Neuromarketing Methodologies: More Brain Scans or Brain Scams?

Abstract

Although it is still controversial, neuromarketing remains the most promising area of marketing. Basically, the goal of neuromarketing is to study how human brain is affected by marketing stimuli. In neuromarketing, brain activity can be monitored and measured using state-of-the-art neuroimaging techniques such as the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and the electroencephalography (EEG). The idea of relying on neuromarketing is largely celebrated today because of the widely acknowledged fact that consumer purchase decisions are made in the subconscious mind. The study reviews and discusses the advantages and limitations of neuromarketing techniques in trying to understand the consumer brain. The results of this study indicate that neuromarketing has the potential to provide valuable information on consumer decision making.

Keywords: Brain Scam, Brain Scan, Consumers, Customers, Electroencephalography (EEG), functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Neuromarketing methods

JEL Classification: A12, B31, C91, C92, D03, D11, D12, D87, L25, L26, M31, M37