Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing is a practical application of neuroeconomics concerned with the brain mechanisms underlying consumer behavior and attitudes, including their preferences and choices. Most people are familiar with the focus-group concept, where participants who represent a particular consumer population examine anything from a product to movie, and their feedback is then used to guide any subsequent modifications and commercial decisions.
But this traditional method is fraught with limitations — and even outright flaws. Human nature being what it is, the response by focus-group members is subject to all kinds of distortions: They may be inclined to say what they think the group leader expects them to say, or what they think will put them in a better light, or what they think will conform to the majority opinion, and so on. Furthermore, the group members’ responses will be limited only to attitudes of which they are consciously aware; yet we all know that our attitudes, preferences and tastes are shaped to a large extent by subconscious emotional reactions. This whole layer of preference formation is inevitably lost in a traditional focus-group format.
Suppose there was a way to bypass the focus members’ verbal account? To find out directly what is happening in their brains as they react to a product or to a commercial? This is neuromarketing. Using state-of-the-art neuroimaging technology — usually fMRI — it is possible to discern which parts of the brain become active while the focus-group member is examining a product or a commercial. This makes it possible to infer whether the display triggers members’ attention or leaves them indifferent, whether it triggers positive or negative emotions, and a whole other array of reactions. While still in its relative infancy, neuromarketing is gradually gaining acceptance and popularity in the business community.
Social Neuroscience
Social neuroscience is another offshoot of cognitive neuroscience, concerned with the brain mechanisms of social interactions. Social neuroscientists address brain mechanisms of morality, altruism, group cooperation, and competition, among other things. Until very recently, all these subjects were deemed to be too complex to be researched with rigorous scientific methods, but the tools of functional neuroimaging are finally making this possible.
Neuropolitics
As if this were not futuristic enough, enter neuropolitics. How does the brain of a conservative differ from the brain of a liberal? How do the workings of a Republican brain differ from the workings of a Democrat brain? The mere assumption that such differences can be documented in a systematic and replicable way is rather far-fetched, but political scientists and consultants are beginning to pursue it, turning to the tools of functional neuroimaging. Compared to the previously discussed neuros, “neuropolitics” is still in its embryonic stage, but this may change. It wouldn’t be entirely surprising if the political consultants and designers of political advertisements and slogans were to start resorting to the tools of functional neuroimaging on a routine basis.
Brave new world indeed … and more neuros are likely yet to come as the science of the brain and the mind moves forward into the 21st century.
Elkhonon Goldberg, Ph.D., is a scientist, clinician, educator, and author. He conducts cognitive neuroscience research at New York University School of Medicine, has an active practice in clinical neuropsychology in Manhattan and lectures worldwide. Goldberg’s books, which have been translated into many languages, include “The New Executive Brain: Frontal Lobes in a Complex World.”
