Using Neuromarketing Tools to hunt the ‘Why’ beast

By Robin Gurney @ TIPTOP INSIGHTS

Progressive marketers are looking beyond the overflowing pot of data that tell them WHAT consumers do and HOW into finding out WHY they behave the ways they do.

As I write this, Morrissey’s lyrics spring to mind, “Why do you come here? And why, why do you hang around?”

Well, I’d tell Morrissey that neuromarketing tools are being used to discover the why to questions exactly like that, why did they click on that ad and visit a certain website and why did they buy that concert ticket/t-shirt and so on… or indeed why DIDN’t they.

Perhaps the most well known neuromarketing research techniques are electroencephalograms (EEG), eye tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). EEG discovers emotional clues, eye tracking says where the attention is focussed and fMRI…fMRI looks deepest into the brain and can discover purchase intent.

For a deeper dive, I reached out to a group of neuromarketing experts from the world’s leading neuromarketing hardware, software and service companies.

ELECTROENCEPHALOGRAM (EEG)

According to Nikki Westoby, Director of Neuroscience at Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, EEG is the most sensitive and granular of all the technologies. I asked her to explain what it is and how it works for marketers:

“The most detailed and informative pictures of the consumers’ internal brain response to marketing materials are those provided by measurements of the central nervous system (CNS), comprised of the brain and spinal cord. And, in particular, by methods that directly index changes in brain physiology. EEG is one such methodology.
Typically observed at a distance from the brain by placing sensors on the scalp, EEG measures the mass effect of rhythmic current flowing between brain cells. Most studies that use EEG methods to analyze advertising content use one or more spectral features of the ongoing EEG to determine whether that content requires effortful attention, is emotionally engaging, and is memorable.

For example, the shifting of attention in response to environmental cues, or the deliberate focusing of attention in response to manipulations of task demands, are reliably associated with a reduction in the amplitude of certain types of EEG oscillations. Conversely, increases in the amplitude of those same oscillations are often seen during lapses of attention and boredom. There is also an extensive literature using EEG metrics to index emotional motivation or engagement. For the past 20 years, we have known that asymmetries of EEG indices of activation of the left versus right prefrontal cortices are associated with emotional experience. In particular, EEG indices of relatively greater left-hemisphere activation are associated with approach motivation (or being drawn towards a stimulus), whereas relatively greater right-hemisphere activation may be associated with avoidance motivation (that is, the withdrawal of engagement with a stimulus). Accordingly, frontal EEG asymmetry metrics of approach motivation have been shown to increase with arousing static images and engaging video advertising content. Such measures have also been used to predict virtual purchase decisions in laboratory settings.
The benefits of EEG are not limited to emotions: With respect to memory activation, changes in parameters of EEG during the viewing of television commercials have been shown to be correlated with increased likelihood of post-viewing recognition or recall of individual scenes, or brand and product information. Activating memory during marketing communications enables learning by creating and reinforcing connections to existing brand or product representations, so that the information can be utilized in future interactions, and it drives behavior such as future purchasing decisions. With measurements that can be made at a sub-second level, these dimensions of brain response can provide highly insightful scene-level diagnostics to help guide creative development.”

BitBrain manufactures a minimal wearable EEG Diadem which estimates cognitive and emotional states of consumers with the highest standards of brain signal quality. Maria Lopez, CEO claims, “Its design provides maximum comfort and freedom to the user, and reduces time of set up to 2 minutes on average. It uses dry sensors, so no need to use water or gels, and its active shielding assures stable contacts to eliminate artifacts and interferences due to movement. Thus, it can be used in both in and out of the laboratory.”

For a detailed look at EEG’s marketing potential this recent research paper is enlightening: A gateway to consumers’ minds: Achievements, caveats, and prospects of electroencephalography?based prediction in neuromarketing

EYE TRACKING (ET)

Patrizia Cherubino, Head of Neuromarketing Research at BrainSigns, a spin-off of Sapienza University, describes some of the many ET applications, “…web usability, advertising, customer experience in shops and museums, sponsorship, product placement, package design and automotive engineering.”

