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Mimics and Body Language

We express our thoughts and feelings through our facial expressions and body language as well as through speech. Non-verbal expressions are perhaps as important as the verbal expressions we use in interpersonal communication. When we say mimics and body language, we include hand and arm movements and facial expressions. We always give messages to those around us with these actions and expressions. In fact, we express our emotions in a more real way with our facial expressions and body language rather than our words.

Mankind has come to these days thanks to verbal communication. However, body language, which is a supporter of verbal communication, is sometimes a mere reflection of the facts. Body language is mostly instinctive and consists largely of unconscious actions. Body language is the remnant of our primitive reflexes from the earliest times of humanity, when other creatures were perceived as prey or predators. These reflexes have programmed us to approach stimuli that look like prey and to avoid stimuli that look like predators. Therefore, as soon as we meet, we either warm up to someone or not. It is completely normal to have some impressions about people at first sight, to like some people right away, and to dislike others at all. The brain makes sense of these nonverbal expressions in one-fifth of a second. That’s why we often get some impressions of people at first sight.

This is where the power of neuromarketing comes in. The most striking feature of physical and neurologicalresearch is that it can measure the emotional response of individuals to verbal and visual stimuli within the limits of science. Neuroscience research shows that it is highly likely that we cannot voluntarily express our emotions correctly, even if we want to.

One of the great achievements of neuroscience is measuring emotions from facial expressions. The feelings of the person against any stimulus are measured and analyzed by the reflection of the responses from the Autonomic and Central Nervous System with the movements of the facial muscles.Expression of activation of the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula is reflected in facial movements.Expression of the analyzed emotions takes place through the amygdala and hippocampal system, while implicit and explicit emotional memory processes information.Implicit emotional memory is information that a person has recorded in the past and formed like a reflex.Explicit memory, on the other hand, is the experiences and information learned by the person himself.

“A man’s acts speak louder than his words.” – Dale Carnegie

Sometimes the eyes complete the sentences that the lips cannot. – Ahmed H. Müftüoğlu

“The meaning in a person’s voice, eyes and behavior is not less than his words.” – François de La Rochefaucauld

What we say is:“When the person’s body language and words contradict, take the body seriously”.

CONCLUSION: When the other person’s body language and words contradict, take the body seriously.

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REACH OUT FOR THE RIGHT INFORMATION AND CREATE STRATEGY FOR YOUR BRAND

Brand Research is an approach that sees the consumer as an institution! It means:

  • to listen to and measure the consumer, as it is the consumer who makes the final decision.
  • to look for information that sheds light on what and the reasons why the target audience wants something.
  • to reduce the risk in the matters to be decided.

We, as researchers, constantly ask the same question ‘Why is Research Done’ and answer this question on our own. The essence of the question, that is, the fuel of the research, is information and the purpose is to collect the information in the most accurate way possible. The most important thing on which to focus is to get to work with Research Companies and experts who will use the right method and apply it in the most reliable way. Otherwise, the given time and budget will be wasted. The most dangerous consequence is to have false information. From the brand’s perspective, having no information is better than acting on misinformation.

If the purpose of the research is to ‘create customer loyalty’, then ‘reach out for the emotions’!

“A brand that sticks in your mind is deemed to success. A brand that takes a place in your heart is deemed to gain loyalty.” – Scott Talgo, Brand Strategist

Here are the things to do after getting the right information:

  • to analyse the information,
  • to interpret the trends, forecasts, frequency distributions and correlations,
  • to prepare strategies and present them to customers.

Whether traditional methods or neurological and physiological measurements are applied, the purpose of the research is to reach the inner worlds of consumers in order to reveal the role of brand and advertising in the daily life and unconsciousness of consumers.

The vision of research is to ‘measure brand perceptions’.

The main vision of research is to measure brand perceptions and use these perceptions to increase brand values.

“What distinguishes brands is their symbolic value.”– Prof. David A. Aaker, Brand Strategist

What research aims is ‘to gain deep insights’.

