In the past 15 years, understanding of the neuroscience
underlying decision making has rapidly advanced (for
reviews, see Glimcher 2011; Glimcher and Fehr 2013), raising
hopes that measurements of neural activity —and a deeper
understanding of neural mechanisms—can be applied to marketing
research. Two promising avenues for such a contribution
have been previously identified (Ariely and Bems 2010).
First, insights from neuroscience might improve the marketing
message for existing products. Second, neuroscience might
provide insights into how products are valued before they
even exist in the marketplace, improving product design.