Neuroscience in market research is growing, and while it is still an uncommon methodology for most, it is moving into the realm of standard methodologies.

The premise is simple enough – people don’t always reveal what’s driving their decision making, and more importantly, people don’t always even know what is driving their decisions.  Since people either don’t want to or simply can’t communicate what’s driving their actions, we need to look and see what their brain is saying.

Recently, several us read Buyology as part of our firm’s book club.  After reading this book, it is easy to get excited about the technology and benefits it could provide (especially when presented in an oversimplified manner).

The technology does hold promise; however, it isn’t yet the magic bullet in market research.  The ARF’s NeuroStandards Collaboration Project is working to shed light on what is and what isn’t working in the field.  As the article reports, these technologies are raising as many questions as they’re answering.  The biggest challenge?  Figuring out what it is actually measuring and being able to pinpoint what is causing the reaction.

Neuroscience is quickly earning a place in the researcher’s toolbox, but no research tool is without its faults.  We must understand the limitations of our methods for us to get the most out of them.