Neuromarketing in India : Understanding the Indian Consumer

This book analyses consumer behaviour through an understanding of neuroscience that assumes human behavior to have a neural basis. Both conscious & unconscious processing of stimulus in the brain is responsible for generating behaviour. It argues that a deeper understanding of this process could help in prediction of consumer behaviour. The use of neuroscientific techniques to understand the mind of the consumer is trending & professionals in the field see a huge opportunity for neuro-marketing in India. The book also discusses issues related to ethicality of using such techniques to promote marketing, risk analysis in case of failure and future directions in neuromarketing.

How to understand human behaviour has been a very intriguing question to medicine, computer science, economics, psychology and finance. Each discipline has been trying to study and predict human behaviour through surveys, laboratory-based experiments, questionnaires, interviews, statistics, focus groups; the list is endless. The lack of precision in the existing techniques to predict human behaviour has motivated researchers to move beyond the traditional and search for new and improved techniques. Neuroscience has stepped in to fill this gap. It is based on the assumption that human behaviour is a complex process which has a neural basis and the locus of this process is the higher centre of the brain. Both conscious and unconscious processing of stimulus in the brain is responsible for generating behaviour. So if we could develop a deeper understanding of how the brain functions to generate behaviour, we would be more confident in our understanding and prediction of consumer behaviour. The use of neuroscientific techniques, like functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI), Electroencephalography (EEG), Evoked Response Potential (ERP), and sensors to measure changes in one''s physiological state, to understand the mind of the consumer has just begun, and professionals in the field see a huge opportunity for neuromarketing in India.

In the domain of neuromarketing, one important question relates to the distinction between Indian and other global consumers of commercial products. Are we different from consumers across the globe? The answer is probably ‘yes’. This is documented by the fact that we find a distinct change in the marketing strategy of companies; the methods to influence Indian consumers are different from those adopted in other countries. This gives rise to the question: what makes us different? The next logical question that arises, assuming that we are different or similar, is can we quantify it? Answering why, what and how we are different marks the beginning of the book, followed by issues related to the ethicality of using such techniques to promote marketing, risk analysis in case of failure and future directions in neuromarketing.

The book intends to address each of these issues so that a comprehensive reading in the subject matter would help academicians to decipher consumer behaviour and build theory for possible principles of application in the market.