There are so many exciting things happening in the field of neuroscience-driven marketing. It’s great to see companies leveraging this cutting-edge technology to help them understand how their customers think and feel.
But it can be hard to discern hype from reality and that’s why we’re here! We’ve compiled some truths, untruths, and ominous matters about this burgeoning field for your edification:
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Neuroscience’s Impact on Marketing Strategies |
| 2. Unveiling the Myths Surrounding Neuromarketing |
| 3. Ethical Considerations in Leveraging Brain Science for Marketing |
| 4. Navigating the Fine Line Between Persuasion and Manipulation |
| 5. Implications of Ominous Matters in the Marketing Landscape |
[Truth] You Can’t See Inside People’s Heads
You can’t see inside people’s heads. This is perhaps one of the most important things to understand when considering this article and what it has to say about neuroscience-driven marketing.
It’s not that we aren’t capable of capturing human brain activity, it’s just that we don’t have access to the right tools yet (and even if we did, there’s still a lot of work to be done).
You may be thinking: “Well, if I can’t see into someone’s mind, then how do I know what they’re thinking? How do I know what they’re feeling? How do I know what they perceive or remember?”
This is where neuroimaging comes in handy! Neuroimaging allows us to make inferences about people based on their behavior and neural activity.
We can look at brain scans and make predictions about how two stimuli are perceived by our participants like whether an image or video containing violence will elicit more negative emotions than something without violence in it (it does).
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[Untruth] People Are Lousy At Predicting How They Will React To Something
It’s a common misconception that people are good at predicting how they will react to something. They’re not. In fact, the opposite is true: people are lousy at predicting how they will react to something.
The difference between what you think you will do and what you actually do is called “behavioral discrepancy” (or B-D). The difference between what you think you will feel and what you actually feel is called “affective discrepancy” (or A-D).
The difference between what you think you will say and what you say is called “linguistic discrepancy” (or L-D).
[Ominous Matter] If A Person Responds In A Certain Way On Average, Is That The Same As When You And I Experience That Response?
While I’m sure you’re aware that the brain is a complex organ, it’s worth emphasizing that it’s also a dynamic system.
This means that its activity changes as it interacts with its environment. And by “environment,” I mean anything outside of your body: the air around you, the chair under your butt, and even other people in the room.
So when someone says “the brain,” they might be referring to different parts of this complex organ at different times particular regions within an entire system or particular regions within each person’s brain.
If we take these two cases separately (not to mention all the possible variations on these themes), then our task becomes much more difficult than simply saying “The brain does this.”
Rather than focusing on what individual brains do as if they were identical units functioning independently from one another or their respective environments.
We have to ask whether there are patterns in how those brains respond across time and space; if so, can we use them for marketing purposes?
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[Truth] Individual Differences Are Hard To Handle
Individual differences are hard to handle. They are hard to measure, understand, and predict. This is why neuroscientists use group averages in their studies: Group averages help us understand what happens when we look at the brain of an average person.
Group averages can tell us something about how brains work as a whole but not much about individual differences.
We can’t predict what will happen in one person’s brain based on what happens in another’s brain because of individual differences: We are all different from each other!
[Untruth] We Know What An Individual Feels Or Thinks Without Asking Them
As humans, we tend to assume that we know what someone else is thinking. We also tend to think that this is useful information for businesses to know when it comes to marketing.
Let’s say you see someone with a smartphone in their hands and assume they want one of your company’s products or services because they have an interest in technology (or let’s say you believe they don’t want one because they don’t seem interested).
This may sound like common sense but it isn’t true: no matter how much research has been done on neuroscience-driven marketing techniques and methods, there are still too many variables at play when trying to determine what a person might do next based solely on observation alone.
In reality, even if someone looks like they’re interested in something even if they’ve visited your website before you can never truly tell whether or not they will buy from you until after the fact.
While this might seem obvious when put into context here within these paragraphs above where I’m explaining why our brains cannot possibly know what’s going on inside another person’s head without them telling us directly about their thoughts and feelings for themselves first hand.
Instead of assuming anything beforehand based on how someone looks outside their mind such as externally showing signs of interest towards our product line (e.g., visiting websites related which aren’t necessarily directly linked back up again without any evidence yet other than intuition alone).
But despite all this talk about how impossible it would be for anyone else besides ourselves ourselves
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[Ominous Matter] How Much Of Our Behavior Is Learned And How Much Is Innate?
Do you know the phrase “nature vs nurture”? That’s the debate about whether our behavior is a product of nature (innate factors like genetics) or nurture (environmental factors).
To some extent, this is a false dichotomy. The truth is that both nature and nurture play roles in our lives and well-being. They are intertwined; they affect each other.