  • to analyse the brand and consumer relationship
  • to reveal the positive (+) and negative (-) values ​​of the brand in the eyes of the consumer
  • to turn the negative perceptions into positive
  • to encourage teamwork
  • to provide the right psychological environment
  • to use the research results in the future, based on the status analysis.

What research brings to the brand is ‘to create a strategy’.

Where are we?

  • Determining the brand position in the consumer’s mind:
    • Studies about the expectations and usage habits
    • Studies about brand image and positioning

Where should we be?

  • Determining the marketing targets
  • Identifying the communication targets
  • Identifying the target audience
  • Positioning and identifying the brand

How can we get there?

  • Initiating creative studies
  • Developing marketing and communication strategies

“An approximate answer to the right question (which is often ambiguous) is better than a definitive answer to the wrong question (which is often specific).”– John Tukey, Statistician

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What Does Neuroscience Have To Do With Marketing?

As a result of increasing competition conditions, the need for differentiation, the need to gain new customers and the activities to retain the customers are pushing businesses to consumer-oriented marketing approaches. In the past, the next generation marketing trends were data-driven marketing, guerrilla marketing, integrated marketing, word of mouth, and viral marketing. But today, the important role of the internet in our lives, the deepening, development and digitalization of research methods, the latest technologies developing in the examination of neuroimaging activities, which have an important role in understanding the consumer, demonstrate that new trends have been added to those mentioned above. These are mobile marketing, digital marketing and neuromarketing. It has been realized over time that conventional marketing methods are insufficient in revealing the real thoughts that pass through the minds of the consumers. Thus, the technological methods of reaching deeper thoughts and behavioural patterns of the consumer have begun to be investigated.

Thanks to the development of technology, the process of people’s decision-making process has become measurable only with neuroscience methods, since it is linked to our neurological and biological systems. However, in order to fully explain the decision-making processes of individuals, other scientific fields such as marketing, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and economics should come together as well as neuroscience. It would be even more beneficial for these disciplines to create a chain of concepts that can be explained on a common denominator.

Historical Development of Neuromarketing

Let’s take a brief look at the historical process of neuromarketing. An American railroad worker loses his frontal lobe after an accident, but he survives. This accident, which causes the worker in question to change his character after a while, causes scientists to turn to neuroscience studies (Sal-man &Perker, 2017). First, neuroscientific research was born with the concern to unravel how people make decisions. In 1985, we see that Antonio Damasio formed the basis of neuromarketing. “Is Descartes’ Mistake the Only Truth of Neuromarketing?” Somatic Marker Theory.

Since 1985, neuroscientific research has been carried out in military research centers and universities, especially in the USA. In the 1990s, Gerald Zaltman announced that he used the fMRI device in market research, and in this way the first technological steps of neuromarketing research were taken. Ale Smidts asks: “Can we use the science of neurology, which is used to better understand people and cure their problems, to understand consumers and offer them better solutions”. In this direction, the concept of neuromarketing, which is a combination of neuroscience and marketing, emerges (Ecertaş, 2010).

Patrick Renvoise’s research on sales, marketing and neuroscience forms the basis of the method called “Selling to the Old Brain”. Read Montague, professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine, conducted the first neuromarketing study in 2003 and was published under the name “Neuron” in 2004 (Morin, 2011, p.132).

In 2012, Martin Lindstrom conducted a global neuromarketing study that had never been done before. He collected his research findings in the book “Buyology” and presented it to the market. The book was included in the neuromarketing literature and contributed to the writing and research process of many articles.

CONCLUSION: Having more than one product and service in the market makes it difficult for people to make decisions. Marketing people aim to make their products and services more preferable. With this purpose, they aim to simplify and accelerate the purchasing process. For this reason, companies need to act according to what is in the minds of consumers. The definition of neuromarketing, which has entered our lives for this purpose, is the use of techniques in neuroscience to understand the response of the human brain to marketing stimuli. Its main purpose is to better understand and predict the unconscious behavior of consumers. If the slogan “Neuroscientists and Market Researchers Hand in Hand” is adopted, important success stories can be achieved in many neuromarketing studies.

