Many marketers are guilty of linking more money to better results but the greatest challenge in marketing today is to spend less and yet achieve more. Is that possible?

According to Dr Gemma Calvert, world renowned neuroscientist and one of the foremost pioneers of Neuromarketing, Neuromarketing is the application of tools and task derived from the fields of cognitive psychology and neuroscience to measure the non-conscious and biological reactions to marketing stimuli materials and brands, and communication.

Neuroscientists believe that as much as 90% of the brain activity is subconscious. These subconscious brain processes, which operate under our conscious awareness, actually influence and determine a huge percentage of our actions and behaviours. It is after our subconscious mind’s decision that our conscious mind rationalises our behaviour.

Market research like surveys, interviews and focus groups rely heavily on the participants’ rational consciousness and psychological reactions. But as David Oglivy famously said, ‘Consumers don’t think how they feel, they don’t say what they think and they don’t do what they say.’

Neuromarketing involves using tools like FMRI, EEG, eye tracking, facial coding and other techniques, which allows us to know what consumers think and determine the subconscious reactions which are too swift for the conscious mind to interfere. This information obtained from the subconscious brain responses are established to be a superior predictor of consumers behaviour.

The information obtained gives marketers a fresh perspective into the marketing gaps and look into the customers’ thinking and behaviour that is inconsistent. By understanding the driving force behind the decision of consumers, we can dissect the way they make decisions and improve our marketing strategies and marketing spend with better accuracy.