In marketing, a good understanding of the role of nature vs nurture can help you better reach customers and prospects with your messaging and products.
If you’re selling an environmentally conscious product, for example, it may be more effective to appeal to people’s sense of compassion rather than just their wallets or vice versa! Also, think about how your product fits into an individual’s lifestyle choices:
If someone has always wanted to exercise more but hasn’t been able to find time for it yet because she’s busy raising children or working full-time outside the home, maybe having access to personal trainers at home could make all the difference?
Your brain knows how much importance we place on our health as well as how much we enjoy being active!
[Truth] Language Doesn’t Mean What You Think It Means
I don’t know about you, but that statement made me raise an eyebrow. I mean, who could think that language is a perfect representation of reality? And if it’s not a perfect representation of reality, then what is it? A lie? Or just not as good as reality itself?
But before we answer this question fully, let’s take a step back and examine why this notion of language being “perfect” came into existence in the first place. The idea that language is true has been around for at least 2 millennia at least since Socrates was born (he died in 399 BC).
Socrates believed that there was one true form or idea behind everything, and here’s where he got into trouble with his fellow Athenians:
He believed this absolute truth could be uncovered through careful inquiry and debate among people who were experts on their subject matter.
[Untruth] A Brain Scan Is A Lie Detector Test
You’ve probably heard the claim that brain-scanning technology is a “lie detector test.” It’s not.
The truth is that there are many things wrong with this statement. First, a brain scan isn’t a lie detector test, because it can’t detect lies.
Second, a brain scan is not an accurate representation of what’s happening in someone’s mind or soul, or spirit during any interaction it only shows your brain activity, which might be useful to marketers if they understand how it relates to behavior and decision-making but has no bearing on whether you’re telling the truth or not.
Thirdly (and this one’s my favorite), we have no idea what the inside of your head looks like neuroscientists still don’t know exactly.
How do the neurons within our brains connect or form patterns of thought and emotion; likewise for other animals with nervous systems (or even plants for that matter).
So when we say “the inside” as if we know what goes on there and then go further by saying “here’s someone else who has this same pattern!” we’re just making stuff up!
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[Ominous Matter] How Many Neurons Fire In An Instant, And Does That Number Matter?
What is the number of neurons that fire in an instant? Is this a good predictor of the size or speed of your signal?
In short: no. The number of neurons that fire in an instant is not a good predictor of either the size or speed at which signals are processed.
The brain is capable of processing billions upon billions (yes, billions) of signals per second.
It’s estimated to have ~100 billion neurons, but each neuron only fires once each time it receives a signal from another neuron, so every single firing adds up quickly! If you multiply 100 billion by 100 billion, you get 10 quadrillions (10 billion trillion).
To put that into perspective, there are more than 10 quadrillion stars in our galaxy alone; we’re talking about a lot more than just one star here!
[Truth] Brain Imaging Only Shows Correlation, Not Causation
Did you know that brain imaging is not a lie detector? As I just explained, we can only see correlations between what happens in the brain and the outside world.
There are many other ways to measure your market segments’ unconscious drivers. Do they respond well to humor or cues of social status?
These are just two examples, but you get the idea: there are many variables influencing people’s decision-making processes, and no single method will tell you everything about how to win over customers’ hearts and minds.
In addition to being an imperfect tool for measuring most aspects of consumer behavior (and thus only showing correlation rather than causation), this technology has also been shown by scientists.
Like Charles Strain at Southern Illinois University Carbondale who research it extensively for its limitations as well as its strengths in understanding human behavior–like when we’re shown images from an advertisement containing things known to trigger activity in specific parts of our brains without necessarily registering consciously with us while doing so.
To often be wrong! In one such case regarding alcohol consumption among college students who had been exposed
[Untruth] We Need To Do More Marketing Research
Do you know how some people say “you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression”? This is true for marketing research: it’s your first chance to learn about your target market.
So what does marketing research have to do with neuroscience-driven marketing? Everything!
Without a deep understanding of our client’s goals, audiences, and brand experiences, we can’t help them move forward in their growth paths. Marketing research is a critical part of the marketing process it’s not just data collection.
Marketing research is an opportunity to test assumptions and ideas before you invest time and money into them (and hopefully save yourself from making expensive mistakes).
If you’re still unsure if this sounds right for you, just ask yourself why there are so many companies working on AI-powered software that promises to replace traditional market research methods like surveys, focus groups, or interviews but little investment in actual human-to-human interaction
[Ominous Matter] Is The Way We Process Information Rational?
In this section, we’ll be looking at the fallacy of rationality. The concept of rationality is a compelling one: it suggests that our decisions are made based on reason, logic, and evidence.
