Neuromarketing is gaining momentum

Modern marketers use the latest scientific achievements in their work, writes BusinessWeek . One of the new techniques in their practice is called neuromarketing . It involves scanning consumers' brains while viewing ads and consuming products.

Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy (fMRI), magnetic encephalography, and traditional electrical encephalography (EEG) are used to study brain activity. With the help of devices, marketers are trying to determine which parts of the brain are activated in the consumer under certain conditions. Among others, zones that are responsible for attention, concentration, short-term and long-term memory, and positive emotions are tracked.

The first firms that specialize in neuromarketing and help advertising agencies conduct research on target groups have already begun work in Europe. One such firm, Neurosense, is based at Oxford University.

Recently, Neurosense has contracted to carry out a major project for Viacom Brand Solutions, an advertising agency that serves the interests of MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and others. The latest project was to scan the brains of teenagers and viewers of the South Park series to determine how they react to various commercials in this popular animated series. It turned out that the brain is most actively activated during the advertising of alcoholic beverages (for example, a carbonated cocktail with vodka), while the brain of a teenager practically does not respond to social advertising of the Red Cross.

The success of the first experiments gave rise to a galaxy of companies that specialize in neuromarketing. Such firms open all over Europe. In addition to Neurosense, it is Neuroconsult in Vienna, as well asNeuroco in London. Some other firms, such as the Belgian Neuromarketing , the French Impact Mémoires and the London-based PhD Media , do not use brain scans, and instead use other methods to study brain reactions, for example, special questionnaires (by the way, in France, legislation prohibits advertisers from using medical equipment). Among the clients of neuromarketologists are such large corporations as Unilever, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble, DaimlerChrysler, L'Oréal, as well as the 20th Century Fox studio.

The first experiments have already yielded a number of unexpected results. For example, it turned out that morning advertising on TV is absorbed by the consumer’s brain much better than evening advertising in prime time, although the latter costs several times more.