What is neuromarketing and how does it work?

Andy VilchezFollow

May 23, 202211 min de lectura

Marketing is full of different techniques and practices aimed at making your life easier. In order to capture a customer's attention it is necessary to know exactly where to attack. Not all people are the same, however, there are characteristics that they share.

One of the most common practices is neuromarketing, you may not have heard the concept before, but it is something very important. With this practice you will be able to better manage the purchase intention of customers. And this will increase your chances of making a conversion.

Today we are going to talk a little more about what neuromarketing is. In this way you will be able to better understand what this practice is and how you can implement it in your marketing campaigns.

What is neuromarketing?

Let's start from the most basic and this is the concept of what neuromarketing is. Although the concept may seem complex at first glance, the truth is that it is much simpler than you think.

We could define it as a study in which purchasing processes are analyzed. Decision-making issues that influence decision-making are also addressed.

In this sense, we have that neuromarketing is a fundamental part to be able to promote the purchase in consumers. So, in a nutshell, this allows conversions to be achieved through scientific study.

Consumer behavior is also monitored, both before and after the purchase. According to experts on the subject, the purchase process begins from the moment in which the person has doubts about whether to do it or not and ends when it is finalized.

It is a fairly complex process in which many factors intervene. That is why people who handle this topic are quite in demand all over the world. And it is that advertising is advancing at a great pace, so they are becoming more complex and sophisticated.

The people who study this are clear that they must stimulate the individual's subconscious. This causes the purchase intention to develop, which can make the individual end up buying the product we want.

What is the origin of neuromarketing?

Despite what many believe, neuromarketing is not a new practice, but has already been on the market for a few years. In fact, this practice began to be used during the 1980s. However, it was not until 2002 that it was given the name by which it is known today.

Since the 90s, large companies have been interested in neuromarketing and began to implement it in their campaigns. They soon realized the effectiveness of this, which has contributed to its popularization.

This is how neuromarketing quickly became an almost mandatory practice for any company. And its importance lies mainly in all the possibilities it offers to promote the brand.

Main types of neuromarketing

Today we have 3 types of neuromarketing that people can use. Each of them is aimed at attacking one or several senses, which greatly facilitates the entire process.

Visual neuromarketing

Visual neuromarketing is basically one that is responsible for attacking the visual aspect. That is, one that is aimed at encouraging the purchase of a consumer through sight,

For example, there are some words that can motivate a person to make a purchase. Words like offer, sale and the like usually work quite well.

Similarly, there are also some other practices such as "for a limited time", which creates a sense of rush. Similarly, for many people a price of 9.99 is much more attractive than a price of 10.

The same happens with some products such as vegetables, the fresher they seem (even if they are not) they will attract attention. All this is part of what visual neuromarketing is and all of them help to make a sale in the best possible way.

Auditory neuromarketing

Not only by sight can advertising enter the consumer's head. There are different types of music that can encourage consumers to make a purchase. But not only this, but also words, phrases and other things can be of great help.

This is quite a complex science, as things like tone of voice can play a role as well. Along with visual neuromarketing, this is the most widely used type of neuromarketing in the world.

There are a lot of things that go into this, which is why it's hugely important to the advertising world. Some melodies are capable of generating different feelings in people. That is why this has become a really effective weapon for those who work in this area.

Kinesthetic neuromarketing

This is another way that is used for neuromarketing. Unlike those we have already named, this one does not cover one sense, but three at the same time. Both smell and taste and touch play a fundamental role.

For example, if you are in a supermarket where there is a bakery, the smell of freshly baked bread is likely to catch your eye. This is no coincidence, it is part of marketing and it is extremely effective.

In the same way, surely you have seen the typical stands where they give you free samples of products, usually food. In this case, all the senses that this marketing attacks apply.

This is one of the most popular types of advertising you can find, which is why many companies invest in it. Neuromarketing experts are capable of doing wonders with this type.

Steps involved in the neuromarketing process

Theoretical neuromarketing offers us a new theoretical framework to understand the behavior of consumers and their decision processes (especially the purchase process). Thanks to theoretical neuromarketing, the simplified model of Homo Economicus is left behind and we can focus on how non-conscious reactions influence our behavior and purchase decisions.

