As a four part series called ‘Inside Your Brain’ on CBC’s The National, World at Six, and CBC.ca, True Impact Marketing was invited to share its use of brainwave technology to study how the consumer’s brain works during a shoe-shopping experience.
Denam Drew is wearing an electroencephalogram (EEG) cap that contains electrodes which measure the electrical impulses at the surface of his brain, in combination with an eye-tracking device to decipher exactly what he is admiring as he browses through a shoe store. Adam Spadaro, PhD candidate in psychology at McMaster University, is following Denam closely behind with a laptop that is able to display his brain waves, which allow Adam to understand Denam’s engagement, emotion and memory in relation to certain shoe products.
Diana Lucaci, Founder of True Impact Marketing, is also present throughout the shopping experience. Diana has a former education in Neuroscience at the University of Toronto, and has worked in Marketing and Communications for over ten years. She states: “The three key metrics we measure are engagement, attention, and memory. We’re able to measure levels of positive and negative emotion as well. A company would want to know if its brand elicits a particular emotional response, if it’s positive or negative at a particular point in time.” True Impact Marketing uses EEG and eye-tracking technology, as well as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure consumers’ brain reactions to advertisements.
The article also touches on a famous study conducted by Read Montague, American neuroscientist, which compared consumer preference between Pepsi and Coke. Participants were asked which product they liked better, and as a result, preference was evenly split between Pepsi and Coke. However, during a taste test, participants were told they were drinking coke, which caused areas of the brain associated with memory and emotion to light up. Lucaci states, “So what that tells us is that people regardless of their brain telling them, ‘this tastes better,’ people have a positive brand association with a product that overpowers the emotion of taste.”
With the up-and-coming field of neuromarketing, there is an ethical question that arises. Montague states, “ I do not see this kind of approach supplanting anything. A person’s purchase behaviour will always be paramount and the brain science will continue to develop.” Ruth Lanius, neuroscientist at Western University believes that ethical implications need to be reviewed and discussed. To this end, True Impact Marketing abides by the Neuromarketing Code of Ethics outlined by the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association (NMSBA).
With more than 75 neuromarketing companies completing research all over the world, True Impact Marketing is excited to continue pioneering consumer brain science in Canada.
Read the full article: Marketers exploiting secrets of the living brain