Later on I will focus on our buying tendencies and show you how every decision we make on a daily basis, is primarily controlled by our ancestor portion of the brain. This area is where good marketers come in play: they know exactly how to influence your most primitive portion of the brain.
What is neuromarketing:
Neuromarketing is a relatively new field of marketing research that studies people’s consumption habits by means of sensorimotor and cognitive techniques. Scientists often use methods such as electroencephalography (EEG) or functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity while performing decision making tasks such as deciding which shoes are better than others, or who to vote for. Neuromarketing is gaining popularity on the business as well as academic sectors. Some larger companies even have their own neuromarketing divisions with actual experimental laboratories to study consumer behavior.
The 3 brains
Our brains can be divided into three sub-brains:
1- Rational Brain: This is the neocortex, the outermost layer of the brain and the latest one to develop in evolution (about 3 million years ago). This area of the brain is responsible for processing facts, language, logical skills, analytical skills and it is where your judgment comes from. It is slow acting but it is very smart. This area of the brain requires a lot of effort and it works with our conscious self.
2- Emotional Brain: This portion of the brain includes a milieu of structures such as the olfactory bulbs, the hippocampus and the amygdala. It supports a variety of functions including social interactions, emotions, behavior and memory. It is basically our “emotional house”.
3- Reptilian Brain: This sub brain includes our brain stem and the cerebellum, which are the oldest structures of our brain (500 million years old). These areas of the brain are responsible for motor balance, safety, avoidance, survival instincts and involuntary actions such as heart rate control and food digestion. The reptilian brain is very fast acting but it is limited due to its very instinctual nature. It only focuses on present situations at hand, it is always active and never goes dormant. It is primarily controlled by our subconscious, it requires very little effort to operate and it is uncontrollable.
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