Book Review: Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer by Leon Zurawicki
I’m constantly asked the question, “where can I study neuromarketing?” by those looking for an undergraduate or graduate degree that will enable them to find a neuromarketing job after graduation. It’s fair to say that academia hasn’t fully embraced neuromarketing as a field of study, but when that happens Leon Zurawicki’s Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer will likely be the textbook. Zurawicki’s book explores the field in a thoughtful, well-researched, and well-documented manner.
Zurawicki is well-qualified to write an academic tome such as this one. He is a professor in the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Massachusetts-Boston and teaches an MBA course titled Brain of the Consumer. As you might expect from the author’s pedigree, the publisher (Springer, an academic-oriented firm), and the book’s hefty price tag (in the $100+ range in the U.S.), Zurawicki’s title is aimed squarely at the textbook market. As such, it isn’t a casual read for the CMO or business owner trying to get up to speed about neuromarketing.
Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer starts with a chapter on basic brain physiology and neuroscience. This underpins the discussions which follow, beginning with “Consumption as Feelings” in the second chapter. Here, Zurawicki discusses how our brains react to rewards, seek comfort food, perceive beauty, and develop moods.
From there, Zurawicki delves into decision science and how we handle risks and develop preferences. In this chapter, he spends a short time discussing brands and our brain, and even gets into the issue of “love” and brands. (Remember the outcry when Martin Lindstrom opined that we really “love” our iPhones?)
Zurawicki spends quite a bit of time on the interesting topic of “neurosegmentation” – dividing customers into groups based on emotions, personality, and cognitive factors rather than traditional demographic metrics. The final chapter covers applying neuroscience and biometrics to the optimization of ads and products. Here, Zurawicki covers everything from ads in video games to EEG and eye-tracking analysis of ads.
The most valuable feature of Neuromarketing, and the reason every serious neuromarketer needs Zurawicki’s book, is the extensive bibliography. As befits an academic work, every statement of fact in the text includes a citation, and the bibliography runs twenty-eight pages in small type. For anyone digging into a neuromarketing-related topic, Zurawicki provides the resources to explore in depth.
Amazon Link: Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer
Kindle Version: Neuromarketing: Exploring the Brain of the Consumer
