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The figure of the brain has continued to rise in prominence for at least 30 years. This development continues to raise important questions: in particular, to what extent and in what ways does the brain supplant the person as the presumed origin of human behaviour? Whereas it has previously been discussed in general terms, here we address this question through an ethnographic study of the experimental articulation of the brain in neuromarketing research. Drawing on analytical themes from science and technology studies, we argue that it is crucial to investigate the enactment of the brain in situated practice and to understand the effects on prevailing accountability relations. We analyse the enactment of the 'consuming' brain in neuromarketing experiments and in experts' communication of experimental results. We show how the consuming brain emerges from reconfigured sets of socio-material relations (between e.g. consumers, brains, brain scanning operators, consultants) and how this entails a redistribution of accountability relations. This results in an ontological respecification of the consumer, who is no longer deemed accountable for his/her actions. Instead spokespersons on behalf of the brain – neuromarketing technologies and experts – assume accountability for revealing why consumers buy what they buy. We conclude that the putative shift from person to brain is in fact characterised by a redistribution of accountability relations in neuromarketing practices. We call for further studies of accountability redistributions in practice, so as better to situate novel explanations of human behaviour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuromarketing has formed an emerging area capable of establishing links between the study of consumer behaviour and neuroscience, based on technological innovations and neuroimaging technologies with capacity of obtaining brain´s data. The application of neuroimaging technologies in market research has led to a new universe of action in terms of information collection. The present study aims to carry out an analysis of the different neuroimaging tools, based on a methodology of analysis of theoretical elements combined with the study of specific cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the many futuristic prospects offered by neuroscience, one of the more controversial is 'brain reading': the use of functional neuroimaging to gain information about subjects' mental states or thoughts. This technology has various possible applications, including 'neuromarketing' and lie detection. Would such applications violate subjects' privacy rights? Conversely, if God knows and judges all our secret thoughts, do Christians have any stake in defending a right to mental privacy? This article argues that God's knowledge of us is different not only in degree but in kind from the knowledge sought through brain reading. This view of divine knowledge supports a theological account of privacy, richer and broader in scope than standard accounts of privacy rights, which can aid the ethical analysis of the use of brain reading technology for purposes such as marketing and lie detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past decades commercial and academic market(ing) researchers have studied consumers through a range of different methods including surveys, focus groups, or interviews. More recently, some have turned to the growing field of neuroscience to understand consumers. Neuromarketing employs brain imaging, scanning, or other brain measurement technologies to capture consumers' (brain) responses to marketing stimuli and to circumvent the "problem" of relying on consumers' self-reports. This paper presents findings of an ethnographic study of neuromarketing research practices in one neuromarketing consultancy. Our access to the minutiae of commercial neuromarketing research provides important insights into how neuromarketers silence the neuromarketing test subject in their experiments and presentations and how they introduce the brain as an unimpeachable witness. This enables us conceptually to reconsider the role of witnesses in the achievement of scientific credibility, as prominently discussed in science and technology studies (STS). Specifically, we probe the role witnesses and silences play in establishing and maintaining credibility in and for "commercial research laboratories." We propose three themes that have wider relevance for STS researchers and require further attention when studying newly emerging research fields and practices that straddle science and its commercial application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purposes of marketing academicians are to describe consumers better and to understand what consumers think and feel. They are looking for the answer to these questions by using traditional research methods as well as data obtained by measuring brain imaging techniques and physiological responses. This method, which is called as neuromarketing, has many common application areas such as market research, packaging design, store design and advertising research. Although the misconception that it will be transformed into a consumption robot by being mixed with subconscious studies is one of the major obstacles to neuromarketing studies, the increase in awareness and the potential to complete the deficiencies of classical research methods increase the studies in the field. When the literature is examined, it is seen that various methods are used in neuromarketing studies. A few of these methods are often used together. fMRI (is one of the methods that measure metabolic activities in the