Advances in neuroscience and marketinganalyzing tool possibilities and research opportunities

  1. Luis Alberto Casado Aranda 1
  2. Juan Sánchez Fernández 1
  1. 1 Universidad de Granada
    info

    Universidad de Granada

    Granada, España

    ROR https://ror.org/04njjy449

Journal:
Spanish journal of marketing-ESIC

ISSN: 2444-9695,  2444-9709

Year of publication: 2022

Volume: 26

Issue: 1

Pages: 3-22

Type: Article

DOI: 10.1108/SJME-10-2021-0196 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openOpen access editor

More publications in: Spanish journal of marketing-ESIC

Abstract

Purpose – This study aims to illuminate the contribution of neurophysiological techniques in the field of marketing and consumer decision-making and to highlight avenues and research questions that marketing researchers can take advantage of from neuroscience and psychology to inform marketing phenomena. Methodology – The authors first reviewed the roots and definition of consumer neuroscience. Then, the authors outlined the main characteristics of the most commonly used neurophysiological tools (namely, skin conductance, facial electromyography, electrocardiogram, eye-tracking, electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, magnetoencephalography and transcranial magnetic stimulation) with a special emphasis on their advantages and weaknesses. Finally, the authors propose the development of research lines that could be implemented by marketing researchers with an appropriate application and understanding of tools and theories of neuroscience and psychology. Findings – The authors propose research questions to be addressed within four thematic areas: opportunities in product decisions (predicting product purchasing decisions, consumer responses to branding efforts and packaging), pricing, communication and retailing scenarios. The authors also incorporate insights into the complementarity of neurophysiological tools to traditional ones and situations in which these tools are useful for enhancing marketing theory. The authors finally shed light on the moral–ethical criticisms of this new branch of marketing. Value – To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research constitutes the first study in identifying the research opportunities that marketing researchers could take advantage from neuroimaging and physiological tools to inform marketing theory and practice.

