Neuromarketing and UX Design: what is the difference?

Understanding the brain, how it functions, puts you one step ahead... and perhaps you don't realize, but the brain has already responded for you.

Neuromarketing is the fusion of neuroscience knowledge with marketing strategies. The goal is to understand how the brain behaves and how marketing can leverage this behavior. Still seems like an abstract concept? Don’t worry, I’ll bring some real-life examples and methods that stimulate the brain.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out):

FOMO is a feeling of anxiety that can direct human behavior to act or not act, fearing the risk of missing out. When Booking.com displays "only one room left" or "10 other people are looking at this room," it triggers feelings of urgency, scarcity and fear of missing the opportunity.

Dopamine Color Trend:

The human brain reacts strongly to colors, and brands know this. Vibrant and attractive colors can increase dopamine levels, a neurotransmitter linked to pleasure, thus engaging consumers more effectively.

Packaging:

Coca-Cola and Farm Rio are examples of brands using attractive packaging to stimulate engagement. Consumers request that these brands continue with certain packaging simply because they are aesthetically pleasing, creating an emotional bond and fostering brand loyalty.

Many methods can be used to discover human reactions and behaviors, such as eye-tracking, which monitors where consumers' eyes are focused, allowing brands to optimize their advertisements and products.

It may seem difficult to identify where UX Design ends and Marketing begins in these examples, but the answer is simple. While marketing focuses on selling, UX Design, as the name suggests, focuses on the user experience. It's important to emphasize that the customer and the user are often not the same person. The customer is the purchaser, while the user is the individual who will actually use the product or service. For instance, if you buy a scooter for your child, you are the customer, and your child is the end user.

Thus, marketing strategies can target parents (exploring feelings of security and quality), while user experience strategies could focus on the child (exploring comfort, colors, and fun). Marketing and UX design are mutually and holistic connected.

The book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman explores the workings of the brain and distinguishes between two modes of thought: fast thinking ("System 1") and slow thinking ("System 2"). Fast thinking is intuitive, automatic, and emotional, whereas slow thinking is logical, and rational.

Neuromarketing, aware of these two systems, creates strategies that exploit automatic mental responses (mentioned above), as well as slower, more rational responses involved in product research and price comparison, where consumers are making more complex purchasing decisions. Thus, neuromarketing is one of many strategies available in marketing, alongside pricing, for example.

Many people consider the ethical boundaries of neuromarketing to be a matter of concern. Critics argue that neuromarketing exploits the automatic, unconscious responses of consumers, manipulating them in ways they might not be aware of. They believe this can lead to unfair advantages for marketers, potentially influencing consumer behavior without their informed consent. For instance, by tapping into emotional triggers and cognitive biases, companies might drive people to make purchases that are not in their best interest. This ethical debate highlights the need for careful consideration and regulation to ensure that neuromarketing strategies are used responsibly and do not undermine consumer autonomy. Is this brain manipulation? What do you think about it?