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THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT EEG

EEG yolculuğu

In order to measure consumer behaviour and brand perceptions of customers; the marketing experts, brand managers, advertisers, and market researchers have recently begin to prefer Neuroscience Research, which pinpoints the underlying emotional and rational factors that influence the brain’s decision-making process. Neuromarketing, which is within the scope of Social Neuroscience, reveals how the brains of people as customers, and ultimately THE PEOPLE AS SHOPPERS work in decision of shopping by feeding on science and marketing.

Currently, one of the most important technologies in the hands of Neuromarketing is Electroencephalogram (EEG). EEG, the electrical activity of the cerebral cortex, allows the measurement of brain activity without causing any pain or damage to the subject. There are 2 different methods specified in the literature for measurements made with EEG. These are:

  • Standard EEG (On-Going)
  • Event-Related Potentials (ERP)

Standard EEG

The results that can be obtained by measuring ongoing brain activity using the standard EEG method, without making any hypothesis or experimental design in order to obtain reliable information about the brain, have a limited efficacy.

Event-Related Potentials (ERP)

It is possible to measure the responses of the brain to these stimuli in a specific manner by repeatedly providing static visual or auditory stimuli derived from EEG that presented within an experimental design, and analysing the EEG signals obtained in a temporal correlation. These measurement techniques are called Event-Related Potentials (ERP) and Event-Related Oscillations (ERO).These methods makes it possible to measure with high accuracy the mental processes of the brain such as attention to specific stimuli, recording in the memory, recalling from the memory, semantic processing, and decision making.

Differences and Superiorities of the Event-Related Potentials (ERP) Method

  • Name: The measurement made with plain EEG without using the ERP method is called the Standard EEG Study.
  • Scientificness: The standard EEG study is only a measurement. However, the ERP method is the most scientific method in the cognitive field.
  • Reliability: The rate of reliability is over 95% in measurements made with ERP.
  • Hypothesising: ERP is a study of hypotheses, in which some hypotheses are created before the study in order to answer the questions asked by the customer about the stimulus to be tested (i.e. brand concept, packaging, logo etc.)
  • Researche: There are many type of research in neuromarketing. Studies such as “Concept Test”, “Image Research”, “Brand Creation and Development”, “Animatic or Storyboard Pre-Tests” can be carried out with ERP.
  • Methodology: The methods of standard EEG and ERP study are completely different from one another. Please contact NeuroMark for more information.
  • Memorability and Semantic Correspondance: In the Event-Related Potentials methodology, the scores of ‘Semantic Correspondance’ and ‘Memorability’ are determined in addition to the ‘Attention’, ‘Mental Effort’ and Positive and Negative Emotion Level’ in the Standard EEG. Semantic Correspodance brings forward the real association between the attributes/qualities that are thought to be associated with the brand.

IN CONCLUSION:This measurement methodology is the mainstay of the great success of Cognitive Neuroscience in the last 20 years, which we can only ask to the brain specific questions about cognition with ERP. Only Neuro-Mark applies this very efficacious and advanced methodology in Turkey.

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Turkish Coffee – Always Here, Always With Us

türk kahvesi

Grown and consumed for more than 600 years in Anatolia, the Turkish coffee is a very special flavour in our lives. It is a traditional beverage, to which perhaps the utmost meaning, the utmost affection and the outmost stories are attributed. We have revisited the Turkish coffee during the snow holiday last week, and now let’s remember it with all its root and its deep down meaning and the stories it creates in our brain, and most importantly, let’s enjoy this short passage about it…

No matter how much we point out the physical properties of coffee, such as its stimulating and energizing effects, the coffee also has an incontrovertible sentimental effect. Drinking coffee forges a daily ritual for us, representing the ‘special moment’ that we spare for ourselves during the rush of the day. The coffee is a ‘magical potion’ that creates an atmosphere of ‘pleasure’ and adds intimacy to the shared moment among people. The coffee, with its unique fragrance, is easily distinguished from other beverages, strengthening the relationship that people establish with it.

