Clearly analyze the core of neuromarketing. List 4 significant points on the effectiveness of neuromarketing. Be sure to outline your decision on whether the impact is real or not.

Complete the Assignment: Neuromarketing

Prepare and submit a three page paper describing the four points you feel are most significant on the effectiveness of neuromarketing and provide at least two references to support your opinion (other than the Doc Sharing materials provided ). Note, these references can be videos.

Assignment Checklist:

Read and review the impact of the material in Doc Sharing. Clearly analyze the core of neuromarketing. List 4 significant points on the effectiveness of neuromarketing. Be sure to outline your decision on whether the impact is real or not. Provide at least two references, outside of unit materials, to support your opinion.

The first article was an interesting one, studying the brain waves in shopping was a good idea, but I do believe that researchers are missing one key element in the study which is emotion. We are all human beings with emotions and sometimes can and will be very emotional creatures whether its anger or happiness. I believe if a consumer is happy they will tend to buy and spend more opposed to an angry consumer. On the second article By Adam Pendenburg he and the research stated “After scanning the brains of a carefully chosen group of consumers, the NeuroFocus team discovered that the icky coating triggers an unusually powerful response in the brain: a sense of giddy subversion that consumers enjoy over the messiness of the product talking about Cheetos”. Personally on the other hand that is the exact reason why I don’t eat them but my children enjoy them. Overall I do believe the best way to get consumer feedback is first hand with the new technology and it excites me to know how far technology has come. The article I want to share is called “Consumer behavior” and to help prove my point that human emotions also plays a role in the buying process this article stated that “Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumer’s (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some “object”—within the context of marketing, usually a brand, product category, or retail store” can alter the decision making process. Reference: “Consumer behavior” By the University of South Carolina Retrieved from: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Consumer_Behavior.html

I found both of these articles really fascinating, as I was not familiar with neuromarketing before reading them. The three core points I found throughout both articles are:

1. People do not always know what they are thinking, and even if they do they are not always honest about reporting it. This can lead to mixed results, and that is one reason why traditional market research can be imprecise and biased.

– I agree with this idea. I think that often times consumers are not exactly sure of what prompted them to buy one product over another product or what impulses they might have felt when making the purchase. I think that when asked after the fact in a research or focus group, people would be dishonest unintentionally because they would not be able to accurately recall exactly what they were feeling in that moment. I know personally, that if someone asked me why I bought the items I did at the grocery store one week, as opposed to different items I have purchased in the past, I might not be able to give a completely honest answer because I was compelled in that moment to buy something new. This could be due to hunger at the time, a commercial I saw, or a recommendation from a friend.

2. In the future, marketers will be able to monitor what consumers think at a cellular level. This will allow them to hold more influence over the purchases consumers make. Neuromarketing has the potential to tip the balance of power in the marketplace from the buyer to the seller.

– I do not totally agree with this idea, as to me it feels a little bit invasive. I am uncomfortable with the idea of marketers knowing what I am thinking before I even do. It seems to me like a invasion of my thought process. That being said, I do see the benefit to marketers wanting to target their customers. I feel like the whole idea of neuromarketing seems a little bit like manipulating the consumers into buying their products which seems a bit to scientific. I think the concept of tipping the scale of power makes it almost too easy for marketers and takes the originality and creativity out of advertising and marketing a product.

3. There are fundamental values across humanity that are better explained through the work of neuromarketing. These values are often skewed and could not have been learned through traditional market research and focus groups due to the cultural biases often faced in such research studies. Neuromarketing has a much better chance at getting closer to the unconscious truth, which will make it more effective for marketers.

– I agree with this point. Although, I may not agree with how neuroscience affects the consumer, I am convinced after reading these articles that the ability to measure the unconscious mind before our conscious mind has a chance to filter and change what we are feeling would make it easier for marketers to understand consumers. I often have a difficult time sorting through my own thoughts about every decision that I make that I would be more likely to come up with an answer that “seems right” in a focus group or survey, rather than the actual truthful answer about why I chose certain products. Fundamentally I agree that men and women have different values and different things appeal to each gender, so I agree that for marketing purposes, neuromarketing could be extremely successful.

I think the example of the iPad in the second article, is a great example of how neuromarketing can affect the consumers. If the feeling of moving the icons across the screen as well as the sensation of holding the iPad gives the consumer a positive reaction internally, then that would explain the phenomenon that those Apple products have created. It made a lot of sense when they discussed the feeling of getting the iPad to do what you wanted when you move the icons across the screen resulting in a feeling of accomplishment. The reference of the orange mess that is left on fingers and clothing when eating Cheetos also makes a lot of sense to me. I can understand that the reaction of seeing the orange film and the mess it makes would make adults feel more child like and it could trigger some happy feelings in the brain of eating those snacks as a child.

The first article was an interesting one, studying the brain waves in shopping was a good idea, but I do believe that researchers are missing one key element in the study which is emotion. We are all human beings with emotions and sometimes can and will be very emotional creatures whether its anger or happiness. I believe if a consumer is happy they will tend to buy and spend more opposed to an angry consumer. On the second article By Adam Pendenburg he and the research stated “After scanning the brains of a carefully chosen group of consumers, the NeuroFocus team discovered that the icky coating triggers an unusually powerful response in the brain: a sense of giddy subversion that consumers enjoy over the messiness of the product talking about Cheetos”. Personally on the other hand that is the exact reason why I don’t eat them but my children enjoy them. Overall I do believe the best way to get consumer feedback is first hand with the new technology and it excites me to know how far technology has come. The article I want to share is called “Consumer behavior” and to help prove my point that human emotions also plays a role in the buying process this article stated that “Consumer attitudes are a composite of a consumer’s (1) beliefs about, (2) feelings about, (3) and behavioral intentions toward some “object”—within the context of marketing, usually a brand, product category, or retail store” can alter the decision making process. Reference: “Consumer behavior” By the University of South Carolina Retrieved from: http://www.consumerpsychologist.com/intro_Consumer_Behavior.html