in the last two to three years some enterprising persons, quick to create a stir in the world of marketing, used the fMRI machines to scan the brain of consumers. they did create a stir. almost every leading magazine have written about these experiments. even teh latest Time magazine has an article on this topic. most of those articles assume that fMRI led scans are the future of neuro marketing- use neurology in the world of marketing.
i beg to disagree.
brain is far too complicated a system. neurologists are no where near getting a grip of the way brain functions. it is quite clear no one part of the brain is responsible for any human function. even a trifle thought is the result of many parts of the brain functioning together with millions of neurons, many more number of glia cells, many neuro transmitters, thundreds of protein molecules etc. even the most sophisticated fMRI scan in the world is not able to capture the intricate working of all these elements in the brain. without that it is impossible to believe that fMRI machines can fully understand consumer thoughts.
fMRI scan led approach to neuro marketing is a top down approach.
i believe in a bottom up approach to neuro marketing. i am studying how the brain functions. how memories are formed etc from a basic level. i am using these information to re look at the existing marketing theories.
will the top down approach to neuro marketing work or will the bottom up approach to marketing work?