Market research is all in your head: MRI machines and mediaThe podcast |
Deloitte global podcasts
Market research is all in your head
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The advertising industry will have brains on the brain in 2012 as the use of functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging - fMRI - machines grows in influence. Similar to larger, more expensive, MRI machines used in the medical sector, fMRI analysic can show that activity in certain regions of the brain correlates with specific emotions and types of thinking. The controversial technique, known as neuromarketing, has already started to gain traction with food companies altering their packaging and even the flavor of their products as a result of this technique. The method has also been used to determine that people who are very active on social networks have more well-developed brain regions associated with sociability. It appears likely that fMRI will become a key tool for advertisers in 2012 but it is likely to work best as part of a package alongside more traditional marketing techniques. Companies are well advised to explore this new window on the human brain but also to remember that it may be a pretty foggy window.
Podcast highlights:
- What is the difference between functional MRIs and traditional MRIs?
- How reliable is the technology?
- How seriously are advertisers taking the technology?
Guest:
Duncan Stewart, Director of Deloitte Canada Research and co-author of TMT Predictions
Host:
Holly Seguine, Senior Manager, Online Communications, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited
Related Content:
TMT Predictions 2012
Explore all the predictions.
