Neuromarketing and the Future of Marketing

Neuromarketing is a relatively new field of study in marketing which has to studies a consumers' cognitive mind and sensorimotor and how they respond to marketing stimulation.  This notion of studying an individuals thought process and how the stimuli show up in the individual's brain can be seen as a gold mind for advertisers and a complete invasion of privacy to us the consumer.   No matter where you stand in the issue Neuromarketing, is not a science fiction but a reality in Today's world.  Noah Robischon points out how politicians used this type of advertising during the 2010 elections.   


Another example of this type of advertising can be seen in this ad below: Where a group of individuals who are against government spending are appealing to individuals and what the likely hood of the overspending would lead. Citizen's against government spending wants to make an emotional connection and tap deep into our thoughts.  The use of imagery, like the fall of previous great power (Romans, Egyptians and the United States) can have a deep connection and the association made here is that our over spending could lead us to our great fall.  The other use can be seen in the use of the foreign language and perhaps the suggestion of unfriendliness or a certain uneasiness.






I think that it's possible that these technologies will be with us in the near future and marketers will have access to lots of information by just reading and analyzing our brain activities.  Image for a quick second that if it's possible to read someones thoughts, you can extract not just how they feel about certain things, but what the other person could perhaps be thinking about.   This reminds me of the movie minority report with Tom Cruise in the scene where he is rushing through the mall and as he is running the advertisers are analyzing him through infrared and reading his eyes and sweat level and targeting him with specific advertising.   Now image yourself walking through the same mall and a scanner, can scan your thoughts or determine that you're thinking of your wife anniversary present and different thoughts cross your mind and the computer will project those thoughts onto a large screen for others to see.

What do you think?  Do you think neuromarketing is going to far in what advertisers are trying to do to tap into our thoughts and how and why we buy things?  unconscionably access our more deepest thoughts and memory?  Let me know if you're for or against neuromarketing.

Bonus:  (60 Minute special on Neuromarketing)

If the the car industry is in trouble with generation Y what's to follow in it's foot steps

According to a recent article published by Allison Linn, a senior analysts at MSNBC points out a growing problem for the car industry.   The problem at hand is that generation Y is to blame for decline of car purchases by generation Y, those individuals who proceeded generation X.   It seems according to Dave Cole, that generation Y would essentially buy a car as they move further in life and the need for such a need would arise.  The article goes on to further suggest that the economy is partly to blame for the decline in the purchases of cars by this group of individuals.   So, what's to follow in the foot steps of a slowdown in consumption or usage of things in this high tech world we live in today?    Could the same be said of other industries that also tailor to these group of individuals, I believe so.


I think the car industry is one of many other industries that will eventually experience slow downs and would have to re-invent itself if it wants to survive.   The movie industry can be seen as an industry who is re-inventing itself to attract individuals to the movie with it's high increase in 3D movies from 2008 to 2009 according to the the theatrical market statistics report published by motions picture of america, but I believe that the biggest industry that will be affected more sooner than later is the the telephone business of land lines.   Landlines are your traditional phone lines which are connected via telephone cables directly to your house.  Can you recall a time when the telecommunications companies like AT&T advertised distinctive ringing, as a means to allow every member of your family the ability to have their own number but with a different distinctive ring?    If what Allison, points out to be true and that technology is aiding in some of these declines then there is no more apparent evidence more true for Generation Y than the use of a traditional lan line as a means of communicating with the rest of the world.  


Generation Y and those generations that are to follow will likely not know that lan lines existed and that a cell phone is the norm of communicating with each other.  You can see how badly this industry is dying or close to death than what is pointed out by Anders Bylund, about how Google is closer than ever to killing the landline.  I would not agree more than to say this is so true.  If you pause for a moment and think about how interconnect the world has become and how much more powerful our cellphones are today you have to stop and wonder if you will ever need a land line.  Google understand the concept really well that we are likely going to be "connected" at all times to the world wide web and started to offer this service through their most popular product gmail.   The product was first conceived as a product that allowed you give your friends a family one number and it would ring you at multiple locations.  Grandcentral, as it was known before it was aquired by google in 2007 for 45Million is now what is known to most Googler's as Google Voice.  Now the concept has extended to allowing individuals to make telephone calls straight from their computers to any landline in the country or canada for free and around the world at very low rates.  The land lines that i describe are those of the households or homes in this country and not necessarily those used by services such as hospitals, police stations and so forth.  


I agree with Anders, and believe to be true that the land line as we know it today will be something of a times past for this generation Y, who in my opinion is adapting to technology and taking advantage of what it has to offer even when it's FREE as google presents it's products and services.  The Public Telephone System will have to offer similar products and services if it wants to stay alive or simply just let this service fall in the hands of other companies such as Google.

Our government and the world wide web can they co-exist?

One of the most efficient uses of the internet is the dissemination of information, followed by the convenience of online services (i.e. shopping, online tax filing, etc.). These two basic purposes have spawned the success of many private owned corporations as well as non-profit organizations and most recently the viral, widespread use of social media sites. So what measures the success of the internet? Is it the large-scale influence? Is it its widespread use? Or can it be attributed to the increasing number of users? While we can argue each of these points extensively there is a larger issue at hand that is hovering overhead – at what point does it merit regulation – if it merits regulation at all. Further, should government be responsible or play a role in this at all?

Let’s begin by examining the government current use of the internet.  One of its most efficient uses for the government has been e-filing of taxes.  It has allowed for individuals to quickly and easily file their taxes.   It’s beneficial to all parties involved in the process, as it reduces the environmental concerns with so much paper been used, individuals time and avoiding errors in processing your taxes.    Some may argue that their privacy is at risk and that their tax information may end up in the wrong hands.  This reminds me of how people viewed e-commerce at the beginning and that it was not going to work since our credit card information was going to end up in the hands of a hacker.   The development of the Word wide web has added much value to our daily lives and I believe that government use of e-filing is something that will be for here for a long time.   

E-filing maybe a good use of the world wide web by our government but can it go beyond e-filing?   Another use in our local government is having the ability to conduct hall meetings virtually or at least allow individuals to gather virtually online and voice their opinion.  One of the great thing about our government is that we are democratic and that we have at least some say in how our government runs itself or conducts itself with in our society.  If we don't agree how things are going we get to choose and kick the people who are power out the door and have others have a chance to represent us.   A virtual town meeting gives access to the old and the young to equally participate and voice their view on how our local government is going to decide on a particular issue at hand.  Of course there has to be a method in which you can validate those individual users who belong to a particular municipality to voice for their own issues and not someone who is from another part of the country to have a say.  While you may feel that your opinion or your views can be logged for ever once you say how you feel about a particular issue, a citizen can be protected by the use of an alias so that others in the town meeting can really determine who you are, but of course validated by our local government that you have a right to speak during the town meeting.

The internet has been evolving over the past 15 years and we can already see how it has benefited us in many ways; from e-commerce, to researching, to e-filing and assembling as a group of individuals to speak to our government.   I believe this is just the beginning and that while some of us may feel our privacy is at risk, you have to welcome change with an open mind and see the benefits of what the world wide web has offered amongst other industries and things that affect our daily life.   The role of government and the use of the world wide web will be intertwine for years to come; how we view this is up to us.