Our Prejudiced Brains

Years ago, I worked with a group of field representatives selling industrial equipment, and found that many had interesting adaptations to local culture in different parts of the U.S. One based in Texas always kept a Western-cut sheepskin…

Super Bowl Ads – A Pick for Neuro-Worst

The Loser. The inevitable fMRI neuromarketing analyses of the 2008 Super Bowl ads hasn't appeared yet, but I've got my pick for the worst: Planters Nuts spot showing a hideous-looking woman who seemed amazingly attractive to those around…

Starbucks Admits Sensory Mistake

Starbucks understands sensory branding, and in particular olfactory marketing. The wonderful aroma of a good coffee shop is a great selling and branding tool - this is particularly important since research shows that the majority of the…

Why Good Ad Copy Works

All too often, writing the copy for an ad campaign seems to be an afterthought. As any skilled copywriter knows, though, good copy will outperform mediocre text every time. Now, Read Montague, professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of…

Why Choose This Book?

Why Choose This Book? How We Make Decisions by Read Montague sounds like the perfect read for neuromarketing and neuroeconomics enthusiasts. In fact, the book does provide some interesting insights but the overall density of actionable…

Connectomics: Mapping The Brain

Using automated technology to derive neural maps from brain tissue, Harvard researchers are in the early stages of an effort to map the human brain. Eventually, the researchers hope to map every synapse in the human brain and produce a…

Starbucks Trying to Cut Buyer Pain

As described many times here at Neuromarketing, paying for a product activates the brain's pain center, particularly if the price seems too high to the person making the buying decision. Starbucks is the company that taught us that $5 for a…

The Brain’s “Aha!” Spot

Long recognized psychological phenomena and various aspects of human behavior are being localized in the brain daily, it seems, and the latest to be studied is discovery, often referred to as an "Aha!" or "Eureka!" moment. This is the…

Keith Winter: New Emsense CEO

Keith Winter was named CEO at Emsense, a neuromarketing company that uses EEG and other technology to measure consumer response to media and ads. Winter had previously held the COO slot at Exponential Interactive, an Internet advertising…