to music. It was revealed that the neural responses produced by them correlated with the future earnings of the music. The above example is one among many that demonstrates how neuromarketing can help marketers to gauge consumer behaviour. Neuromarketing applies neuropsychology to study the effects of marketing stimuli on consumers’ sensorimotor, cognitive and affective responses. It is also used in market research to understand consumer behaviour like motivations, decisions, and preferences to inform pricing, advertising product development and other spheres in marketing.

How Neuromarketing can help marketers?

Brain-based approaches to marketing have been mired in controversies but are of significance to market researchers, consumer analysts, and even the general public. Marketing practitioners can benefit from having an insight into how people think or interact with products and the thoughts and brain responses that dictate their buying behavior. Despite some pessimism from the scientific community, neuromarketing can help marketers to maximize the value of available tools can be useful in the field of marketing research.

Brand loyalty, built over a period of time can impact consumer behaviour and neuromarketing might just unravel key data to guide and formulate strategic actions in marketing. Brain-based methods can be used to address uncertainties in strategic challenges like brand positioning to correct any marketing mistakes. Marketing questions or challenges that could not be previously addressed, can now have answers thanks to the emergence of brain-based approaches. To keep a balance, marketing companies must use a combination of both traditional and brain-based approaches in strategy. Brain-based measures can be used to help bring in clarity and improve time-related resolution in traditional measures.

What Role Do Doctors Play In Neuromarketing?

Some neuromarketing companies offer products that can aid marketers in analysing consumer behaviour. Companies like Brain Intelligence, Buyology, Innerscope Research, Forebrain, Keystone Network, Neurensics, Neurosense, etc offer services like eye tracking, EEG, Galvanic Skin Response, Implicit Association Test, EMG, Go/No-Go Association Task, Implicit Association Test, fMRI, biometrics, facial coding, voice analysis.

Neurologists and health professionals have a key role to play in conducting these tests and interpreting the results. A test like Electroencephalography (EEG) reads and records electrical activity in the brain and needs sophisticated algorithms to interpret the data. Another test, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) measures the continuous variations in the electrical characteristics of the skin. Facial coding tracks tiny movements in facial muscles, that detect the pattern of human emotions. Eye tracking and mouse-tracking track the patterns of your gaze and mouse usage and help unravel decision-making processes in consumers. Skilled doctors who can take these tests and interpret the results can pursue opportunities in the field of neuromarketing. The global neuromarketing solutions market is expected to reach US$2.20 billion by the end of 2025 and can offer a boost to neurologists and health professionals career.