Neuromarketing: What Does Our Own Brain Tell Us?

On Wednesday, November 25, 2015, the 3rd Alumni Afterwork meeting was held organized by the specialist postgraduate study Marketing Management at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb.

As part of the Alumni Afterwork meetings for marketing professionals, lectures by eminent marketing managers, workshops for study participants, and presentations on specific areas and new  marketing trends are organized. The goal of the gathering initiative is to inspire former and current students, educate them about news in the profession, and enable better networking with colleagues.

So far, two successful Alumni Afterwork meetings have been held. They featured Mr. Scott Neuman, Marketing Director of IBM for Central and Eastern Europe, and two top managers from Croatian business practice, Mr. Željko Kukurin, then CEO of Istraturist d.d., now CEO of Valamar Riviera d.d., and Mr. Tomislav Popović, CEO of Maistra d.d.. 

The third Alumni Afterwork was dedicated to a very attractive topic of consumer neuroscience, which is increasingly being discussed, but most marketing professionals are still not well acquainted with this area. The lecture titled „Neuromarketing: What Does Our Own Brain Tell Us?“ was delivered by Prof. Dr. Đurđana Ozretić Došen, full professor at the Department of Marketing at the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb and head of the postgraduate study Marketing Management. The lecture covered current issues such as:

– What are consumer neuroscience and neuromarketing?
– How are neuroscience methods used in marketing?
– What are the results of previous research conducted in the areas of brand building in consumer awareness, advertising, product and packaging design, consumer price perception and risk, consumer trust, etc.?

Critiques directed at neuromarketing as well as financial, ethical, and legal limitations faced by its application were also highlighted. Caution was particularly emphasized in the popularization of neuromarketing in non-scientific circles due to frequent misunderstandings of its meaning and the creation of animosity (e.g., “digging into the brain”, “brandwashing”). The need for education of professionals from various profiles for conducting research and the need for education in the field of neuromarketing at the academic level were emphasized. With her presentation, Prof. Dr. Ozretić Došen sparked an interesting discussion and numerous questions from the audience.