Neuroscientific Research Methods and Techniques in Consumer Research

Abstract

The application of neurophysiological techniques to marketing and consumer research has seen tremendous growth in recent years. To provide a comprehensive overview of neuroscientific methods, the authors first review extant conceptual and empirical studies on neuromarketing and consumer neuroscience, based on these the rationale, features, and applications of neuroscientific techniques are systematically summarized. Next, the authors discuss how neurophysiological methods were applied to the research on customers’ cognition, emotion, and behavioral responses to marketing stimuli, and illustrate how neuromarketing studies extend the knowledge boundary and contribute to marketing theories and practices. The limitations of current neuromarketing tools, studies, and methodology are concluded as well, and future directions are presented accordingly. This paper contributes to the literature by offering a clear research insight into the application of neurophysiological methods. By articulating principles, methods, contributions, and directions of neuromarketing, this paper may benefit the development of neuroscientific tools being a more well-established and commonly used marketing research approach and offers a guide to scholars who are dedicated to consumer neuroscience research.