THE FUTURE OF COSMETICS ADVERTISEMENT STRATEGY: A NEUROMARKETING STUDY USING ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY (EDA) AS A MEASURE OF EMOTIONAL AROUSAL

摘要

NEUROMARKETING LIES AT THE INTERSECTION OF THREE MAIN DISCIPLINES: PSYCHOLOGY, NEUROSCIENCE, AND MARKETING, AND IT HAS BEEN A SUCCESSFUL NEUROSCIENTIFIC APPROACH FOR THE STUDY OF REAL-LIFE CHOICES SUCH AS CONSUMER BEHAVIOR [1]. A CURRENT GAP IN THE COSMETICS FIELD IS THE LACK OF PUBLISHED RESEARCH STUDIES, CONSIDERING THE MARKETING INVESTMENT DONE YEARLY IN THIS CATEGORY. WITH THE RAPID ECONOMIC EXPANSION AND THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN CHINA, CONSUMERS' INTEREST IN BEAUTY IS GROWING. EVEN THOUGH THE CHINESE COSMETICS SECTOR IS RAPIDLY EXPANDING, NO STUDIES HAVE BEEN DONE WITH CHINESE CONSUMERS. THIS STUDY AIMS TO EMPLOY THE SAME APPROACH AS PREVIOUSLY DONE IN CONSUMER NEUROSCIENCE STUDIES TO EVALUATE COSMETIC BRANDS' MARKETING STRATEGY TO UNDERSTAND BETTER IF IMMEDIATE EMOTIONAL RESPONSES CAN BE MEASURED USING ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY (EDA). HERE, WE FOCUS ON COSMETICS PRODUCTS ADVERTISEMENT AS A MODEL TO UNDERSTAND CONSUMER PREFERENCE FORMATION AND CHOICE. EIGHTEEN CHINESE FEMALE CONSUMERS WERE RECRUITED BETWEEN 19 AND 37 YEARS OLD. FROM THE RESULTS OBTAINED, IT WAS UNDERSTOOD THAT NONE OF THE PARTICIPANTS HAVE VOTED FOR THE PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENT FOR WHICH THEY SHOWED HIGHER EMOTIONAL AROUSAL. HOWEVER, IT APPEARS THAT THE PARTICIPANTS' PREFERENCE IS FOR THE PRODUCTS FOR WHICH THE BRAND AWARENESS IS STRONGER SINCE THE PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS WITH MORE VOTES ARE THE ONES FOR THE KOREAN BRAND USED. THE PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS WITH ASIAN FACES WERE THE ONES WITH MORE VOTES, SUGGESTING THAT ASIAN FACES HAVE ENGAGED CONSUMER PREFERENCE. HOWEVER, THE PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS FOR THE BRAZILIAN BRANDS, UNKNOWN TO THE CHINESE PUBLIC, WERE THE ONES WITH FEWER VOTES, ALTHOUGH, THOSE PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS WERE THE ONES WITH MORE EMOTIONAL AROUSAL PER MINUTE. THOSE ADVERTISEMENTS WERE ALSO THOSE WITH NON-ASIAN FACES, SUGGESTING THAT THIS FEATURE INFLUENCED VOTING DECISIONS. FROM THIS STUDY, IT HAS BEEN OBSERVED THAT ELECTRODERMAL ACTIVITY IS A MEASURE OF EMOTIONAL AROUSAL THAT BY ITSELF CANNOT BE TRANSLATED INTO CONSUMER ENGAGEMENT. THEREFORE, IT IS ALSO PROPOSED TO EVALUATE BRAND AWARENESS IN FUTURE STUDIES RELATED TO PRODUCT ADVERTISEMENTS. THE PHYSICAL FEATURES OF THE PEOPLE INCLUDED IN THE ADVERTISEMENTS IS ALSO SUGGESTED TO BE FURTHER EVALUATED IN FUTURE STUDIES SINCE A DIFFERENT CULTURAL BACKGROUND SEEMS TO INFLUENCE THE CONSUMERS' ENGAGEMENT. FURTHERMORE, USING EDA TO COMPLEMENT OTHER NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL TOOLS LIKE FACIAL EXPRESSION ANALYSIS IS ALSO SUGGESTED FOR FUTURE STUDIES TO HAVE EVIDENCE ABOUT THE NATURE OF THE EMOTIONS RAISED.