NeuroRelay

This week I received in my mailbox the third edition of  “Neuromarketing Theory & Practice Magazine”, published by Neuromarketing Science & Business Association.

This issue covers relevant news and information in neuromarketing research:

• The editorial of this issue announces the Neuromarketing Golden Vault Award and invites us to submit a paper containing insights from the unconscious customer. The winner will be announced during Neuromarketing World Forum 2013 (6-8 March, Sao Paulo). Read more details here.
• The NMSBA Code of Ethics is launched since 7th of November this year and it represents the first steps towards adopting international standards applied to using neuroscientific methods to study the effectiveness of advertising campaigns, packaging and product design, as well as communication campaigns from non-profit organizations and government institutions.
• Hilke Plassmann (Assistant Professor of Marketing at INSEAD, Research Areas: Consumer Decision-Making, Emotion Regulation & Self Control, Consumer Welfare, Perception of the Consumption Experience, Branding) is interviewed by Mirjam Broekhoff in this issue.
  • Her recent research reveals that light / health food claims lower expectations concerning flavor pleasantness and intensity. Her fMRI research data would suggest that people confuse flavor intensity and pleasantness, and their expectations are lowered by health claims.
  • She also talks about her first steps in neuromarketing research. Actually, her first steps on using EEG and fMRI in order to investigate consumer decision making were revolutionary at that time (starting with 2002). She started with questions like: why do consumers have seemingly irrational brand preferences for ordinary products such as toothpaste, beer and milk, as the differences in flavor are not that large and the ingredients are mostly identical?
  • Her later findings include the fact that there is a neural network consisting of two brain systems (the medial orbitofrontal cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex) that correlate with how much we value objects when we make decisions. These brain systems show a positive correlation for objects we like and a negative correlation for objects we don’t like – preference, not engagement.
  • A research published in 2008 investigated the mechanisms by which marketing-induced expectations influence how much we enjoy the consumption experience. Neuroscientists and neuromarketers know this study as the one that examines how does a wine’s pricetag affects its taste.
  • One of her recent papers published in The Journal of Neuroscience also states that if people increase their preference the medial part of the prefrontal cortex is in charge, whereas the dorsal part takes over for lowering preferences.
  • At the end of the article, Hilke Plassmann also gives advice on how can a student further a scientific career: “He or she should be passionate about finding the truth. Without passion, there is no success and without truth there is no academic progress.”
• As I always follow new research published by Hilke Plassmann and I admire her work, I will make a list below of some of her published articles I have read and that I recommend:
  • Plassmann H, Ramsoy T Z, Milosavljevic M (2012) Branding the brain: A critical review and outlook. Journal of Consumer Psychology 22:18-36
    
  • Yoon C, Gonzalez R, Bechara A, Berns G S, Dagher A A, Dubé L, Huettel S A, Kable J W, Liberzon I, Plassmann H, Smidts A, Spence C (2012) Decision neuroscience and consumer decision making. Marketing Letters 23:473–485
  • Kenning P, Deppe M, Schwindt M, Kugel H, Plassman H (2009) The good the bad and the forgotten – an fMRI study on ad liking and ad memory. Advances in Consumer Research 36:4
  • Plassman H, Kenning P, Deppe M, Kugel H, Schwindt W (2008) How choice ambiguity modulates activity in brain areas representing brand preference: evidence from consumer neuroscience. Journal of Consumer Behaviour 7: 360–367
  • Plassman H, Kenning P, Deppe M, Kugel H, Schwindt W, Ahlert D (2008) How brands twist heart and mind: Neural correlates of the affect heuristic during brand choice. Manuscript
  • Plassman H, O’Doherty J, Shiv B, Rangel A (2008) Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 105: 1050-1054
  • Kenning P, Plassman H, Kugel H, Schwindt W, Pieper A, Deppe M (2007) Neural correlates of attractive ads. Koschnik WJ (ed) Focus-Jahrbuch, Schwerpunkt: Neuroökonomie, Neuromarketing, Neuromarktforschung, FOCUS Magazin Verlag, Munich, pp 287–298
  • Kenning P, Plassman H, Ahlert D, (2007), Applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging for market research. Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal 10(2): 135-152
  • Plassman H, Kenning P, Alhert D (2007) Why companies should make their customers happy: the neural correlates of customer loyalty. Advances in Consumer Research 34:1-5
  • Plassman H, O’Doherty J, Rangel A (2007) Orbitofrontal cortex encodes willingness to pay in everyday economic transactions. The Journal of Neuroscience 27(37): 9984-9988
  • Deppe M, Schwindt W, Kugel H, Plassmann H, Kenning P (2005) Nonlinear responses within the medial prefrontal cortex reveal when specific implicit information influences economic decision making. Journal of Neuroimaging 15: 171-182
  • Kenning P, Plassman H (2005) NeuroEconomics: An overview from an economic perspective. Brain Research Bulletin 67: 343-354
• The issue also covers the latest news from the Neuroamrketing Science & Business Association: Student Memberships, Young Neurotalent of the Year, the editorial board of the magazine and their Facebook Group.
• Marilu Smit presents a case study entitled Eye Tracking: How Unconventional Research Methods Help to Improve Traditional Media. The information presented are based on the article “Optimising advertising ROI on Print in a rapidly changing economic and media landscape – The contribution of Eye Tracking now and into the future” and discuss how eye tracking can help improve print advertising, optimize layout, diagnose what is driving miscommunication and generate insights.
• This issue presents the book review of The Consumer Mind: Brand perception and the implications for marketers by Pepe Martinez (reviewed by Monica Bercea), which provides marketers with valuable learning experience about how brands are perceived.
• NMSBA welcomed Erik du Plessis (author of The Advertised Mind and The Branded Mind) recently in Amsterdam for a talk on memory and emotion in advertising. He gave the neuromarketing industry 4 topics to think about:
  • The “Buy Button” is bullshit – this term is used by people who are overclaiming and we should not be searching for a buy button, as it leads to negative publicity, misinterpretations and skepticism in this young field. We should better understand brain functions in order to give people a better life.
  • Use big data – neuroscientists and neuroeconomists should use the information in the databases of agencies.
  • Focus on Media Planning – more research needs to be done on the extent of exposure required to increase the effectiveness of ads and their budgets.
  • Theory on Moods is the Future – a better understanding of moods is the future of the field.
• NMSBA also developed a list on where to study Neuromarketing (worldwide) as a first start of a global directory on Neuromarketing Education – you may check the list here.
• The Research Update section of the magazine presents the article entitled A Novel Technique in fMRI Analysis for Neuromarketing Purposes: Multivariate Pattern Analysis and research conducted by Van den Laan et al. (2012) in order to investigate to what extent brain activation, in conjunction with this novel technique, can predict everyday low-involvement consumer choices by looking at food choices based on the package characteristics.
• In this issue we also have the opportunity to learn more about Dr. Joseph Ciorciari (Program Coordinator Psychophysiology, Biomedical Sciences and Psychophysiology Lecturer, Basic & Clinical Psychophysiology Research Unit Leader, Centre for Neuropsychology, Faculty of Life & Social Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Australia).
  
• Industry news include the partnership of Neuro-Insight with Seven West Media, the easy-to-use interface offered by SMI eye tracking and Emotiv neuro technology and the fact that Estime Venezuela announces merger with Neurobiomarketing Italy.

Here’s also a flyer for the next Neuromarketing World Forum 2013 in Sao Paulo: