This article was first published on the 40th Edition of our magazine, released April 2025
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Marketing has evolved faster than our ability to resist it. First, we had TV ads aggressively telling us what we needed. Then came social media, where influencers subtly convinced us that our lives were incomplete without overpriced water bottles and LED face masks. Now, we’ve entered the age of neuromarketing, where brands no longer just convince us to buy things; they get into our subconscious and make us want to buy things.
What is Neuromarketing?
Neuromarketing is where neuroscience flirts with capitalism. It uses brain scans, eye-tracking, and biometrics to understand what triggers consumer decisions. Instead of asking customers what they like (because we think we know but don’t), marketers go straight to the brain.
For example, Researchers found that when Coca-Cola and Pepsi were given to blindfolded participants, their brain responses were almost identical. But the moment they knew which one was which, their brains showed a strong preference for Coca-Cola. That’s not just taste, that’s branding working at a neurological level.
Are We Really Making Choices?
Think about the last time you made an impulse purchase. Was it really your decision, or did a brand make you think it was your idea? Companies like Apple, Nike, and Starbucks don’t just sell products; they sell identities. You’re not just buying a phone; you’re buying into a lifestyle.
Neuromarketing takes this further by analyzing everything from the colors that make you feel safe (blue) to the sounds that make you buy faster (fast-paced music in supermarkets). Some companies even measure heart rate and skin responses to see which ads trigger excitement. It’s like a high-stakes science experiment, and we’re the test subjects.
The TikTok Effect
Today’s battlefield for consumer attention is social media, particularly TikTok. Brands don’t have time for a long sales pitch; they have three seconds to hijack your brain. The Stanley Cup story, for instance, wasn’t fueled by traditional marketing but by influencers making people believe that owning more things(Even stuff we don’t really need) was a personality trait.
Brands aren’t just advertising; they’re engineering virality. And the more they understand how our brains react, the better they get at making us spend money we don’t have on things we don’t need.
The Ethics of Neuromarketing
At what point does marketing turn into manipulation? If companies know how to trigger subconscious desires, do we even have free will in our purchasing decisions? While neuromarketing helps brands create better products and experiences, it also raises serious ethical questions. Should companies be allowed to use brain scans to predict our buying habits? Should there be a limit to how much they can track our emotions?
Some argue that neuromarketing is just a smarter version of what brands have always done.But others worry that, as the technology advances, it could become less about persuading customers and more about controlling them.
Neuromarketing in Ethiopia: The Future of Marketing
In Ethiopia, marketing is catching up to using social media and its trends to build a brand identity. And as digital platforms grow, neuromarketing will inevitably shape the future. Already, we’re seeing local brands relating emotions, whether it’s banks using nostalgia in their ads or influencers making everyday products seem like luxury items.
As Ethiopian brands work hand in hand with social media marketing, the next step might be AI-driven personalization. Whether this future excites or terrifies you depends on one thing. How much control do you think you still have over your choices?
