In a rapidly AI-supported communication landscape, marketers are looking for newer channels to understand consumers; together, AI and ML manage large data sets based on pattern recognition, keeping brands from understanding customers at a deeper, human level. This is where neuro-marketing offers a potent opportunity.
When leveraged within a marketing 4.0 ecosystem, it allows brands and marketers to know and connect with the consumer at a subconscious level. By using neuroimaging techniques such as Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI scans), electroencephalography (EEG), and sensor-based eye tracking, they can get precise insights about interactions and experiences that make customers tick.
Leveraging behavioural psychology to understand and influence buyer behaviour isn’t a new phenomenon. Marketers have always relied on surveys, focus groups, and consumer research to simplify the complexities of the human mind. But in an environment where customers expect brands to predict their needs, it allows brands to align the entire value chain to subconscious truths in a powerful way.
For instance, leveraging neuromarketing tools allowed Frito Lay to update its packaging to matte for certain product categories and markets; their exercise revealed that chip bags featuring visuals of potatoes evoked positive sentiment on a matte background as compared to glossy ones. Back home, a neuro-marketing audit using fMRI for Taj Mahal Tea House, a Unilever brand, effectively established the correlation between emotional decision pillars such as enjoyment and engagement, and improved Click-Through Rates. Similarly, a leading education provider used EEG technology to develop a proprietary program recommendation engine for potential students, ensuring neuromarketing was more than a tactic at play.
The neuromarketing industry is poised for rapid adoption (8.87% CAGR by 2032), but its future hinges on balance. As newer technologies emerge, marketers run the risk of getting too close for too little. For instance, using AI frequently to analyse facial expressions during virtual try-ons could enhance the customer experience, but only if supported by user privacy and innovative updates.
Equally important, marketers must invest in neuromarketing throughout the entire funnel. This is because while modern consumers have extensive access to information, they often encounter distractions and a lack of immediacy, leading to a gap between intent and action.
To sum it up, while AI-based tools are transforming access to neuromarketing, its contextualisation demands teaming up with partners with the right intent and expertise. Growth-focused businesses must deploy neuromarketing for game-changing consumer interactions.
The author is founder and MD, Asymmetrique