Market leader Tobii Pro make ET research tools for every scenario: screen based, wearable, cloud, webcam and panels. Ali Farokhian, Head of Tobii Pro Insight says, “Technically speaking, ET is the process of measuring eye movements to determine where a person is looking, what they are looking at, and for how long their gaze is in a particular spot. Our eyes are one of the primary tools we use for decision making and ET is the only way to accurately and objectively measure and understand visual attention.”

Applications of eye tracking are neatly summarised in Tobii Pro’s short video: How to Own Consumer Attention at 4 Critical Touchpoints using Eye Tracking

Maxwell Wiggins, a neuromarketing executive at LAB (an award winning UK digital agency), points out: “With ET technology we can understand what is capturing attention, and, more importantly, what may be distracting it.”

We asked Dr. Roeland Dietvorst, Scientific Director at Alpha.One (exclusive research partner of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) in the field of consumer neuroscience) to elaborate on ET and its applications:
“We often don’t realize how fast our eye movements are. Often, we see things while we don’t even realize we’ve looked at it. Our brain does process this information and could act upon it. Based on ET data, heatmaps can be made, showing where most subjects look at a given point in time. Also, we can look at the gaze maps and the order at which subjects look at your package. Where do they look first? How long do they look? Do they return to the same position? We can also understand how shoppers navigate the store and view the shelves. Shoppers have a lot of habits, that they are unaware of. They might take the same route, get distracted by discounts or always miss aisle nr. 2. Using eye tracking glasses helps you to uncover these habits. It shows you how shoppers navigate your store and how they look for the products they need. Furthermore, it also gives you information on how they scan a shelf. Do they see your product? Where do they start? What attracts most attention? Is your POS material in the right place? ET can give you answers to all these questions.”

Dr. Roeland goes on to explain how Machine Generated ET can provide fast answers about which creative elements capture the most attention, “Instead of performing an ET study on your designs, which can take a few days, it is also possible to use a Machine Generated ET option. Upload your video or image online and receive a saliency map within minutes. This option is particularly interesting during the design phase, in which you can check your design in every step and check whether the changes you’ve made have improved the saliency. You can use this for all different types of videos and images; e.g. advertisements, commercials, videos of your store, photos of a shelf, etc. “

Nikki @ Nielsen puts eye tracking in context by saying, “While eye tracking in isolation can provide specific feedback about whether consumers are noticing specific elements of advertising creative, packaging, or product placement in the way marketers intended, the approach often is used in combination with other technologies. The technique provides no information about the nature of the brain’s emotional or memory response to the object of gaze.”

Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI)
Despite its popularity in academic settings, fMRI machines are rarely used as a marketing tool in the corporate world. It is certainly the most expensive form of testing to use, it’s slow and it’s limited to the lab. Nonetheless, it’s a powerful tool as Dr. Roeland @ Alpha.One explains, “With fMRI we are able to measure activity deep in the brain. When an area in the brain is active, it requires more oxygen. We are able to measure this increase in oxygen flow and therefore the increase in brain activity. Although costly and time consuming, it is the only way we can measure activity in the deeper brain areas. Activity in the Nucleus Accumbens has been associated with buying impulse and is therefore an interesting area to take into account. Since fMRI is slow, it is less suitable for editing advice, but it will give you information on the buying impulse and desire elicited by your design, brand or pay off, which makes it the perfect technique for post testing and learning from previous commercials. For package designs, branding, POS materials and pay offs, fMRI provides information on which design will elicit the highest buying impulse. “

For more information about various neuromarketing tools & techniques, iMotions publish an excellent range of pocket guides.

If you would like to reach out to the companies mentioned in this article you can find their contact details in this neuromarketing company directory.

If you want to read why I believe neuromarketing will occupy a critical role in a data-lead marketing future and the roles of facial coding, galvanic skin response and ECG then try this article

Persuasion Sciences and The Rise of Machines

Robin hand picks and shares neuromarketing related insights and recommendations at www.neuromarketingtips.eu and in his Brainy Business Matters Newsletter.

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