Neuromarketing-the-glass-human.pdf

Press release ECR 2008

Neuromarketing – the glass human

Do we see what we think?

What connects market research and radiology? Conventional methods to examine stimulus processing

in the brains of consumers are limited, since the results of these research methods allow a subjective

margin in the interpretation of the gathered data. The most modern technologies, such as functional

magnetic resonance imaging, allow the analysis of subconscious buying behaviour – a controversial

new aspect of marketing.

Vienna, Monday, March 10, 2008 (ECR) – Despite exact marketing research, each year around 80

percent of all newly developed products are taken off the market within a short time. As important

and accurate as modern psychological and empirical market research are, they have basic

shortcomings: they are based on observations of buying behaviour or surveys. What actually goes

through the minds of customers, which motivational and emotional systems actually occur in the brain

and how these control buying behaviour remains unknown in this field of research.

At the European Congress for Radiology currently taking place in Vienna, where around 17,000

experts from over 100 countries are participating, new findings and developments in the field of

neuroradiology are presented and discussed.

“Today, new studies with MRI scanners with field strengths of 7.0 Tesla (T) are being presented. The

current medical standard in our hospitals is 1.5 T scanners and increasingly 3.0 T scanners,” explained

Dr. Thomas Meindl from the Institute for Clinical Radiology, Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich,

who added that the signal yield theoretically increases proportionally with the field strength. He also

said that functional examinations with higher field strengths depict the activated regions much better

and that new activity regions have been found that were not accessible with 1.5 T.

With yet higher field strengths, even greater amounts of activation can be expected. Thereby, the

smallest anatomical structures that take part in higher cognitive processes, which are undoubtedly

part of the decision to purchase brand products, have been detected. In the next few years however,

the use of scanners with field strengths of 7.0 T and more will surely still be limited to a few research

centres. There are many primarily technical problems to solve before these scanners can be used in a

broader scope.

Neuromarketing is an interdisciplinary collaboration of radiology, neurology, neuropyschology and

market research. The goal of neuromarketing is to gain a better understanding of the emotional and

cognitive conditions and processes in the human brain and thereby obtain insight into the real needs

and wishes of consumers. Ethical aspects must of course be considered. With functional magnetic

resonance imaging (fMR, fMRI), developed in the 90s, the necessary foundation for this new

development was laid. It is therefore currently the most respected method in marketing-specific brain

research. “Neuromarketing is surely a hype, since companies expend lots of money to market a

product without knowing if the advertisement is effective. People want objective information about the

effect of advertising,” emphasised Dr. Meindl.

Functional MRI is an imaging method to visualise the brain and its functions. It is promising due to

high spatial resolution as well as the possibility of detecting active brain structures. The methodology

originates from the field of medicine and is used primarily to visualise pathological, abnormal brain

processes. The potential of this method was recognized relatively early in psychology and

complements the classical neuropsychological procedure of subject testing with surveys to understand

the functioning of the human brain. The function of many different small and tiny anatomical brain

structures and their interaction during complex thought processes have been identified. In contrast to

conventional (structural) MRI, oxygen consumption in brain regions can be displayed and therefore

inferences about the activity can be drawn. With the aid of high-resolution images, even thought

processes – perceptions and feelings – can be visually depicted.

In this specific application, conscious and subconscious buying motivation as well as the effectiveness

of advertisements can be visually determined, which allows conclusions to be made about crucial

stimulation of the human brain.

The goal of neuromarketing is therefore a better understanding of the emotional processes in the

human brain, to research the so far invisible conditions and processes that control the decision

behaviour of a potential consumer for or against a product and to relate these with visible patterns.

Product images that a consumer strongly identifies with create a different activity pattern than brands

that are not anchored in the consumer’s consciousness. It has been proven that strong product brands

activate areas that play a central role in the positive emotional assessment of actions. The stronger a

customer is emotionally activated, the higher his receptiveness is and therefore the better his

information processing is. The decisive factor is that emotion-based actions are ‘gut feelings’ and can

often not be explained logically afterwards.

With the ongoing development of this technology, the product's path from communication to buying

experience and becoming the consumer's property can be illustrated. By doing so, you cannot change

the needs of the individual consumer, but you can understand how these are represented in the brain

and how buying decisions occur.

The European Congress of Radiology (ECR) is the annual meeting of the European Society of

Radiology (ESR). With more than 17,000 participants from over 90 countries and up to 1,700 scientific

presentations in March 2007, ECR has become the largest radiological meeting in Europe.

For further enquiries:

Robert Grünkranz

European Society of Radiology – ESR

Neutorgasse 9

1010 Vienna

phone: +43 1 533 40 64-527

mail: robert.gruenkranz@myesr.org

http://myESR.org

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