Comparison of Neuromarketing and Traditional Marketing Methods

georgiatvisionfact
Jul 18, 2022
2 min read

Updated: Dec 15, 2023

This article on the comparison of neuromarketing and traditional marketing methods has been written by Ismayil.

Author: Ismayil Huseynov

Date of Publication: 18/07/2022

With recent changes in the field of marketing, neuromarketing has emerged as a new concept. Neuromarketing is a combination of marketing and neuroscience. Essentially, it applies neuroscience methods to uncover the physiological and neurological processes behind consumer behaviors. In addition, it gives more precise and logical results than traditional marketing research methods.

Neuromarketing - studying the brain to understand consumers' behaviors

Disadvantages of traditional marketing over neuromarketing

Neuromarketing and traditional marketing are very different, especially when it comes to research.

On the one hand, research with traditional marketing methods has failed to understand consumers’ needs and behaviors. This is because traditional research methods base their findings on consumers’ memory, mood, and instant thoughts. In addition, these research methods often use surveys and face-to-face interviews. This means that consumers’ responses are likely to be biased and they will be very unlikely to tell their honest preferences or opinions in front of others.

Apparently, 80% of companies that act based on findings from these methods fail to understand consumers’ behaviors and are losing product sales.

On the other hand, with neuromarketing research, it is possible to analyze the human brain in detail and to determine consumers’ wishes. However, as opposed to traditional marketing methods of research, neuromarketing methods do not question consumers' preferences or thoughts.

Neuromarketing consists of measuring people’s cerebral and neural signals. These signals can then be used to enhance marketing creativity, advertising, product development, and other marketing concepts. Additionally, it informs businesses about customers' decision-making processes.

Advantages and disadvantages of neuromarketing

Advantages:

In each individual, the area of the brain that is active in relation to emotion is the same. In this context, misinformation caused by cultural changes encountered in traditional marketing studies is eliminated
It is possible to obtain more precise results with neuromarketing, unlike traditional survey methods. Indeed, results obtained from neuromarketing research are completely logical and based on scientific data/evidence
Neuromarketing research devices provide precise results in a short amount of time, without requiring too large samples

Disadvantages:

There are different ethical aspects to consider in the field of neuromarketing. For example, some people think that neuromarketing is unethical because it enters the minds of customers
The analysis of data obtained from neuromarketing research is difficult, and the equipment used is very expensive
The protection of people's data privacy is a sensitive topic. This may lead some to distrust neuromarketing and its research

Takeaways

Despite the many advantages of neuromarketing over traditional marketing research, neuromarketing remains a relatively new field that requires some improvement. However, this should not underestimate the power of using brain imaging studies to better understand consumers’ wishes and behaviors. Similarly, it should not stop researchers from using neuromarketing to help businesses become more successful.