Turkish coffee is a quick ‘getaway’ in the day – a ‘Freedom’

A teensy ‘getaway or break’ takes us out of our daily routine, relaxing and comforting us. While it provides comfort and relaxation, it also makes us feel ‘free’. Therefore, coffee is always associated with moments and places of pleasure.

Turkish coffee is an ‘excuse’ to make time for ourselves… a ‘Reward’

Turkish coffee is actually an ‘excuse’ to make us feel happy and free. Coffee is a way of rewarding, of gratifying that we grant for various excuses. It is the ability to pamper ourselves, even for a short time in life, a way to say “Well done to me!” after the work we have just finished. Women have a slightly more tendency to reward themselves with Turkish coffee.

A perfect excuse for ‘Chitchat’

Turkish coffee is mostly associated with ‘chitchat’ and ‘being together with friends’. Chatting and Turkish coffee are inseparable. When we want to have a chat with a friend, neighbor or a loved one, we habitually say “let’s have coffee” or “let’s go for a cup of coffee”.

Turkish coffee is served in small coffee cups, and can be drunk in a short time, which is adept for the whirlwind of metropolitan life that allow for small talks only. Turkish coffee is the indispensable accompaniment when it comes to having a chat with colleagues in break times, with neighbours in the morning, with loved ones in the evening.

Turkish coffee is a ‘special’ drink, a means of ‘Sharing’ with the most intimate friends

Turkish coffee means friendship and intimacy. It is a representation of ‘sharing’. Since it is a special drink, we do not drink it with just anyone, but with the closest of friends, or with neighbours. Turkish coffee contains ‘elitism’ at its core. Even when it makes us tranquil if we drink it alone, the pleasure reaches the peak if we drink it together with friends.

Friendship and Intimacy comes together in coffee

Inviting friends over for a cup of coffee is due to the need to have a friendly conversation or to be engaged in small talk. In this sense, it is the indispensable drink of short meetings and ‘gossip’ among best of friends.

Turkish coffee represents a Tradition and a Culture

Turkish coffee is not an ordinary beverage. Coffee represents a ‘culture’. Having a profound effect on the lifestyle in Turkey, Turkish coffee plays a central role as a sign of hospitality and friendship.

The role of Turkish coffee is indisputable, especially when entertaining guests, asking a girl’s hand in marriage, and visiting relatives in feasts. Turkish coffee represents a ‘ceremony’ on these occasions.

Neither believe in, nor be deprived of ‘Fortune Telling’

Seeing the fortune from the coffee grounds or having your fortune read is an important ritual of Turkish coffee culture. Man or woman, young or old, coffee fortune-telling is identified with Turkish coffee. When we drink Turkish coffee from the coffee cup, we close the cup directly over the saucer. We do it automatically even when we do not want fortune telling from the coffee grounds.

Coffee = ‘Pleasure, Peace, Relaxation, Sharing, Freedom’

Special Note: We would like to thank Dr Nihal Bursa for granting us with the permission to publish some parts of our research prepared for her called “TURKISH COFFEE PERCEPTION and CUP CULTURE” in this article.

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Power of Neuroscience and Neuromarketing

neuroscience and neuromarketing

Throughout human history, countless disciplines have tried to unravel the mystery of human behaviour by using conventional and experimental methodologies. Though, these methods have always been insufficient and inefficacious to correctly interpret the human behaviour, which has a direct link to the working of the brain.

Thanks to the recent advances in science, we can make the best use of brain imaging methodologies to understand the functionality of human brain. This evidence-based research discipline that tackles with the usual and unusual biological responses of the human brain is called “Neuroscience”.

