Psychology B2 - biological approach to consumer behaviour Flashcards
neuromarketing: what is neuromarketing? — neuroscience and marketing
-neuromarketing applies the study of the brain (neuroscience) to marketing (selling products or services)
-neuroscience is based on technologies that measure brain activity
-uses these technologies to study people’s responses to aspects of marketing such as products, brands and adverts
neuromarketing: what is neuromarketing? — brand and products
-neuromarketeers look for insights into how consumers feel about brands, what gets their attention and the reasons they do or do not buy a product
-findings of neuroscience are incorporated into campaigns to ‘tap into’ the brain activity associated with a positive attitude towards a brand or product
neuromarketing: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) — oxygen and bloody flow
-fMRI is a form of brain scanning which measures the activity (function) of the brain when it is ‘working
-MRI detects changes in blood oxygenation and flow in specific parts of the brain
-active brain area requires more oxygen, so blood flow is directed to this area and this can be measured by a scanning machine
neuromarketing: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) — how it works
-pps lies in an MRI scanner and sees an advert or other stimulus as their brain activity is measured continuously in real time
-MRI scan produces three-dimensional images showing which parts of the brain are active during a mental process
neuromarketing: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) — uses
-language of neuromarketing, MRI helps advertisers understand what features of an advert activate a brain area that ‘pushes a consumer’s buy button
-they claim that MRI can show, for example, whether a person is bored or excited by an advert, or whether they like a product or not
-helps to set pricing - the more people like a product, the higher the price that can be charged for it
neuromarketing: facial coding — emotions
-people’s facial expressions are thought to offer a window into their feelings, an idea that goes back scientifically to Darwin (1872)
-the meanings of facial expressions are to some extent open to interpretation
-Ekman and Friesen (1978) developed a system of coding called FACS, the facial action coding system
-is a way of trying to provide some objectivity by categorising ‘micro’ facial expressions from the combined positions of 43 facial muscles
neuromarketing: facial coding — uses
-neuromarketing, electrodes attached to people’s faces detect slight muscle movements as they watch an advert
-movements are correlated with emotional expressions (e.g. smiling) and feelings (eg. happiness, surprise) to indicate which aspects of an advert the consumer finds appealing
neuromarketing: eye tracking — brain activity
-areas of the brain (in the cortex and other regions) are involved in vision and coordinating eye movements
-eye movements reflect the activities of these brain areas and are associated with cognitive functions of interest to neuromarketeers, such as attention and memory
neuromarketing: eye tracking — uses
-researchers use technology to track a consumer’s eye movements as they view a product or advert
-helps neuromarketeers to identify the features of an advert that attract the most attention
-can be associated with brain activity to identify the most interesting, exciting or motivating aspects of the stimulus
-Eye tracking can also reveal what consumers find confusing about a product, advert or even packaging
-the equipment is portable, eye tracking can be used in real-life situations such as restaurants, supermarkets or online
-can also be used in a virtual reality environment
evaluation: practical applications (+)
-neuromarketing techniques can be used instead of self-report methods
-because sometimes people are not consciously aware of their responses
-for instance in one study using MRI, activity in a ‘reward’ area of the brain was closely correlated with the popularity of songs three years later
-the pps’ conscious responses (how much they said they liked the songs) did not correlate with sales figures at all (Berns and Moore 2012)
-suggests that the techniques of neuromarketing can sometimes reveal practically useful information about consumer behaviour
evaluation: relatively ineffective (-)
-neuromarketing does not predict consumer behaviour very well
-Venkatraman et al. (2015) asked participants to watch genuine adverts
-researchers used MRI, eye tracking and facial coding to measure participants’ responses
-also used focus groups, a well-established non-neuromarketing method in which participants discuss their responses to the adverts
-best technique for predicting advertising success was the focus group
-MRI was the only neuromarketing technique that was at all effective
-shows that neuromarketing techniques have some usefulness but methods that don’t rely on technology may be better
evaluation: ethics of neuromarketing (-)
-neuromarketing techniques raise ethical concerns.
-neuromarketing aims to predict consumer behaviour and possibly manipulate it
-one ethical concern is that neuromarketing may use neuroscientific findings to manipulate responses that people are not aware of and over which they have no control
-is also concern about the unethical use of neuroscientific findings to make inflated claims in order to sell ‘expertise’ to companies and advertisers
-unethical manipulation of consumers worries many researchers who believe neuromarketing should be regulated by law