brain), EEG (is one of the methods that measure the electrical activities), eye tracking (is one of the methods that do not measure the brain activity) are the most widely used methods. In the study, neuromarketing is discussed in the development process of marketing and its advantages and limitations are examined. The methods used in neuromarketing and what they can be measured by using these methods are discussed in a way that includes basic information to help design experimental studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuromarketing, which uses neuroimaging techniques for marketing goals, is the application of neuroscientific methods to analyze and understand consumer behavior according to marketing initiatives. Medical diagnostic devices for brain imaging are utilized by marketers as neuromarketing technologies. This paper proposes a fuzzy scenario-based approach to analyzing neuromarketing technology evaluation criteria. Fuzzy cognitive map methodology, which is originated from the combination of fuzzy logic and neural networks, is employed due to the cause-and-effect relationships between pair of factors, presence of conflicting criteria, positive as well as negative relationships among factors, and lack of crisp data. Importance degrees of each evaluation factor are computed, and then, four different scenario analyses are provided to understand the influence of an increase or a decrease in the power of specific factor(s) on other factors. Throughout the literature, this is the first study that considers multiple and conflicting criteria framework of neuromarketing technology evaluation problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Predicting relapse vulnerability can inform level-of-care and personalized substance use treatment. Few reliable predictors of relapse risk have been identified from traditional clinical, psychosocial, and demographic variables. However, recent neuroimaging findings highlight the potential prognostic import of brain-based signals, indexing the degree to which neural systems have been perturbed by addiction. These proposed "neuromarkers" forecast the likelihood, severity, and timing of relapse but the reliability and generalizability of such effects remains to be established.Methods: Activation likelihood estimation was used to conduct a preliminary quantitative, coordinate-based meta-analysis of the addiction neuroprediction literature; specifically, studies wherein baseline measures of regional cerebral blood flow were prospectively associated with substance use treatment outcomes. Consensus patterns of activation associated with relapse vulnerability (greater activation predicts poorer outcomes) versus resilience (greater activation predicts improved outcomes) were specifically investigated.Results: Twenty-four eligible studies yielded 134 foci, representing 923 subjects. Consensus activation was identified in right putamen and claustrum (p < .05, cluster-corrected) in relation to positive and negative treatment outcomes - likely reflecting variability in measurement context (e.g., task, sample characteristics) across datasets. A single cluster in rostral-ventral anterior cingulate cortex (rACC) was associated with relapse resilience, specifically (p < .05, cluster-corrected); no significant vulnerability-related clusters were identified.Conclusions: Right putamen activation has been associated with relapse vulnerability and resilience, while increased baseline rACC activation has been consistently associated with improved treatment outcomes. Methodological heterogeneity within the existing literature, however, limits firm conclusions and future work will be necessary to confirm and clarify these results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By exploiting cross-information among multiple imaging data, multimodal fusion has often been used to better understand brain diseases. However, most current fusion approaches are blind, without adopting any prior information. There is increasing interest to uncover the neurocognitive mapping of specific clinical measurements on enriched brain imaging data; hence, a supervised, goal-directed model that employs prior information as a reference to guide multimodal data fusion is much needed and becomes a natural option. Here, we proposed a fusion with reference model called “multi-site canonical correlation analysis with reference + joint-independent component analysis” (MCCAR+jICA), which can precisely identify co-varying multimodal imaging patterns closely related to the reference, such as cognitive scores. In a three-way fusion simulation, the proposed method was compared with its alternatives on multiple facets; MCCAR+jICA outperforms others with higher estimation precision and high accuracy on identifying a target component with the right correspondence. In human imaging data, working memory performance was utilized as a reference to investigate the co-varying working memory-associated brain patterns among three modalities and how they are impaired in schizophrenia. Two independent cohorts (294 and 83 subjects respectively) were used. Similar brain maps were identified between the two cohorts along with substantial overlaps in the central executive network in fMRI, salience network in sMRI, and major white matter tracts in dMRI. These regions have been linked with working memory deficits in schizophrenia in multiple reports and MCCAR+jICA further verified them in a repeatable, joint manner, demonstrating the ability of the proposed method to identify potential neuromarkers for mental disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumers’ food preferences and choices with a wider range of options have