Neuromarketing is, in general terms, the set of all marketing strategies that use neuroscience to understand human behavior in depth.
Neurosciences
In 1953, researchers James Olds and Peter Milner from McGill components of a job seekers database University in Canada made important discoveries about the brain. In their experiments, initially carried out on rats, they discovered the area that regulates pleasure, called the “nucleus accumbens.” This revolutionary discovery created a whole new approach to the way we understand human behavior, its biochemical motivations, distortions, etc.
Gerald Zaltman is considered the precursor of neuromarketing. In 1990 he was hired by Coca Cola to study consumer behavior using brain scanning techniques such as magnetic resonance imaging.
“Smart” marketing strategies
So marketing strategies related to neuroscience are nothing more than applying knowledge derived from academic fields to advertising in all its variants.
“System 1” and “System 2”
One of the discoveries of neuroscience that has had the greatest impact on marketing strategies is that not all of our decisions are completely conscious.
In 1980, experiments conducted at the University of California revealed that the brain sends signals (reacts to impulses) microseconds before a person indicates they are making a decision .
This, of course, does not mean that we do not have free will or anything like that. It simply indicates that there are reactions to our behaviour that we do not fully understand. These reactions, especially on an emotional level, are very important for neuromarketing. System 1 then refers to our conscious decisions and system 2 to our unconscious ones.
Understanding users
According to Ramiro Arteaga, current marketing strategies have levels of complexity that require the systematization of procedures, methods and theories that support their results at least in the following areas:
People's desires and aspirations.
Motivations for behavior.
Nature of decisions (rational or not).
Ergonomics (user-focused design).
Nature of perception (how we read advertisements etc.)
The myths
Neuromarketing is not about “brainwashing” marketing strategies, far from it. Taking advantage of discoveries in cognitive sciences helps us understand users to better meet their needs and design campaigns that achieve emotional connections with them.