What is "neuromarketing"

n. A marketing discipline that studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective responses to marketing stimulus.

Neuromarketing is a field of marketing research that studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli. Researchers use technologies such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain, electroencephalography (EEG) and Steady state topography (SST) to measure activity in specific regional spectra of the brain response, or sensors to measure changes in one's physiological state, also known as biometrics, including heart rate and respiratory rate, galvanic skin response to learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and which brain areas are responsible. Certain companies, particularly those with large-scale ambitions to predict consumer behaviour, have invested in their own laboratories, science personnel or partnerships with academia. Present in over ten countries, the Neuromarketing Business Association today centralizes academic publications and certifications and serves as a networking platform for professionals in the field.

Companies such as Google, CBS, Frito-Lay, and A & E Television amongst others have used neuromarketing research services to measure consumer thoughts on their advertisements or products.

In the late 1990s, both Neurosense (UK) and Gerry Zaltmann (USA) had established neuromarketing companies. Unilever's Consumer Research Exploratory Fund (CREF) too had been publishing white papers on the potential applications of Neuromarketing.