Ever wondered why you impulsively reach for that exact pack of cookies at the checkout counter? Why do some soap bottles are perceived as luxurious while others – as cheap, although it’s the same plastic bottle? Or why does the new packaging of your favorite cereal feel like a personal attack on you?

The human brain is a complex puzzle, yet peeking behind the curtain of consumer decision-making, finding out what they like and what attracts their attention is quite usual in the science world.

While it’s not mind-reading, it’s pretty close. And it is called neuromarketing.

Co-founder and CEO of Neuromarketing & AI lab and assoc. professor of practice at KTU School of Economics and Business Egle Vaiciukynaite explains that the term neuromarketing refers to the application of neuroscience theory and research methods, including measurement of neural and physiological signals to get insights into customer emotions, motivations, preferences, and decisions. Using these measurements, businesses can achieve more effective marketing activities.

“Imagine a situation where a brand seeks to change an existing food product package or/and add new attributes (e.g., sustainability) to the existing package. All these changes can be implemented with designers but the question remains: can we guarantee that this new package attracts loyal and new customers?

It’s difficult to predict its success without any research. Meanwhile, neuromarketing techniques, such as mobile eye-tracking, can be used to test it and come up with a clear answer”, she says.

Eye tracking in neuromarketing involves using specialized technology to precisely monitor and record eye movements, gaze fixation, and pupil dilation. Such software can provide heat maps showing what attracts consumer attention, which textual information is overlooked by the target audience, and help to decide what changes should be made so that the product packaging performs well.

According to Egle Vaiciukynaite, brands usually seek to test their several versions of new packages and to assess among competitors or on shelves of retail stores. Her job, in a way, is to test the best designers’ or marketing specialists’ work and satisfy the customers.

Although such testing requires a considerable amount of knowledge, there are tools available to day-to-day consumers.

The most recent trend is exploiting AI in neuromarketing, says Egle Vaiciukynaite, even if some solutions were created 3 to 5 years ago. For instance, AI-driven solutions like Lithuania-based predictive eye-tracking tool Attentioninsight.com can provide rapid results on how potential users might look at the stimuli.

“Integrated into the latest Adobe.com solution, this tool can be used to process the idea of various visual stimuli, images of product shelves, or prototypes of food package stages. Another similar AI solution, Neurons’ Predict, guarantees 95% accuracy and provides not only attention performance but measures emotions and uncovers motivation to the content”, says Egle Vaiciukynaite.

Despite the benefits of such tools, live eye-tracking studies or even web camera/smartphone camera-based eye-tracking solutions are still supreme in some contexts.

Regarding any neuromarketing tools, the research design is of most importance. That includes what type of tool scientists will use, what results can be generated, and what brand questions can be answered.

“From my experience, brands have many research questions at once. Sadly, we can answer only several with one research. Currently, I run research and commercial studies with diverse eye-tracking solutions: mobile eye-tracking, web camera-based, or smartphone-based eye-tracking. The most popular size for eye-tracking studies is a smartphone’s screen. These studies were popular several years ago in California, US. I had a chance to participate, and based on this experience, I design studies for small screens and analyze data with the latest software versions”, elaborates Egle Vaiciukynaite.

How can businesses use neuroscience to their advantage?

Regarding some of the most surprising insights that neuroscience has revealed about how consumers make purchasing decisions, Egle Vaiciukynaite names a few.

“For instance, the brand logo should be avoided being displayed on the top left of video advertisements because nobody looks at it on mobiles. Social media posts or digital ads accompanied by human and non-faces attract more users’ attention than promoted products”, explains Egle Vaiciukynaite.

However, it is also important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all rule – our visual perception and attention are contextual. To see for yourself, Egle Vaiciukynaite suggests experimenting: show the same stimulus in different light conditions to your colleague at the office or change the viewing distance and discuss the results. How the stimulus appears and is perceived depends on the environment.

“Moreover, our online behavior is also constantly changing. If we see an ad while browsing, we skip it immediately. It’s become sort of a habit. Interestingly, I was testing a new research platform for smartphone camera-based eye-tracking, and it contained an intro video about the research. All my participants immediately skipped the introduction video and wanted to start to view the stimulus instructions-free”, points out Egle Vaiciukynaite.

Because consumer habits are constantly changing, neuroscience will inevitably become the future of marketing.

However, the immediate inevitability for businesses is new solutions empowered with AI.

“Some identified relationships in data cannot be explained, and there is a need for research and answer the question, why? Meanwhile, neuromarketing can help brands to understand customer behavior better. At the same time, these physiological or neural data can be used as sources for new AI solutions for businesses. I expect to have more portable neuromarketing tools in the future and more complex AI-empowered tools for business”, says Egle Vaiciukynaite.

Important things to remember:

• Utilize Neuromarketing Techniques: Apply mobile eye-tracking and AI-driven tools, like Attentioninsights.com and Neurons’ Predict, for effective marketing decisions.
• Place Logo Strategically: Avoid placing brand logos on the top left of video ads for mobile viewers.
• Produce Human-Focused Content: Incorporate human and non-face elements in social media and digital ads for increased user attention.
• Be Aware of the Context: Understand the contextual nature of visual perception, acknowledge changing consumer habits, and adapt marketing strategies accordingly.

Nevertheless, all companies that embrace neuromarketing and existing AI solutions can uncover the hidden potential and embrace it. And if trying out those incredible tools, you find out that something in your branding doesn’t satisfy your consumers, turn to Andunicorns for help.