is looking at consumers' brain the ultimate solution?

the quest for the truth with neurosciences

is looking at consumers’ brainthe ultimate solution?

Esteban Ribero Strategy Director

we usually have inaccurate or partial understanding of it

how can we really understand consumer behavior…?

…we need to influence it

…they only see whatthey want to see

“the consumer said...”

client bias

they tell you what you want to hear…

“consumers tell you one thing but they do other”

consumer bias

…they don’t need to know them in order to behave!

consumer’s inability to know the true causes of their

behavior

consumer bias

we’ve tried…

…borrowed techniques and theoriesfrom behavioral sciences

traditional consumer research…projective techniques

ethnographiesword association

collagespsycho drawing

metaphor elicitationpersonification

personal diariesphoto sort

perceptual mappingsentence completion

apperception test storytelling

laddering visualization

…from psychology and anthropology

the pros

• no need to fully articulate an answer

• consumers give cues, the planner interprets them

• “bypassing” the rational filters

• a way to get to the “unconscious”

• usually affordable

…from psychology and anthropology

however…

• too open to personal interpretation

• little power to generalize

• still depends on consumer’s input

• too biased by the consumer

…and the researcher

…from psychology and anthropology

getting consumer’s body reactions…

…an attempt to infer their emotional and

motivational states

…from physiology

heart rate measures

…from physiology

…from physiology

galvanic skin response (GSR)

…gives an overall measure of arousal by tracking changes in the autonomic nervous system

…from physiology

eye tracking

…what catches consumer’s attention?

…from physiology

pupil dilatation…assessing the level of interest

pupil dilates in response to:

light

but also,

• emotional state• interest and novelty• cognitive workload

…from physiology

pupil dilatation…windows to the soul

Eckhard H. Hess 1960

…from physiology

pupil dilatationEckhard H. Hess 1960

…from physiology

gaze tracking…what are they looking at

…from physiology

gaze tracking

…usability studies

…from physiology

…online searching behavior

gaze tracking

…from physiology

…product design

gaze tracking

…from physiology

…individual differences

regular people artists

gaze tracking

…from physiology

…individual differences

? ?

gaze tracking

…from physiology

…individual differences

men women

gaze tracking

…from physiology

…individual differences

men

are they comparing themselves?

do they feel threatened?

gaze tracking

…from physiology

face recognition…emotional states are reflected in the face

Paul Ekman

…from physiology

face recognition…the six basic emotions

anger fear disgust

surprise joy sadness

…from physiology

face recognition…a methodology to assess the emotions

…from physiology

face recognition…emotion recognition software

university of amsterdam

…from physiology

the pros

• no need to “ask” the consumer

• get “true” reactions to different stimuli

• assess different degrees of arousal in an “objective” way

• “avoid” the subjectivity of the researcher

however…

• too vague

• hard to interpret

• can’t really know what it means (too many variables working at the same time)

¾not specific enough to get to “the truth”

…from physiology

opening the black box…

“asking the brain, not the person”

…putting cognitive psychology under context

“if we can see the brain, we can see the mind”

the mind and the brain…

…the mind is a set of modules that process different types of information

those modules have identifiable neurological structures…

the mind and the brain…

…a discipline that incorporates the knowledge about the brain processes in order to improve the effectiveness of the marketing activities

the field of neuromarketing…

electroencephalography (EEG)…measures electrical activity on the outside

of the brain using electrodes

…from neurosciences

electroencephalography (EEG)• records timing of activity very precisely

(~1 millisecond) but spatial resolution is poor

…from neurosciences

(ERP)

electroencephalography (EEG)

• it’s “cheap” and portable• can be combined with eye tracking

…from neurosciences

Dr. A.K. Pradeep, President and Chief Executive Officer

…from neurosciences

it looks something like…

VW - The Force

PET scans (positron emission tomography)…measures blood flow in the brain after an

injection of a radioactive substance

…from neurosciences

PET scans (positron emission tomography)

…from neurosciences

+ spatial resolution

- temporal resolution

> limited to short tasks

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

…measures changes in blood oxygenation

…from neurosciences

fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging)

…from neurosciences

Princeton’s fMRI equipment

…from neurosciences

“we can tell generally what parts of the brain are active when you're doing different things, but no, I can't tell you what you're thinking"

Dr. Reich

some examples…

the Pepsi/Coke challenge

vs.

Dr. Read Montague

Neuron, October 14, 2004

some examples…

the Pepsi/Coke challenge

=

fMRI

=

preference

some examples…

the Pepsi/Coke challenge

fMRI

> >

preference

some examples…

the Pepsi/Coke challenge

confirmed what we already knew…

…brand associations strongly bias

our preferences!

some examples…

strong vs. weaker brands

Dr. Chistine Born’s study

>

<

positive emotionsself-identification and rewards

working memory> greater information processing

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

Dr. Marco Iacoboni

UCLA Brain Mapping Center

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

I’m going to DisneyDisney

airport securitySierra Mist

cavemanFedEx

wopperettesBurger King

approvedGoDaddy.com

“the winners” “the big flops”

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

live the flavorDoritos

grand theft autoCocaCola

Robert GouletEmerald Nuts

craveHonda CR-V

connectile dysfunctionSprint

“the winners” “the big flops”

hitchhikerBud Light

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

…engaging stories that stimulated the brain throughout the entire spot

successful ads stimulated many more areasthan less powerful ones…

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

I’m going to DisneyDisney

mirror neurons

- indicating identification and empathy

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

I’m going to DisneyDisney

ventral striatum

- indicating reward processing

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

amygdala

-emotional processing.responding to threat and fearful stimuli.

>clear feelings of anxiety

cavemanFedEx Snickers

some examples…

who won the super bowl?

amygdala activity

cavemanFedEx

“the scene looks funny and has been described as funny by lots of people, but your amygdala still perceives it as threatening”

Dr. Iacoboni

phd’s neuroplanning

some examples…

neuroplanning allows the user to identify the most appropriate model of behavior within the communication channels

strategic planning process

phd’s neuroplanning

…a channel evaluation tool

influence vs. reach

different areas of the brain are “stimulated” by different media…

some examples…

some examples…

phd’s neuroplanning

some examples…

phd’s neuroplanning

some examples…

phd’s neuroplanning

some examples…

phd’s neuroplanning

…for planners

• better understanding of consumers and their relationships with brands

• better understanding of their decision making processes

• better understanding of their reactions to commercial stimuli

• bypassing the consumer

the promises of neurosciences…

…it has created a lot of controversy

…is it the ultimate solution?

but…

….ultimate causes

neuromarketing is concerned mostly in understanding how? what? where?

…but to get to the truth we need to understand why?!

proximate causes…

and the answer isnot in their brains…

…hopefully in ours!

...don’t ask consumers for the causes of

their behavior,

infer them!

so…

…consumers aren’t usually right

they don’t know the true reasons for their behavior

observe their behavior!

so…

…use cues to informthe strategy

don’t give up your responsibility

to research

use your intuition and expertise!

so…

…refer to theories of human

behavior

read!

so…

so…

Esteban Riberoesteban.ribero@lapizusa.com