become more complex and are influenced by various factors. The evolution of neuroimaging in consumer sciences enables scholars to conduct more scientific-based research in investigating people’s food choices. The purpose of this pilot study was to investigate whether or not there were differences in brain activity for familiar and unfamiliar foods which could lead to a better understanding of consumers’ reaction to food. This study used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine brain activity among nine healthy male participants while viewing pictures of food. All rounds of food pictures had activation in the cingulate gyrus and occipital areas of the brain; however, there were some significant differences in activation by the types of foods viewed. The unfamiliar foods showed significant activation in the parietal lobe areas and the insula, while the unfamiliar foods with labels had more activation in the prefrontal areas of the brain. The implications from the results are that brain activation while viewing food images is related to reward and inhibition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We set out to forecast consumer behaviour in a supermarket based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Data was collected while participants viewed six chocolate bar communications and product pictures before and after each communication. Then self-reports liking judgement were collected. fMRI data was extracted from a priori selected brain regions: nucleus accumbens, medial orbitofrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, inferior frontal gyrus, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex assumed to contribute positively and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and insula were hypothesized to contribute negatively to sales. The resulting values were rank ordered. After our fMRI-based forecast an instore test was conducted in a supermarket on n = 63.617 shoppers. Changes in sales were best forecasted by fMRI signal during communication viewing, second best by a comparison of brain signal during product viewing before and after communication and least by explicit liking judgements. The results demonstrate the feasibility of applying neuroimaging methods in a relatively small sample to correctly forecast sales changes at point-of-sale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the 1890s, psychophysiological measurement devices have played an important, but as yet under-theorized role in marketing and consumer research. Because of the recent advances made in neuromarketing, it is often assumed that these measurement devices ushered in a radically new understanding of the type of subjectivity that underlies consumer behaviour. I argue instead that a posthuman view of the relationship between brain, mind and behaviour underpinned neurophysiological research into consumers from its very beginning in the late nineteenth century. By tracing the biopolitical potentialities of neuromarketing back to the Fin-de-Siècle neurophysiological laboratory, I show that consumers' bodies and later on their brains became reconfigured as part of a dispositif made up of laboratory-based artefacts (measurement devices) and new ways of seeing the human brain and human behaviour. This dispositif, the latest expression of which is neuromarketing, promised to empower marketing researchers and practitioners alike by fulfilling their dream of being able to bypass consumers' verbalized cognition and instead draw upon the 'truth' of their physiological reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Branding and advertising have a powerful effect on both familiarity and preference for products, yet no neuroimaging studies have examined neural response to logos in children. Food advertising is particularly pervasive and effective in manipulating choices in children. The purpose of this study was to examine how healthy children’s brains respond to common food and other logos. A pilot validation study was first conducted with 32 children to select the most culturally familiar logos, and to match food and non-food logos on valence and intensity. A new sample of 17 healthy weight children were then scanned using functional magnetic resonance imaging. Food logos compared to baseline were associated with increased activation in orbitofrontal cortex and inferior prefrontal cortex. Compared to non-food logos, food logos elicited increased activation in posterior cingulate cortex. Results confirmed that food logos activate some brain regions in children known to be associated with motivation. This marks the first study in children to examine brain responses to culturally familiar logos. Considering the pervasiveness of advertising, research should further investigate how children respond at the neural level to marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Can neural responses of a small group of individuals predict the behavior of large-scale populations? In this investigation, brain activations were recorded while smokers viewed three different television campaigns promoting the National Cancer Institute’s telephone hotline to help smokers quit (1-800-QUIT-NOW). The smokers also provided self-report predictions of the campaigns’ relative effectiveness. Population measures of the success of each campaign were computed by comparing call volume to 1-800-QUIT-NOW in the month before and the month after the launch of each campaign. This approach allowed us to directly compare the predictive value of self-reports with neural predictors of message effectiveness. Neural activity in a medial prefrontal region of interest, previously associated with individual behavior