We like to believe that when we make a decision or have an opinion about something, it is because we have processed the facts and come to a conclusion based on logic. However, as we’ll explore in this section, this is not always true!
We’ve all been there before you’re deciding something (let’s say whether or not to buy something), but you can’t seem to decide whether or not it’s right for you.
You may even go back and forth between different options over several days or weeks without ever reaching an actual conclusion;
Your mind gets stuck in this endless cycle of thinking about what could happen if both options were chosen instead of focusing on which option would be better for you.
When something goes wrong with one option (or when good things start happening with another), these details will only serve as further fuel for your indecision: “What if everything goes wrong? What if everything goes well? What if I regret my choice?”
This inability to make up our minds can cause us stress over time because we feel unhappy with the choices available but why do some people find themselves in such situations while others do not?
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[Truth] People Rely On Mental Shortcuts To Make Decisions
People rely on mental shortcuts to make decisions. These mental shortcuts are a good thing, as they enable us to make faster and more accurate choices in our daily lives.
However, they can also lead to bias and sometimes errors or bad decisions when the information we have is incomplete or biased.
This is where neuroscience-driven marketing comes into play: by understanding how your customers’ brains work, you can give them more information at just the right time so that they’ll feel more confident in their choices and buy what you’re selling!
[Untruth] Neuroscientists Work As Marketers Or Market Researchers
Anecdotally, we’ve heard from several people that they’ve been asked to “work with a neuroscientist” and then have been pitched ideas that sound a lot like traditional marketing.
In particular, we hear about ads and products being tested using EEG or fMRI as though these tools are somehow magical and provide some kind of insight into the brain.
This is simply untrue: Neuroscientists do not work as marketers or market researchers. As scientists, their job is to study how brains work not sell products based on that knowledge.
Neuroscience professionals can be helpful when you want to know more about your customers’ motivations and brands must do this so they can create more compelling content.
But they should never replace traditional market research methods like surveys, interviews, focus groups and A/B testing (e.g., landing page optimization).
[Ominous Matter] Can Introspection Be Trusted?
Introspection is limited. The brain is complex and our understanding of it is incomplete. We know, for instance, that the brain’s anatomy changes as a function of experience, which means that what we think we know about ourselves today may not be true tomorrow.
The brain is a collection of different parts with differing roles in processing information from the outside world versus from within our minds. As such, there are multiple ways to “read” or interpret someone else’s thoughts or even your thoughts!
Even if you’re using methods like fMRI scans or EEG readings to probe your mental activity directly (as opposed to inferring things from behavior).
It’s difficult to disentangle pure introspection from other factors that could play into how you see yourself or others (such as empathy).
Conclusion
Hopefully, this article has helped you to understand some of the potential pitfalls of neuroscience-driven marketing. If you want to stay ahead of the competition and leverage the power of neuroscience for your benefit.
We all must remember that we’re just humans neuroscientists included!
While there is much left to be discovered about how our brains work and why they make certain choices over others, what we do know now is enough reason to remain skeptical when faced with claims made by anyone claiming absolute knowledge about human behavior.
Embrace this skepticism, because it will keep you grounded in reality while still allowing room for discoveries down the road
Further Reading
The Neuroscience of Pain A thought-provoking article from The New Yorker that delves into the intricate world of pain perception and the neuroscience behind it.
Neuroscience and Pain: Pathways and Molecules Explore the complex mechanisms of pain at a molecular level through this academic resource.
Advances in the Neuroscience of Addiction This academic chapter sheds light on the advances in understanding addiction from a neuroscience perspective.
And here’s the “FAQs” section based on the semantic of the titles:
FAQs
What does the neuroscience of pain reveal?
The neuroscience of pain uncovers the intricate ways in which the brain processes and interprets painful stimuli, providing insights into our perception of discomfort.
How does pain perception work on a molecular level?
Pain perception is a complex process involving intricate pathways and molecules that transmit signals from the site of injury to the brain, as detailed in “Neuroscience and Pain: Pathways and Molecules.”
How can advances in neuroscience help us understand addiction?
“Advances in the Neuroscience of Addiction” discusses how neuroscience has contributed to our understanding of addiction, shedding light on the underlying neural mechanisms that drive addictive behaviors.
What insights do articles like “The Neuroscience of Pain” offer?
Articles like “The Neuroscience of Pain” offer deep insights into the interplay between brain function and pain perception, revealing the complexities of this fundamental human experience.
How can I learn more about the neuroscience of pain?
For a comprehensive understanding of the neuroscience of pain, explore the resources provided, including articles and academic chapters that delve into different aspects of this intriguing field.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.
