Measuring dlPFC Signals to Predict the Success of Merchandising Elements at the Point-of-Sale - A fNIRS Approach.

Nadine R. Gier,Caspar Krampe,Enrique Strelow

doi:10.3389/fnins.2020.575494

Abstract

The (re-)launch of products is frequently accompanied by point-of-sale (PoS) marketing campaigns in order to foster sales. Predicting the success of these merchandising elements at the PoS on sales is of interest to research and practice, as the misinvestments that are based on the fragmented PoS literature are tremendous. Likewise, the predictive power of neuropsychological methods has been demonstrated in various research work. Nevertheless, the practical application of these neuropsychological methods is still limited. In order to foster the application of neuropsychological methods in research and practice, the current research work aims to explore, whether mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) – as a portable neuroimaging method – has the potential to predict the success of PoS merchandising elements by rendering significant neural signatures of brain regions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), highlighting its potential to forecast shoppers’ behaviour aka sales at the PoS. Building on previous research findings, the results of the given research work indicate that the neural signal of brain regions of the dlPFC, measured with mobile fNIRS, is able to predict actual sales associated with PoS merchandising elements, relying on the cortical relief effect. More precisely, the research findings support the hypothesis that the reduced neural activity of brain regions associated with the dlPFC can predict sales at the PoS, emphasising another crucial neural signature to predict shoppers’ purchase behaviour, next to the frequently cited reward association system. The research findings offer an innovative perspective on how to design and evaluate PoS merchandising elements, indicating fruitful theoretical and practical implications.

Highlights

Thelaunch of products is frequently accompanied by point-of-sale (PoS) marketing campaigns, given that effective PoS merchandising elements have been shown to significantly increase sales of advertised products (Sinha and Verma, 2017)
Supporting the hypothesis, the results suggest that the neural sales prediction values of brain regions of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC) calculated from the merchandising contrasts (Figure 5) are able to predict the actual sales associated with PoS merchandising elements
The current research work aims to explore the predictive power of brain regions ascribed to the dlPFC to forecast the success of PoS merchandising elements, thereby validating mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) – as a portable applicable neuropsychological method – and opening up its potential application in realistic shopping environments, such as at the PoS

Summary

Introduction

The (re-)launch of products is frequently accompanied by point-of-sale (PoS) marketing campaigns, given that effective PoS merchandising elements have been shown to significantly increase sales of advertised products (Sinha and Verma, 2017). The efficient and effective prediction of the success of PoS marketing campaigns on market level is of great interest for research and practice, given that it might provide a holistic picture of the marketing activities at the PoS that may reduce misinvestments. It is, not surprising that retailers and producers, who launch and promote a myriad of new product variations every year, try to implement marketing campaigns that have been effectively tested before

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Conclusion