The Branded Mind

The Changing Picture of the Brain

Using brain science in marketing and advertising has become popular, and neuromarketing is a powerful buzzword in selling and promotion. Neuromarketing, which is based on science’s evolving understanding of the brain, holds the promise that marketers can mold their messages to affect people’s mental and emotional states, thus impelling a bond with their brands. That idea bespeaks the tantalizing possibility of using such insights as practical advertising tools, but the field is still in its infancy. Some proponents base grandiose claims for neuromarketing on a small number of highly visible but inconclusive experiments. To understand neuromarketing’s real potential, focus on what the brain is, on what thinking entails and on how people make decisions.

The way scientists understand the brain and its functioning is changing. For hundreds of years – since philosopher René Descartes declared, “I think, therefore I am” in the 17th century – Western philosophy, psychology and neuroscience have seen emotions as distinct from rational thought. Researchers posited that rationality was the brain’s core function, and that emotions blocked it. ...