Brain activity is measured by EEG by detecting and amplifying weak electrical impulses continuously released by the brain and called brainwaves. Our brain uses these electrical impulses to coordinate activity across many anatomical regions and to interact with one another. Brainwave activity variations are markers of shifts in cognitive processing. Compared to other measurement technologies used in neuromarketing, modern EEG equipment has a higher temporal resolution by taking a snapshot of brainwave activity every 1-3 thousandth of a second. Voltage variations or electrical potentials are produced throughout the scalp when tens of thousands of neurons fire simultaneously. In neuroscience research, three primary EEG measurement methods are frequently employed: event-related potential analysis, hemisphere asymmetry analysis (a frequency analysis application), and brainwave frequency analysis. While only one of these is primarily the focus of neuromarketing today, the others provide enormous promise for investigating customer responses as well. They each highlight a distinct feature of the EEG signal and have advantages and disadvantages when it comes to using them as a measurement method to address neuromarketingrelated inquiries.
Frontal Hemisphere Asymmetry
Neuromarketers use frontal hemisphere asymmetry as a proxy for approach-avoidance behaviour towards brands and products. It has been discovered that frontal asymmetries represent quick, subconscious motivating reactions to marketing stimuli such as television commercials, product names, and physical goods. According to some studies, variations in frontal asymmetries that happen as soon as 200 milliseconds after being exposed to a marketing stimulus may be better at predicting a consumer's subsequent choice and behaviour than the consumer's own expressions of their preferences or wants.
Brainwave Frequency Analysis
In market research, brainwave frequency analysis has a long history dating back to the 1970s. More recent research has discovered interesting relationships between beta-band power and product preferences and gamma-band power and marketplace success. Earlier attempts to correlate responses to marketing stimuli with overall power in different frequency bands lacked clarity. Sophisticated statistical methods have been used more recently to analyse brain coherence patterns and summarise power; these methods have started to produce intriguing predictions of consumer behaviour at both the individual and market performance levels. Examining "intersubject synchrony" of brainwave activity while watching entertainment or commercial items has proven to be one useful application. This statistic has been shown in recent research to be predictive of both instant engagement and eventual performance in the marketplace.
Event-Related Potentials (ERP)
In neuromarketing research, event-related potentials (ERPs) have been applied sporadically. Although they are more difficult to explain to nonscientists, some have theorised that this is because they are harder to study and necessitate greater data gathering, more exact experimental designs, and more advanced analytical techniques in order to draw conclusions. Despite these obstacles, ERP studies have a great deal of potential for neuromarketing. For instance, the N200 component has been used to forecast product purchase preferences, while the P300 ERP component has been used to evaluate brand associations, such as whether a new brand extension aligns with current brand expectations.
