is looking at consumers' brain the ultimate solution?
DESCRIPTION
The idea of using the latest techniques in the field of neuroscience to study consumer behavior has become a hot topic. The presentation delves into the debate over borrowing knowledge and techniques from neurosciences to bypass consumers’ rationalizations and get to the truth about their behavior. My point of view is that the answer is not in consumers’ brains but in ours: Strategists and Creatives, who are the endless students of human behavior. This presentation was given at the 2007 AHAA Conference in NYC.TRANSCRIPT
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 [email protected]