Neuromarketing is the application of the neuro-economic approach to sales-related issues. While neuroeconomics tries to understand and explain economic decision-making processes with the help of neuroscientific methods, neuromarketing uses the same methods and the knowledge derived from neuroeconomics to optimize marketing processes. Neuromarketing is therefore an interdisciplinary research area in the field of market research, at the interface between marketing and neuroeconomics.
Anyone looking for a definition of neuromarketing in an online lexicon or book will find various explanations. One lexicon gives a narrow definition of neuromarketing, which relies exclusively on equipment. Another lexicon gives another definition of neuromarketing, which uses all the research findings on the processes in the human brain. These processes are central for use in marketing. The basic questions are:
- Why Do Customers Buy?
- What Types of Buyers are There?
What is the Main Subject of Neuromarketing?
The core assumption underlying neuromarketing is that economic decisions are largely based on unconscious processes. Most decisions are very strongly determined by emotions and are far less rational then we think. As a result, consumers cannot be aware of all motives influencing a purchase decision, and consequently, they cannot provide any information about them, even if they are as willing to cooperate as possible. The use of neurocognitive methods is hoped for more direct access to the human brain than is possible with classic market research instruments in order to be able to derive information about said unconscious processes. Neuromarketing should make the processes and states in the organism of the consumer observable and measurable
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How Can a Company’s Marketing Take Advantage of This Knowledge About the Customer?
Customers’ buying decisions not only depend on rational considerations in the brain but are essentially dependent on emotions. Because new findings from brain research have shown that disorders in the limbic system (the seat of emotions in the brain) make a person unable to make sensible decisions. Companies today use the findings of brain research to optimize their marketing and advertising. Not only marketing experts deal with this topic, but also neuroscientists who examine different processing processes in the human brain:
- Multisensory Processes (smells, noises, haptics)
- Emotional-cognitive Processes (recognizing and feeling)
- Neurolinguistic Processes (language)
Neuromarketing examines fundamental questions that are of interest to marketing and help to improve advertising in a targeted manner. These are, for example, questions of purchase pricing or the distinctive differences between “strong” and “weak” brands. The focus is on people in their role as customers or consumers, their emotional reactions to marketing methods, and their emotional relationship with a company.
A multi-science Approach to Neuromarketing
How do emotions arise that influence buying decision? Häusel’s Limbic method takes a multi-scientific approach. Findings from different sciences served Häusel to develop his Limbic model.
Formulated in a very pragmatic way, neuromarketing deals with how voting and buying decisions work in the human brain, and very important for advertising: how to influence them. So they are looking for the magical “buy button”.
Dr. Hans-Georg Häusel, neuromarketing expert
The Limbic model by Hans-Georg Häusel is fundamental for the practice of neuromarketing in companies. The motif and emotion structure model tries to make the inner thinking process of the customers usable for the analysis of target groups, brand positioning, and development of marketing instruments. The emotional systems in the brain shape human personality. There are three important emotional systems:
- Stimulus
- Dominance
- Balance
These three systems are different in every person (and therefore in every brain). On the one hand, the relationship is inherited, but it is also changed in the course of life through education and socialization. The age and gender of the customer also play a major role.
The Emotion Room as the Basis for Limbic Types
Limbic Map assigns various properties for the “emotion room”. These properties belong to the three different categories such as stimulation, dominance, and balance. Stimulation, Dominance, and Balance are defined according to human feelings and conditions. For example, impulsiveness, spontaneity, and the willingness to take risks are located in the area between dominance and stimulus. Art, fun, and humor are associated with balance and stimulus. Diligence, discipline, and logic are part of dominance and balance. The decision-making behavior of an individual person is based on these emotions and conditions. Depending on which area is more or less pronounced in a person, it can make sense for a company to research its specific target group. For example, the following groups can be formed as so-called limbic types:
- Traditionalists and Harmonizers (balanced)
- Hedonists, adventurers, and performers (stimulated and dominated)
- Open (stimulus / balance)
- Disciplined (dominance / balance)
The emotional systems each have a rewarding and punishing side, which leads people to take certain actions and refrain from others.
Analysis Methods of Neuromarketing
The methods of analysis in marketing have been constantly refined in this century. In online marketing, for example, eye tracking is used to gain insights into the quality of an online shop. Neuromarketing goes deeper here and asks which processes in the brain trigger certain actions: what happens in the customer’s brain when he looks at a certain advertisement when he clicks on a certain product or chooses a book while surfing online Buying a smartphone, an item of clothing or another item? Psychology has impressively demonstrated that most human actions are unconscious over 100 years ago. Neuromarketing studies are now tracking down these unconscious decisions – particularly by measuring brain activity.
Research in the context of neuromarketing uses various methods. The activity of the brain is measured using a magnetic resonance tomograph or using electroencephalography. In addition, monitoring the pulse rate or sweat gland activity can provide insight into customer emotions. However, it should always be noted with these examinations that they usually take place under laboratory conditions and simulate reality to a limited extent. Purchasing decisions are usually influenced by a large number of factors that no longer apply under laboratory conditions, for example:
- Recommendations from Friends and Acquaintances
- Disruptive factors during a real purchase situation (distractions, noises, etc.),
- Personal experience of the customer with a product.
Neuromarketing uses the knowledge of how the brain works to convey synesthetic messages through all the senses and to specifically control the emotional impact of brands and products. In the online area, for example, this is achieved through emotional design and appropriate navigation, in the offline area through emotional product presentation and branch concept. Online advertising uses neuromarketing for the placement of advertisements, content creation, and design concepts.
Conclusion: Its Importance for SEO
The human brain pays more attention to emotionally influenced content than to any abstract knowledge. The same applies to the consumer who decides for or against buying a product. This knowledge is not new, which is why advertising has always had an emotional impact. Neuromarketing develops sophisticated methods to measure the emotional impact of brands and to draw conclusions for the optimization of marketing from this knowledge. Signals that subconsciously work in the brain can strengthen the subjectively perceived value of a product or the reputation of a company. Marketing experts can also increase the sales of the products through a “brain-friendly” design of advertising on sales areas, placement in videos, or content design on websites.
Neuromarketing is a related term for SEO. The sentiment of the content, brand colors, the layout of the web page, and brand reputation can affect the rankings even more than PageSpeed in long term with its indirect effect. A television advertising with a certain motto can increase the search volume of specific queries with new search intent. These kinds of search trend spikes can reshape the SERP in favor of the motto’s owner. Also, using a semantic content and code structure can help the user use your web site easier while reducing the “learning need.” This can help you to be recorded as a fast to use and trustworthy web entity in the user’s thinking habits.
As Holistic SEOs, we always love to think in complex and comprehensive ways. As Coder-Marketers we will continue to improve our information related to the Neuromarketing to use it for better rankings and Conversion Optimization.
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