Buyology: Truth and Lies About Why We Buy Buyology by Martin Lindstrom is a compulsively readable (at least for marketers) account of a research project that spanned three years and cost $7 million. Lindstrom's team used both fMRI and…

Marketers know that older buyers frequently behave differently than younger ones. They tend to experiment less with new products, and often exhibit strong loyalty to the brands they have used in the past. Conventional wisdom would say these…

Way back in 2005, in Can Caffeine Brain Boost Help Ad Recall?, I suggested that Starbucks could sell potent ads on their cups. This idea, though tongue-in-cheek in nature, was based on fMRI research that showed caffeine stimulated areas…

Last week, I carried the story on Neurofocus's acquisition of what the firm calls the "core patent" for neuromarketing. Subsequent to that announcement, I spoke by phone with Dr. A.K. Pradeep, President and Chief Executive Officer of…

Jim Edwards of Brandweek has penned an interesting and lengthy article describing his own experience as a neuromarketing subject, as well as providing some general background on the promise offered and challenges faced by the nascent…

Marketers are constantly facing the challenge of how to make an offer more attractive to their customers. Will free shipping garner more orders than a $10 coupon? What about a 10% discount, or a free tote bag? Smart marketers know there is…

Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely does a great job of demolishing the idea that people make decisions in a rational manner. Ariely, a behavioral economist at Duke, describes dozens of experiments that show how we procrastinate, when we…

Marketers know there are potent words in advertising, like "Free" and "New." Neuroscientists have now determined that the appeal of "new" is hard-wired into our brains. Novelty activates our brain's reward center, which may have been an…

Ever wonder what goes on inside a journalist’s head when he thinks about politics, television shows, or his boss? An article in The Atlantic, My Amygdala, My Self, tells us that and more. The intro to the piece notes that correspondent…

The use of brain imaging in evaluating advertising and products is increasing, and one wonders if the judgment of marketing execs could be clouded by the presence of colorful scan images when used to back up humdrum conclusions in the text.…