Neuroscience (Brain Research) has developed at an increasing pace within the recent years, and has shed light on the complex mental and emotional processes of human brain. In this context, Electroencephalogram (EEG, brain electrical activity) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, brain blood circulation) methods have become the most important scientific tools in neuromarketing and enabled us to measure the brain activity without causing any pain or damage to the subject.

In the last 20 years, thousands of studies have been conducted in normal healthy individuals with both methods, and these studies have created a significant know-how and an accumulation of knowledge on the biological mechanisms that lie behind the attention, perception, learning, emotional arousal and decision-making processes (cognition) of the brain. Neuromarketing is one of the developing application areas of this know-how.

Regarded as the new generation method in today’s marketing world, ‘Neuromarketing’ is the neurological and physiological study that focuses on the subconscious responses of the mind towards various stimuli. In our day, we know by evidence that the subconscious is very effective in decision-making processes of consumers. By utilising this method, we can scientifically measure the subconscious perceptions, tastes, preferences, reactions, and purchasing tendencies of consumers.

By shedding light to darker corners of consumer attitude and behaviour, Neuromarketing provides the opportunity to look at the consumer world from a broad perspective, which constitutes its primary advantage. Technologies such as EEG, Mobile EEG, Eye Tracking, Face-Emotion Matching System and Galvanic Skin Response and Resistance are used for measurements in neuromarketing. The main point that should not be forgotten in the use of the data provided by neuroscience in applied fields such as neuromarketing is that the measurements be carried out with the discipline and precision of scientific research.As we always point out, all these methods should be carried out by neuroscientists. Each study should be modelled as boutique, so that the reliability rate will be 95% and more. The results should be analysed for statistical significance. The studies should be supported by qualitative research to enrich neuromarketing findings. Additionally, these measurements should be fast, practical, up-to-date and accurate. When all these are realised, a neuromarketing study will enlighten the so far obscure consumer attitudes and behaviours, and will show the sides so-far invisible, and will lead marketing strategies with a scientific, holistic and result-oriented perspective.

It would not do just to restrict the neuromarketing studies with sectoral basis.Until recently, only results obtained from conventional research methods were being used to attribute meaning to the popularity of any product used in the promotion and in other research. However, it is quite clear that examining the popularity in this way should always be based on behavioural factors, in other words, it is subjective. Today, we know for sure that there is a need for systematics other than conventional methods in order to reach an objective measurementof a product.

How is neuromarketing perceived in Turkey?

“An elephant comesin the middle of some people who have never seen an elephant in their lives. Some would grab it by the ear and say “this is a bat”, some would grab it by the nose and say “this is a snake”…

Sadly, this phrase reflects the perception of neuromarketing in Turkey. In order to create a difference and attraction, the companies put forward some unscientific definitions and studies that are carried out without adequate measurements/applications in the field of neuroscience, without bothering to learn the essentials.

Neuroscientists and Market Researchers Hand in Hand…

The reality behind the success of neuromarketing and many other disciplines with the prefix “neuro-” is the continuous cooperation between neuroscientists and market researchers without violating the professional boundaries.

In the literature, countless neuromarketing studies, carried out with a cooperation of academic sector and private sector, have resulted with significant success.

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Just Smile…

gülümseme

A famous author and comedian Gülse Birsel famously says “What we call ‘brain’ is in fact a 1.5 kilo of fat and water. Do not take it that seriously. When you laugh, your brain is easily fooled and thinks that everything is in order and naively secretes serotonin. Therefore, smile whenever you can! At the very least, people will believe you are doing great.”

Laughing and smiling are among the fundamental gestures of mankind. Laughing is such a multi-dimensional action that not only physiologists, neurologists, psychologists, sociologists and philosophers are interested in it, but also the authors and artists dabble with it to a great extent.  People may laugh out of happiness, anger, boredom, or just to look sympathetic to others. Whatever the reason is, laughter has a tremendous positive affects to the body and soul.

In this article, we examine the act of smiling at a neuroscientific point of view. There are 2 different types of smiling in the human anatomy, which are the conscious social smile and the real smile.

