Culture Differences, Difficulties, and Challenges of the Neurophysiological Methods in Marketing Research

ABSTRACT

Given recent technological improvements, social consumer researchers are reaching out for disciplines such as neuroscience and biomedical engineering. The purpose of this article is threefold. First, we briefly review each neurophysiological method. Second, we present cultural studies in marketing showing the importance of using neurophysiological tools in different cultures. Third, we discuss reasons why some areas have not benefitted from this interdisciplinary approach yet. For that, we interviewed Latin American researchers because of the importance of this region and the very little academic discussion on the challenges and caveats associated with conducting consumer research in this region. We conclude the article with insights to overcome these challenges.

Keywords:

• Neurophysiological methods, culture, neuromarketing, Latin America, fEMG

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First, we are grateful to all of the institutions and researchers who collaborated with us and participated in the interviews. We would like to thank Khoi Vo and William Hampton for reading over the material and providing feedback on the neuroscience perspective. We also thank Christina M. Owings, NamMi Choi, and Rhea Malaluan for the English support.