Neuroscience in branding: A functional magnetic resonance imaging study on brands’ implicit and explicit impressions

Abstract

Although the use of neuroscientific knowledge to investigate marketing issues has been widely discussed, to date, few empirical studies have been published. This study is a first approach in the development of a theory of the perception of brands, which is based on neuroscience. In a Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging experiment, we stimulated participants with commercial brands’ logos, with and without explicit instructions on how to assess them, in an attempt to capture the real-life experience of evaluating brands. We found common activations in both situations in the medial frontal pole, the paracingulate gyrus, the frontal orbital cortex, the frontal medial cortex, and in the hippocampus. In a general scheme of brands’ perception, we hypothesised a relationship between Theory of Mind and meta-representations, in particular self-reflexive ones: ‘I think about what others are thinking about me’. We suggest that brands have an important social dimension. Brands may function like a social currency, which every individual uses to assess others, and which others are expected to use in their assessments of the individual. Brands are most probably social tools.