Comparing Neuromarketing and Traditional Market Research

Traditional market research or neuromarketing methods?  I have always believed that it is worth thinking of neuromarketing methods as an augmentation of traditional methods.  Yet they are rarely compared outside of the corporate lab.  Here is a very nice example of of where they are compared.  The outcome is that it does make sense to use both methods.  It is not magic yet, just a very useful tool. Contact Sands Research (SRI) for more objective help.


Building Brands with Communications that Connect  (full report at link) (Joint Study with Sands & Synovate)

Sands Research works with many of the world's leading market research firms in providing the consumer neuroscience component for their studies.  At the recent WARC Advertising Research Conference, Jon Harper, global head of brand and communications at Synovate, presented the findings from a joint study testing consumer response to twelve ads using EEG and Eye-tracking compared to Synovate's self-reporting surveys.

In his presentation, Harper focused in on a controversial ad on LeBron James (NBA Star). The ad performed poorly on pre-testing surveys but the commercial scored well on SRI's Neuro-Engagement Score (NES).  Even though participants were upset by the ad, neuroscience revealed that the viewers' attention level was high and throughly engaged in the advertisement.

Also reviewing SRI's Emotional Valence Score (EVS), the ad demonstrated strong positive and negative emotions. "People remained hooked through the ad - they did not switch off" Harper said. "You definitely wouldn't have got that if you looked at self-reports alone."

Harper revealed that the negative self-reporting data suggested limited engagement in this ad but through neuroscience, you see that Nike challenges and disrupts the viewer - who is engaged but in a survey responds differently.

The combination of methodologies provides a more complete picture and neuroscience enhances traditional approaches but is not the magic solution. "There's no doubt that EEG reinforces the value of the standard pre-testing questions" Harper stated. "But we've yet to be convinced you can find all the answers by measuring brainwaves."

Sands Research agrees 100% and why we strongly recommend that consumer neuroscience is an enhancement to traditional methods.... '