Conscious social smile involves conscious activation of the labial muscles at the side of the mouth.When we smile, the large labial muscles contract and the lips tighten.The most obvious distinction of a genuine happy smile and a conscious social smile is revealed by the muscle surrounding the eyelid, which is called the orbicularis oculi.This muscle’s primary function is to close the eyelid and it is not activated in the conscious social smile. In social smile, signals are sent from the frontal area of ​​the brain to the motor and premotor areas.Various scientific studies show that even this kind of smile triggers a slight sense of happiness. In other words, even a conscious social smile measures, albeit small, a real sense of happiness.

The description of a real smile has been made by the French neurologist Guillarne Duchenne for the first time.Emotions are transmitted to the facial muscles through the activation of the autonomic nervous system and the deep brain structures, such as the Amygdala, Orbitofrontal Cortex, Anterior Cingulate Cortex and Insula, and are reflected in the face via the movements of facial muscles. In a real smile, the facial muscles cause the lower part of the eyelids to swell and the corners of the eyes to wrinkle, revealing the characteristic lines.The unintentional function of these muscles makes a true heartwarming smile impossible to be produced on conscious demand. In an intimate smile, signals originating from deep brain structures, such as the Amygdala, are conveyed to the motor cortex.A real smile, which includes the movement of both the labial and the ocular muscles, is usually a reflection of a happiness.

Famous Quotes on Laughter and Smile:

“Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.” – Victor Hugo

“One shall not forget the fact that a woman never smiles only with her mouth, but also with her eyes. If her eyes twinkle with joy, a woman is happy.”– Cemal Süreya

“The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter. Because the real enemies we face are pain and sorrow, not each other.” – Mark Twain

“Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” – Mark Twain

“The best feeling in the world is to know that you are the reason of one true smile.” – Ayşe Kulin

“Laughter is the tonic, the relief, the surcease from pain!” – Charlie Chaplin

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Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuromarketing

neuromarketing

Neuroscience (Brain Studies) has developed at an incremental pace in recent years. This filed of science sheds light on the complex mental and emotional processes of the brain.In the last 20 years, thousands of studies conducted in normal healthy individuals have created an important know how about the biological mechanisms underlying the attention, perception, learning, emotional arousal and decision-making processes (cognition) of the brain.Neuroeconomics and neuromarketing are examples to the areas among which the application areas of know how develop.

Neuromarketing is a brain-based research method that uses techniques in neuroscience to understand the human brain’s response to the presented stimuli. Its main purpose is to better understand and predict the unconscious behaviour of consumers.

In the field of Neuromarketing, Event-Related Potentials realized with Electroencephalogram (EEG, cerebral electrical activity) and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI, cerebral circulation), and online, individualised mood measurements and eye movement tracking methods have significant advantages over conventional research methods.People’s explicit discourses do not provide results with sufficient reliability due to differences in the capacity of individuals in expressing their mental processes. However, neuroscientific measurements are unaffected by such external impacts.Studies with high validity and reliability can be designed.When it comes to big conceptual steps such as developing a new marketing strategy, they provide highly reliable data that are thoroughly tested.Therefore, they offer a new scientific framework for understanding consumer behaviour and the causes behind it.

Indispensable Elements of a Correct Neuromarketing Study

  • Measurements should be carried out with the seriousness and discipline of science.
  • Neuromarketing studies should be carried out by neuroscientists and an experienced qualitative team.
  • Every study should be unique.
  • The study should be conducted based on hypotheses.
  • A special research design should be prepared for each study.
  • Artificial intelligence should not be used in the studies, and the project should be carried out with real participants.
  • In EEG measurements, devices with high medical standards should be used. Devices that measure EEG signals with inexpensive circuits and that can be easily used by any user should not be used.
  • Methods must have a 95% and higher reliability rate.
  • The findings should not be open to estimation and interpretation. Findings should be presented with statistical significance within the limits of scientific precision.