change, predicted the population response, whereas self-report judgments did not. This finding suggests a novel way of connecting neural signals to population responses that has not been previously demonstrated and provides information that may be difficult to obtain otherwise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: We use neuroimaging to predict cultural popularity — something that is popular in the broadest sense and appeals to a large number of individuals. Neuroeconomic research suggests that activity in reward-related regions of the brain, notably the orbitofrontal cortex and ventral striatum, is predictive of future purchasing decisions, but it is unknown whether the neural signals of a small group of individuals are predictive of the purchasing decisions of the population at large. For neuroimaging to be useful as a measure of widespread popularity, these neural responses would have to generalize to a much larger population that is not the direct subject of the brain imaging itself. Here, we test the possibility of using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to predict the relative popularity of a common good: music. We used fMRI to measure the brain responses of a relatively small group of adolescents while listening to songs of largely unknown artists. As a measure of popularity, the sales of these songs were totaled for the three years following scanning, and brain responses were then correlated with these “future” earnings. Although subjective likability of the songs was not predictive of sales, activity within the ventral striatum was significantly correlated with the number of units sold. These results suggest that the neural responses to goods are not only predictive of purchase decisions for those individuals actually scanned, but such responses generalize to the population at large and may be used to predict cultural popularity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The rise of neuroscience's study, based on the technological development that allows to investigate brain processes by neuroimaging, has led to a new research area which after the neuro prefix covers studies such as neuroeconomics, neuromarketing and social neuroscience . This paper provides a review based on different research projects with the aim of presenting social responsibility, often conceptually linked to organizational paradigms, as an evolutionary trend of neurological human development, which could be called Neuro-responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Here we present an overview of some published papers of interest for the marketing research employing electroencephalogram (EEG) and magnetoencephalogram (MEG) methods. The interest for these methodologies relies in their high-temporal resolution as opposed to the investigation of such problem with the functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) methodology, also largely used in the marketing research. In addition, EEG and MEG technologies have greatly improved their spatial resolution in the last decades with the introduction of advanced signal processing methodologies. By presenting data gathered through MEG and high resolution EEG we will show which kind of information it is possible to gather with these methodologies while the persons are watching marketing relevant stimuli. Such information will be related to the memorization and pleasantness related to such stimuli. We noted that temporal and frequency patterns of brain signals are able to provide possible descriptors conveying information about the cognitive and emotional processes in subjects observing commercial advertisements. These information could be unobtainable through common tools used in standard marketing research. We also show an example of how an EEG methodology could be used to analyze cultural differences between fruition of video commercials of carbonated beverages in Western and Eastern countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of neuroimaging methods to product marketing - neuromarketing - has recently gained considerable popularity. We propose that there are two main reasons for this trend. First, the possibility that neuroimaging will become cheaper and faster than other marketing methods; and second, the hope that neuroimaging will provide marketers with information that is not obtainable through conventional marketing methods. Although neuroimaging is unlikely to be cheaper than other tools in the near future, there is growing evidence that it may provide hidden information about the consumer experience. The most promising application of neuroimaging methods to marketing may come before a product is even released - when it is just an idea being developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Este artículo es una reflexión de la situación actual de la investigación de mercados en empresas colombianas y en especial en la región Caribe, debido a que en términos generales nuestras organizaciones están de espaldas a la investigación de mercados y de los nuevos retos, métodos e instrumentos desarrollados para su finalidad. De acuerdo con esto, se pretende concientizar a los empresarios de dichos avances, traducidos en resultados de investigaciones con aportes de otras disciplinas, como la neurología y la psicología, que combinadas con las viejas técnicas de investigación del comportamiento del consumidor y mercadeo han aportado y demostrado la aplicación de nuevos instrumentos, como son las neuroimágenes. Y estas, como pieza fundamental de lo que se ha denominado el neuromarketing, han revolucionado nuestra forma de estudiar y observar a los sujetos de investigación. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]