The development and formation of the cognitive marketing notion are considered in the article. The emergence of cognitive marketing implies the development of a new approach to influencing consumer behavior, namely the formation of consumer consciousness, the creation of a consumption style, which in the future will determine the demand for new products. After the first cognitive revolution, which gave impetus to a more thorough study of these processes, much attention was paid to the study of cognitive psychology, which examines various mental processes, such as sensation and perception, pattern recognition, attention, learning, memory, concept formation, thinking, language, emotions and developmental processes. The essence of cognitive psychology is investigated and works of scientists-psychologists, which explain the essence of the cognitive approach in marketing are analyzed. Scientists who laid the foundations for the development of cognitive psychology are Jean Piaget, Jerome Bruner, Leo Vygotsky, Ulrich Neisser, Robert Solso. Also, the notion of behavioral economics, which combines investigations in the field of psychology and economy, and also generates the basis for cognitive marketing is considered. The article analyzes the works of Leon Festinger, Herbert Simon, Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky. All human decisions are almost always based on subjective imagination, depending on values, problem formulation, experience, habits and other personal characteristics. In many cases, people are not inclined to act in accordance with the requirements of neoclassical economics and often show a tendency to a completely irrational behavior. Also, different approaches to the essence of cognitive marketing formulation are analyzed and generalized. Cognitive marketing is an interdisciplinary field that combines cognitive psychology, behavioral economics, classical marketing, which with this synergy allows better understand consumer behavior and expands the tools of research and influence of traditional marketing, to help build effective marketing strategies for product positioning and promotion. Cognitive marketing aims to create new, previously unaware consumer needs for a particular product and creates a new desired style and standard of living, seeked by the consumers of this product.