Graduate Studies Blog
MSC MARKETING SCIENCE
The Fascinating World of Neuromarketing – 4 Takeaways
4 minute read.
What impact does the subconscious mind have on marketing and consumer behaviour? Professor Gemma Calvert from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore’s (NTU Singapore) Nanyang Business School (NBS) took us on brief journey into the power of the subconscious brain and the emerging field of neuromarketing in a recent webinar.
Professor Calvert is an internationally renowned neuroscientist and a pioneer in the field of neuromarketing. An entrepreneur, academic, and seasoned speaker, she has published over 60 scientific papers on human brain function, including papers for Society for Science and Nature.
Here are four takeaways from the webinar.
In the book Thinking, Fast and Slow by psychologist, economist, and Nobel Laureate Daniel Kahneman, he describes two modes of thinking: System 1 is quick and instinctive, whereas System 2 is slower and rational.
Professor Calvert shared:
Division of Marketing, NBS
“Nearly 95% of our purchasing decisions are subconscious, or happen through System 1, leaving only 5% of our decisions made through logical thinking or System 2. We aren’t rational consumers. Our purchases are often swayed by emotions that are fleeting or of which we’re only vaguely aware of.”
In traditional market research, people may offer feedback, but it is their conscious mind speaking. “People don’t always tell the truth; they actually don’t think how they feel; and they don’t do what they say,” said Professor Calvert. “Their inputs may not produce accurate results.” Furthermore, while people can tell us what they like and dislike, they are unable to articulate why.
Increasingly, marketers are turning to neuroscience and cognitive science, to get a 360-degree view of the consumer and improve the accuracy of predicting behaviours.
This combined field of study – where the two sciences are applied to marketing, is known as neuromarketing.
“In the 1990s, interest in neuromarketing coincided with the emergence of the brain imaging technology fMRI or functional magnetic resonance imaging,” explained Professor Calvert. “We can use fMRI to understand complex emotions, and one of the key things fMRI reveals is how powerful our subconscious mind is.”
Today, neuroscience is being used at every stage of the brand journey: – from understanding facets of a product that are driving the brain’s reward system to analysing how the product’s packaging influences the way we perceive or experience it. Advertisements, websites, and in-store environments also use neuromarketing to achieve their goals.
“There are many neural connections in our brain, as many as the stars in the milky way,” Professor Calvert described. “It really is a complicated thing to study.”
Yet, there have been many changes in the last 30 years that have revolutionised how we examine decision-making.
Professor Calvert gave examples of techniques such as applying biometrics, using wearable eye-tracking devices, and experimenting with electroencephalography (also known as EEG) monitoring methods.
“Each of them contributes to our understanding of a different aspect of the brain,” she said. “In the Consumer Neuroscience and Neuromarketing course of NBS’s Master of Science in Marketing Science programme, students learn how to choose the appropriate technique to address a particular marketing question.”
According to Professor Calvert, any technology can be abused.
“Are marketers capable of manipulating us to buy something? Well, on the one hand, the brain acts as a gatekeeper. If a product gives us less satisfaction than the previous one we used, then less dopamine is produced in the brain, and we will be less inclined to buy the product again,” she said. “At the same time, today’s technology will only become more granular, resulting in issues of privacy and protection that need to be addressed.”
The Consumer Neuroscience and Neuromarketing course will provide a forum for such discussions. Participants will also get to weigh the pros and cons of various technologies and approaches.
Neuromarketing, Professor Calvert summed up, is “marketing to the intuitive consumer.” We can gain a deeper understanding of who we are and how our brains work through neuromarketing, and therefore sell to consumers more effectively and pleasantly.
