Getting Into the Mind of the Consumer

-Emily, 5/9/13

Former Duke student Jack Stauch and his startup NeuroSpire offers cost-effective brain-scanning technology and analysis to companies looking to predict the effectiveness of their ad campains. A study participant uses a brain-scan headset that is hooked up to NeuroSpire software. The participant is then shown images of the advertisement campaign, and the software records the reaction the participant has. Neurospire takes the data and reports back to the company on the effectiveness of its ad campaign. The process costs around $5000 dollars, a huge difference from the $100,000-$200,000 it would cost with traditional equipment. The only criticism of this method is that although it shows the participant’s reaction to the ad (whether or not she or he will buy it), it does not necessarily mean people will actually commit to buying the item advertised.

To find out more about this breakthrough in Neuromarketing, click here

Marketers Are Urged to Use Big Data Wisely

-Emily, 5/7/13

Big Data can mean a lot of things for a company: they can understand what their customers buy, offer similar items to their customers, and expand their target consumer groups. Unfortunately, misuse of big data has been recently viewed as a bit more creepy than just building consumer loyalty. Consumers are now bombarded through email, search engines, and even on social networking sites of all the stores “they should visit” and the items “they should buy” through companies’ use of big data. People increasingly feel that big data tracking is intrusive, making it less effective as more stray away from clicking these suggested ads. Marketers are instead urged to use big data to understand why a consumer buys what she or he buys, not just what she or he buys, in order to build a better and less intrusive loyalty system.

To learn more about big data, click here