Evaluation of Consumers’ Preference to the Brands of Beverage by Means of ERP Pre-comprehension Component

Abstract

Because of the critical role of emotional and unconscious processes in consumers’ decision making, understanding the human brain and neural performance scope varied to better understanding the behavior and predict the consumers’ decisions. In this regard, the combination of interdisciplinary studies in the fields of cognitive science has led to the creation of neuromarketing. Neuromarketing is a field of marketing research that studies consumers' sensorimotor, cognitive, and affective response to marketing stimuli. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of N1 component of Event-Related Potential (ERP) in measuring consumers’ preferences in the face of the brand beverages. Methods: 26 subjects in the age range of 18 to 26 years old (13 males, mean age = 24.40, SD = 1.34 and 13 females, mean age = 22.60, SD = 2.87) were examined, for equalizing of subjects’ context and increasing their attention, a short story was told to choose a drink. The designed task was displayed and simultaneously the event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded. The results of the ERP data were evaluated by statistical analysis of repeated measurement ANOVA to check individual brand preferences to the products, in 2 categories (familiar – unfamiliar). Results: A large significant difference has been seen in N1 component amplitude in occipital lobe for familiar logos than unfamiliar ones which refers to a pre-comprehension brain activity. Conclusion: changes for N1 in occipital lobes showed significant larger amplitude especially in right site of brain that it can be considered as an effective factor in predicting the preference of consumers. Keywordsneuromarketing; event related potentials (ERP); preference; prediction; n1 component; pre-comprehension brain activity