It was invited to speak at the 5th edition of the Neuromarketing World Forum which this time took place in Dubai. I was given the amazing opportunity to talk about how new technology will impact consumer behavior and the marketing research industry.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Neuromarketing world, I will first make a detour to talk shortly about NMSBA, before delving into my presentation. NMSBA stands for Neuromarketing Science & Business Association and besides being one of the most remarkable initiatives that I came across while doing my PhD, it also serves 1684 members globally from 93 countries, creating an impressive global community.
These events, such as the one that I attended, reunites people with a variety of different professional, cultural and social backgrounds having in mind a grand sole purpose: disseminating vital information from which both academia and businesses will greatly benefit, such as latest research, new consumer insights and emerging technologies.
NMSBA organizes each year conferences, forums and workshops dedicated to getting all its members in one strategical location and this time it’s happening in the Capital of Neuromarketing – Dubai. It was the best place to network, learn and basically, to find opportunities.
To get a glimpse of the amazing speakers that have been invited in Dubai at this leading international event, I’ll just mention a few names:
Mikio Fujitsuka – Group Brand Director at Johnson & Johnson Consumer Inc.
Nihan Sahan Eren – Senior Consumer & Market Insight Manager at Unilever
Vikram Tank – Brand Lead on Google’s Creative Partnerships team
Horst Stipp – part of ARF’s Research and Innovation team (ARF – Advertising Research Foundation)
Sjoerd Koornstra – Global CMI Planner at Heineken International
Steve Genco – Author of “Neuromarketing for Dummies” (2013), a pioneer in the field and managing partner at his consulting firm, Intuitive Consumer Insights
Andy Smith – Director of US Consumer Insights for The Hershey Company
Elissa Mose – Founder at global Neuroscience and Behavioural Science Centre at Ipsos
David Kepron – Vice President – Global Design Strategies at Marriott International
Ale Smidts – professor of marketing research and chair of the Department of Marketing Management, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM)
Leon Zurawicki – Professor, Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Massachusetts-Boston
I feel honored for being invited to speak in Dubai. So much has happened in Neuromarketing lately that my mission of getting everything down to the absolute essential points was both an eye opening experience and an opportunity to delve deeper into some topics. While writing on the presentation, I’ve learned that this is the case with many other fields of knowledge: we’re experiencing an explosion of user-generated content, be it research or otherwise.
We are seeing the same type of exponential evolution in terms of technology breakthroughs and development. Just think of IoT, Big Data, wearables and VR, to name a few of the notorious emerging technologies that will most likely change life as we know it right now.
Were you aware that every day, we create 2.5 quintillion bytes of data and that 90% of the data in the world today has been created in the last two years alone?
Also, with VR and Oculus Rift soon available globally to large numbers of consumers, how will their needs change when they’ll be able to shop in Paris and NY in the same day?
Considering the rapid adoption rate of technology as primary premise, I’ve explored a new paradigm that searches for answers related to how all these changes will impact the marketing research industry. And this brings me to one of the most important aspects that I will be talking about, namely the profile of the future consumer or Generation Z (born 1995-2010).
Spoiler Alert: Generation Z has given us hardly the easiest type of consumer that we can understand, on the contrary! We already know that they have a $44 billion buying power while exerting high influence on all items bought by their parents. Who would have thought that in 60% of the surveilled households, teens influence the TV set that is being bought?
No wonder that they were dubbed “a Complete Nightmare for Retailers”! (Business Insider, 2014)
Take a peek at the full list of speakers at the Neuromarketing World Forum and here’s more info about the event.
Note: This article first appeared on www.adplayers.com. You can read the Romanian version here (http://www.adplayers.ro/articol/Eveniment-9/Buyer-Brain-Romania-invitata-sa-vorbeasca-la-Forumul-Mondial-de-Neuromarketing-in-Dubai-5046.html)
