The application of mobile fNIRS to “shopper neuroscience” – first insights from a merchandising communication study

Abstract

Purpose This study is the first to examine consumer’s neural reaction to different merchandising communication strategies at the point-of-sale (PoS) by applying functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). By doing so, the purpose of this study is to extend consumer neuroscience to retail and shopper research. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted in which 36 shoppers were exposed to a realistic grocery shopping scenario while their brain haemodynamics were measured using mobile fNIRS. Findings Results revealed that mobile fNIRS appears a valid method to study neural activation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in the field of “shopper neuroscience”. More precisely, results demonstrated that the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) might be crucial for processing and predicting merchandising communication strategy effectiveness. Research limitations/implications This research gives evidence that certain regions of the PFC, in particular the OFC and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), are crucial to process and evaluate merchandising communication strategies. Practical implications The current work opens a promising new avenue for studying and understanding shopper’s behaviour. Mobile fNIRS enables marketing management to collect neural data from shoppers and analyse neural activity associated with real-life settings. Furthermore, based on a better understanding of shoppers’ perceptual processes of communication strategies, marketers can design more effective merchandising communication strategies. Originality/value The study is the first to implement the innovative, mobile neuroimaging method of fNIRS to a PoS setting. It, therefore, opens up the promising field of “shopper neuroscience”.

Technological advancements and opportunities in Neuromarketing: a systematic review

“…[35], Gordon et al [59], Krampe et al [60], Hubert et al [25], Çakir et al [24], Holst and Henseler [61], Hsu and Cheng [62], Hoefer et al [27], Chen et al [49], Casado-Aranda et al [50], Wang et al [30], Jain et al [63], Wolfe et al [31], Bosshard et al [32], Fehse et al [33].…”

“…Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is another new brain imaging tool which uses the hemodynamic responses associated with neuronal activities [24,60]. However, fNIRS has a lower spatial resolution than fMRI and cannot look deeper than 4 cm.…”

Beyond Self-Report: A Review of Physiological and Neuroscientific Methods to Investigate Consumer Behavior

“…Indeed, NIRS is small and discreet enough to be incorporated in a hat, and advances in wireless technology mean that real-time transmission of data is already possible from the majority of consumer locations. Using fNIRS, Krampe et al (2018) devised an experimental paradigm where participants viewed first-person video footage of supermarket aisles with and without merchandising communications. The study observed differential activity in the prefrontal cortex, specifically the orbitofrontal cortex and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex when comparing communication strategies, demonstrating the sensitivity of the technology for observing consumer neural activity.…”

The Application of Mobile fNIRS in Marketing Research—Detecting the “First-Choice-Brand” Effect

“…This is also relevant for the data analysis of fNIRS experiments conducted in the field, as it takes significantly more time and effort to analyse the data as the stimuli onsets have to be defined ex post and with the help of another neurophysiological methods such as e.g., eye-tracking. Nevertheless, based on our research work and recent research findings (Krampe et al, 2018a , b ), it should be evident that the advantages of conducting mobile fNIRS experiment may exceed potential disadvantages.…”