Bibliographic References

  • Ajzen, I. (1991), “The theory of planned behavior”, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Vol. 50 No. 2, pp. 179-211.
  • Asioli, D., Aschemann-Witzel, J., Caputo, V., Vecchio, R., Annunziata, A., Næs, T. and Varela, P. (2017), “Making sense of the ‘clean label’ trends: a review of consumer food choice behavior and discussion of industry implications”, Food Research International, Vol. 99, pp. 58-71.
  • Astolfi, L., Soranzo, R., Cincotti, F., Mattia, D., Scarano, G., Gaudiano, I. and Marciani, M.G. (2008), “Assessing the memorization of TV commercials with the use of high resolution EEG: a pilot study”, Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, 2008. EMBS 2008. 30th Annual International Conference of the IEEE, IEEE, pp. 3755-3758.
  • Bowbrick, P. (1980), “Pseudo research in marketing: the case of the price/perceived-quality relationship”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 8, pp. 466-470.
  • Bradley, M.M., Moulder, B. and Lang, P.J. (2005), “When good things go bad: the reflex physiology of defense”, Psychological Science, Vol. 16 No. 6, pp. 468-473.
  • Bruce, A.S., Lusk, J.L., Crespi, J.M., Cherry, J.B.C., Bruce, J.M., McFadden, B.R. and Savage, C.R. (2014), “Consumers’ neural and behavioral responses to food technologies and price”, Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, Vol. 7 No. 3, pp. 164-173.
  • Çakir, M.P., Çakar, T., Girisken, Y. and Yurdakul, D. (2018), “An investigation of the neural correlates of purchase behavior through fNIRS”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52 Nos 1/2, pp. 224-243.
  • Camerer, C., Loewenstein, G. and Prelec, D. (2005), “Neuroeconomics: how neuroscience can inform economics”, Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 9-64.
  • Casado-Aranda, L.-A. (2021), “Neurociencia del consumidor, piramide”, available at: www.casadellibro. com/libro-neurociencia-del-consumidor/9788436845389/12492815 (accessed 16 October 2021).
  • Casado-Aranda, L.A., Angelika, D. and Sanchez, Fernandez, J. (2021), “Looking at the brain: neural effects of ‘made in’ labeling on product value and choice”, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Vol. 60, p. 102452.
  • Casado-Aranda, L.-A., Liébana-Cabanillas, F. and Sanchez-Fernandez, J. (2018a), “A neuropsychological study on how consumers process risky and secure E-payments”, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Vol. 43, pp. 151-164.
  • Casado-Aranda, L.-A., Sanchez-Fernandez, J. and Montoro-Ríos, F.J. (2018b), “How consumers process online privacy, financial, and performance risks: an fMRI study”, CyberPsychology, Behavior and Social Networking, Vol. 21 No. 9, pp. 556-562.
  • Cuesta, U., Niño, J.I., Martinez, L. and Paredes, B. (2020), “The neurosciences of health communication: an fNIRS analysis of prefrontal cortex and porn consumption in young women for the development of prevention health programs”, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 11, p. 2132.
  • Dimoka, A. (2010), “What does the brain tell us about trust and distrust? Evidence from a functional neuroimaging study”, MIS Quarterly, Vol. 2 No. 34, pp. 373-396.
  • Guixeres, J., Bigné, E., Ausín Azofra, J.M., Alcañiz Raya, M., Colomer Granero, A., Fuentes Hurtado, F. and Naranjo Ornedo, V. (2017), “Consumer neuroscience-based metrics predict recall, liking and viewing rates in online advertising”, Frontiers in Psychology, Vol. 8, p. 01808.
  • Harris, J.M., Ciorciari, J. and Gountas, J. (2018), “Public health social media communications and consumer neuroscience”, Cogent Psychology, Vol. 5 No. 1.
  • Kranzler, E.C., Schmälzle, R., O’Donnell, M.B., Pei, R. and Falk, E.B. (2018), “Adolescent neural responses to antismoking messages, perceived effectiveness, and sharing intention”, Media Psychology, Vol. 1, pp. 1-27.
  • Kuhnen, C.M. and Knutson, B. (2005), “The neural basis of financial risk taking”, Neuron, Vol. 47 No. 5, pp. 763-770.
  • Lang, A. (2006), “Using the limited capacity model of motivated mediated message processing to design effective cancer communication messages”, Journal of Communication, Vol. 56 No. s No. suppl_1, pp. S57-S80.
  • Lang, P.J., Bradley, M.M., Fitzsimmons, J.R., Cuthbert, B.N., Scott, J.D., Moulder, B. and Nangia, V. (1998), “Emotional arousal and activation of the visual cortex: an fMRI analysis”, Psychophysiology, Vol. 35 No. 2, pp. 199-210.
  • Lee, N., Chamberlain, L. and Brandes, L. (2018), “Welcome to the jungle! The neuromarketing literature through the eyes of a newcomer”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 52 Nos 1/2, pp. 4-38.
  • Li, S., Walters, G., Packer, J. and Scott, N. (2018), “Using skin conductance and facial electromyography to measure emotional responses to tourism advertising”, Current Issues in Tourism, Vol. 21 No. 15, pp. 1761-1783.
  • McClure, S.M., Li, J., Tomlin, D., Cypert, K.S., Montague, L.M. and Montague, P.R. (2004),“Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks”,Neuron, Vol. 44 No. 2, pp. 379-387.
  • Manippa, V., Ferracci, S., Pietroni, D. and Brancucci, A. (2022), “Can the position on the screen of an image influence its judgment? The case of high- and low-calorie foods”, Food Quality and Preference, Vol. 96, available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104407
  • Manippa, V., Padulo, C., van der Laan, L.N. and Brancucci, A. (2017), “Gender differences in food choice: effects of superior temporal sulcus stimulation”, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Vol. 11, p. 597.
  • Martinez-Fiestas, M., Isabel Viedma del Jesus, M., Sanchez-Fernandez, J. and Montoro-Rios, F. (2015), “A psychophysiological approach for measuring response to messaging: how consumers emotionally process green advertising”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 55 No. 2, p. 192.
  • Medina, C.A.G., Martinez-Fiestas, M., Viedma-del-Jesús, M.I. and C. and Aranda, L.A. (2020), “The processing of price during purchase decision making: are there neural differences among prosocial and non-prosocial consumers?”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 271, p. 122648.
  • MSI Announces 2020-22 Research Priorities (2020), MSI – Marketing Science Institute, 7 May, available at: www.msi.org/articles/2020-22-msi-research-priorities-outline-marketers-top-concerns/ (accessed 13 October 2021).
  • Oostenveld, R. and Praamstra, P. (2001), “The five percent electrode system for high-resolution EEG and ERP measurements”, Clinical Neurophysiology, Vol. 112 No. 4, pp. 713-719.
  • Petty, R.E. and Cacioppo, J.T. (1986), “The elaboration likelihood model of persuasion”, in Berkowitz, L. (Ed.), Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 19, Academic Press, pp. 123-205.
  • Pieters, R., Wedel, M. and Batra, R. (2010), “The stopping power of advertising: measures and effects of visual complexity”, Journal of Marketing, Vol. 74 No. 5, pp. 48-60.
  • Plassmann, H., O’Doherty, J., Shiv, B. and Rangel, A. (2008), “Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 105 No. 3, pp. 1050-1054.
  • Poldrack, R. (2006), “Can cognitive processes be inferred from neuroimaging data?”, Trends in Cognitive Sciences, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 59-63.
  • Pulvermüller, F., Härle, M. and Hummel, F. (2001), “Walking or talking? Behavioral and neurophysiological correlates of action verb processing”, Brain and Language, Vol. 78 No. 2, pp. 143-168.
  • Reimann, M., Zaichkowsky, J., Neuhaus, C., Bender, T. and Weber, B. (2010), “Aesthetic package design: a behavioral, neural, and psychological investigation”, Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 20 No. 4, pp. 431-441.
  • Sanchez-Fernandez, J., Casado-Aranda, L.-A. and Bastidas-Manzano, A.-B. (2021), “Consumer neuroscience techniques in advertising research: a bibliometric citation analysis”, Sustainability, Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, Vol. 13 No. 3, p. 1589.
  • Schaefer, M. and Rotte, M. (2007), “Favorite brands as cultural objects modulate reward circuit”, NeuroReport, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 141-145.
  • Smidts, A. (2002), “Kijken in het brein: over de mogelijkheden van neuromarketing [looking into the brain: on the potential of neuromarketing]”, ERIM Inaugural Address Series, available at: http:// hdl.handle.net/1765/308
  • Solnais, C., Andreu-Perez, J., Sanchez-Fernandez, J. and Andréu-Abela, J. (2013), “The contribution of neuroscience to consumer research: a conceptual framework and empirical review”, Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 36, pp. 68-81.
  • Tversky, A. and Kahneman, D. (1986),“The framing of decisions and the”, Economic Theory, Vol. 251, p. 8
Data source: Dialnet