William Atkins
Friday, 05 March 2010 09:55
Science -
Biology
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Two U.S. researchers are speculating on the popularity of the new field of neuromarketing, which is a high-tech way for marketers to find out what consumers like or dislike. A brain scan may show one day that you have an unconscious attraction for a recently introduced beer or for an up-and-coming presidential candidate.
Neuroimaging methods have been very popular with the medical profession for many decades. However, their application for “neuromarketing” in business is showing a lot of promise, too.
In an article in
Nature Reviews: Neuroscience, U.S. researchers Dan Ariely (Duke University, North Carolina) and Gregory S. Berns (Emory University, Georgia) talk about how neurimaging is being introduced to the world of business, specifically to the advertising and marketing of products and services.
One day in the future, a professional neuromarketer may learn that your bran scan shows a particular liking or disliking for some product or service. That knowledge could be then applied to the company’s commercial advantage.
Today, various imaging techniques are used to directly or indirectly visualize the structure and function of the brain. Such scans are used quite often in medicine and neuroscience. They are now entering business!
For instance, CAT scans—less commonly called computerized axial tomography scans—have been around for forty years in the diagnoses of patients and for many research purposes.
In the 1980s, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans were introduced primarily for use in radiology. It is an improvement over CAT scans in some areas—such as greater contrast between various tissues of the body—but provides less quality imaging than CAT scans when it comes to functioning of the body.
Then, in the 1990s, functional MRI scans (or, fMRI scans) were developed. They are able to better visualize the functioning of the internal body. In the brain, they are able to see the blood flowing, showing how it changes in different parts of the brain due to various circumstances.
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