The new models of action of the human being explain the phases that people experience before acting, encompassing two non-conscious phases and one conscious phase:

• Information processing : Attentional processes (not conscious) are responsible for selecting which stimuli attract or not our attention. This basically depends on: if these stimuli are different (upward attention); or if our brain considers these stimuli to be important (downward attention). During decision making, attentional processes will be responsible for considering an option.

• Determination of meaning and emotional value : Our brain recognizes the information received by our senses unconsciously, and gives it meaning and emotional value. Therefore, when we make a decision unconsciously, we already have a favorite option.

• Deliberation and Analysis – This includes conscious cognitive tasks such as retrieving memories, interpreting the past, anticipating the future, planning, generating intentions, evaluating and making judgments, simulating, solving a problem, calculating, and reasoning. This phase can make us select an option, which is not necessarily the most attractive from a non-conscious point of view.

Companies are responsible for learning from the results that their actions have, which makes it perfect. This affects the type of future information we process, its meaning and the value we place on it, and also influences conscious decisions.

Emotions are a fundamental part of decision making, so it is necessary to understand them better. And this is one of the keys that we find in neuromarketing and in everything it does.

Finally, when we want to understand how our different senses affect consumer behavior, we talk about sensory neuromarketing, visual neuromarketing, auditory neuromarketing, olfactory neuromarketing, etc.

Main advantages of neuromarketing

Neuromarketing has a large number of advantages that can make a difference and that can make you end up deciding this. Next, we are going to give you 7 simple advantages that neuromarketing can offer.

1. Get new insights

Neuromarketing can provide new points of view that will greatly help your advertising campaigns. In this way you will be able to better measure all the details, which will make it easier to know the scope of it.

2. Allows you to analyze the consumer

Neuromarketing offers the possibility of analyzing consumer purchasing patterns in a non-intrusive way. That is, there is no need to ask questions or carry out a market study.

This is something extremely positive, since it does not require the consumer to feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed by questions, which means that the strategy can be more successful.

3. A better user experience

By knowing your customers better you will be able to get much closer to them and be able to meet their needs. This, of course, translates into a better user experience in all aspects.

A happy customer is a happy customer is a customer who will return to your store and make a purchase. This is a benefit for both parties, both for the client and for the seller.

4. Strengthen your brand image

Branding is a very important part of the entire process, which is why you should always aim for it. Neuromarketing is going to help you to a great extent to reinforce the image that your clients have of your brand. This translates into benefits for your company in many ways.

5. Identify common behavior patterns

It is very important to be able to establish and identify customer behavior patterns. This will allow you to create advertising campaigns that are more optimized and that generate a good response from the client.

With neuromarketing you will be able to design more and better campaigns that target the specific audience. Additionally, it will be that the design of these will also be much easier for you.

6. It is much more accurate than other types of marketing

This type of marketing offers a lot of tools that make it much more effective than other types of marketing. In this way it is possible to predict in a more effective way the behavior of people, who come to your store.

Examples of neuromarketing campaigns

You already know what neuromarketing is, its use and its benefits, now we will talk about neuromarketing examples. From this you will be able to understand much better what this practice is about and is carried out.

The positioning of the products

Supermarkets are experts in this, they are clear that the location of the products can encourage the purchase of some products over others. For example, it is quite common for more expensive products to be more visible than cheap ones.

Similarly, it is quite common for the products that are sold the most, such as fruits, vegetables, meats or dairy products, to be at the bottom.

In this way they get people to have to walk the corridors to get to them and back. This increases the possibility that they end up buying something.

The same thing happens with boxed products, these are for the customer to see when they go to pay and this can generate a feeling of need in them.

The music

Music is an extremely important factor that can influence the purchase decision. In department stores, supermarkets and more, it is common to come across music.

This is usually slow and reassuring in nature so shoppers feel calm and can take their time. Although this does not apply in all cases, it does in those that apply neuromarketing.

Non-round offers and prices

Another of the quite common things that you can find both in online stores and in physical stores are the offers and not round prices. Sale signs have a psychological effect on customers and this increases the chances that they will buy.

But it is not only the word “offer” that does this, but also the colors that are used. All these aspects make the customer feel the need to buy the product. The same happens with non-round prices.

Many believe that it is silly to put 99.99 instead of 100, and it stimulates the purchase, since people assume that the price is much lower. This tactic has been used in the marketing world for a long time and has proven to be a really effective technique.