Sentient Insight: the business blog for consumer psychology and consumer marketing

Behavioral Science is the future of market research, and the subdiscipline of Neuroscience has a lot to offer that future. Neuroscience is providing new insight on the implicit drivers of behavior by revealing what consumers either can’t or won’t tell us through self-reported methods. Neuromarketing – the application of neuroscience principles and measurement tools to marketing issues – has captured the imagination of the advanced marketing research world.

Traditional research is in trouble. It is suffering from what we call the “can’t say/won’t say” problem. With 95 to 99 percent of all cognitive processes occurring below conscious awareness, consumers often can’t or won’t tell us the real reasons behind their preferences and behaviors. This is troubling for the multi-billion dollar market research industry which still largely relies on self-reported data to figure out the “whens” and “whys” behind consumer decision-making.

Behavioral Science is the future of market research and insight coming out of Neuroscience and Psychology are dovetailing to produce new methodologies of tapping the consumer subconscious. Here we discuss these trends in an interview with Ed Gaskin of CMOAdvantage, detailing best practices and case studies using methods that capture consumer visceral response to products and advertising.