Branding the brain: A critical review and outlook
Hilke Plassmann a,⁎, Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy b, c, Milica Milosavljevic d
a INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, 77305 Fontainebleau, France, and Decision Neuroscience Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, INSERM, Ecole Normale
Supérieure, Paris, France
b Decision Neuroscience Research Group, Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
c Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
d Division of Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Received 2 February 2011; received in revised form 28 November 2011; accepted 30 November 2011
Abstract
The application of neuroscience to marketing, and in particular to the consumer psychology of brands, has gained popularity over the past decade in
the academic and the corporate world. In this paper, we provide an overview of the current and previous research in this area and explain why researchers
and practitioners alike are excited about applying neuroscience to the consumer psychology of brands. We identify critical issues of past research and
discuss how to address these issues in future research.We conclude with our vision of the future potential of research at the intersection of neuroscience
and consumer psychology.
© 2011 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Consumer neuroscience; Neuromarketing; Branding; Attention; Memory; Value
Introduction
The application of neuroscience to consumer psychology, and
in particular to branding, has gained popularity over the past decade
in academic research and business practice: in the last decade
the number of publications in top marketing journals and Google
references around this topic has grown exponentially and the
same holds for the number of neuromarketing companies founded
(see Fig. 1).
The birth of the field of consumer neuroscience has generated
wide-ranging, ongoing debates of whether this hybrid field benefits
its parent disciplines (consumer psychology and neuroscience)
and, within them, what forms these benefits might take
(Ariely & Berns, 2010; Kenning & Plassmann, 2008; Lee,
Broderick, & Chamberlain, 2007; Plassmann, Ambler,
Braeutigam, & Kenning, 2007). The goal of consumer neuroscience
is to adapt methods and theories from neuroscience—
combined with behavioral theories, models, and tested experimental
designs from consumer psychology and related disciplines
such as behavioral decision sciences—to develop a
neuropsychologically sound theory to understand consumer
behavior.
To appreciate the value of combining neuroscience with consumer
psychology, it is important to understand the broad range
of insights available from neuroscience. Neuroscience is the
study of the nervous system that seeks to understand the biological
basis of behavior. This range of insights is too broad for the
study of consumer psychology, which is why in the following
paragraphs we briefly clarify which areas within neuroscience
are the most relevant for consumer neuroscience.
Neuroscience research ranges from studying single cells (cellular
neuroscience) to studying how different brain areas or complex
brain systems, such as the visual system, interact (systems
neuroscience). Because of the complexity of consumer behavior,
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hilke.plassmann@insead.edu (H. Plassmann), tzr.marktg@cbs.dk (T.Z. Ramsøy), mmilosav@hss.caltech.edu (M. Milosavljevic).
URL: http://www.decisionneuroscience.net (H. Plassmann).
1057-7408/$ -see front matter © 2011 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.010
Please cite this article as: Plassmann, H., et al., Branding the brain: A critical review and outlook, Journal of Consumer Psychology (2012), doi:10.1016/
j.jcps.2011.11.010
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Journal of Consumer Psychology xx (2012) xxx–xxx
JCPS-00264; No. of pages: 19; 4C:
Journal of
CONSUMER
PSYCHOLOGY
Hilke Plassmann a,⁎, Thomas Zoëga Ramsøy b, c, Milica Milosavljevic d
a INSEAD, Boulevard de Constance, 77305 Fontainebleau, France, and Decision Neuroscience Group, Cognitive Neuroscience Unit, INSERM, Ecole Normale
Supérieure, Paris, France
b Decision Neuroscience Research Group, Department of Marketing, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark
c Danish Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Copenhagen University Hospital Hvidovre, Hvidovre, Denmark
d Division of Computation and Neural Systems, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA
Received 2 February 2011; received in revised form 28 November 2011; accepted 30 November 2011
Abstract
The application of neuroscience to marketing, and in particular to the consumer psychology of brands, has gained popularity over the past decade in
the academic and the corporate world. In this paper, we provide an overview of the current and previous research in this area and explain why researchers
and practitioners alike are excited about applying neuroscience to the consumer psychology of brands. We identify critical issues of past research and
discuss how to address these issues in future research.We conclude with our vision of the future potential of research at the intersection of neuroscience
and consumer psychology.
© 2011 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Consumer neuroscience; Neuromarketing; Branding; Attention; Memory; Value
Introduction
The application of neuroscience to consumer psychology, and
in particular to branding, has gained popularity over the past decade
in academic research and business practice: in the last decade
the number of publications in top marketing journals and Google
references around this topic has grown exponentially and the
same holds for the number of neuromarketing companies founded
(see Fig. 1).
The birth of the field of consumer neuroscience has generated
wide-ranging, ongoing debates of whether this hybrid field benefits
its parent disciplines (consumer psychology and neuroscience)
and, within them, what forms these benefits might take
(Ariely & Berns, 2010; Kenning & Plassmann, 2008; Lee,
Broderick, & Chamberlain, 2007; Plassmann, Ambler,
Braeutigam, & Kenning, 2007). The goal of consumer neuroscience
is to adapt methods and theories from neuroscience—
combined with behavioral theories, models, and tested experimental
designs from consumer psychology and related disciplines
such as behavioral decision sciences—to develop a
neuropsychologically sound theory to understand consumer
behavior.
To appreciate the value of combining neuroscience with consumer
psychology, it is important to understand the broad range
of insights available from neuroscience. Neuroscience is the
study of the nervous system that seeks to understand the biological
basis of behavior. This range of insights is too broad for the
study of consumer psychology, which is why in the following
paragraphs we briefly clarify which areas within neuroscience
are the most relevant for consumer neuroscience.
Neuroscience research ranges from studying single cells (cellular
neuroscience) to studying how different brain areas or complex
brain systems, such as the visual system, interact (systems
neuroscience). Because of the complexity of consumer behavior,
⁎ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: hilke.plassmann@insead.edu (H. Plassmann), tzr.marktg@cbs.dk (T.Z. Ramsøy), mmilosav@hss.caltech.edu (M. Milosavljevic).
URL: http://www.decisionneuroscience.net (H. Plassmann).
1057-7408/$ -see front matter © 2011 Society for Consumer Psychology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.010
Please cite this article as: Plassmann, H., et al., Branding the brain: A critical review and outlook, Journal of Consumer Psychology (2012), doi:10.1016/
j.jcps.2011.11.010
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
Journal of Consumer Psychology xx (2012) xxx–xxx
JCPS-00264; No. of pages: 19; 4C:
Journal of
CONSUMER
PSYCHOLOGY
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