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Since Islamic markets are growing substantially, there is an urgent need to gain a better understanding of how Muslim consumers perceive products from a religious perspective. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the brain responses of Muslim consumers to Halal and non-Halal products using a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) technology.

The research model is a simplified version of the theory of planned behavior. The initial experiment began by asking participants to divide a set of images into two groups: Halal and non-Halal products. The fMRI experiment uses a blocked design approach to capture brain activities resulting from presenting the two groups of images to participants, and to record the strength of their attitudes toward purchasing the products.

Across all participants, the level of brain activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex increased significantly when Halal images were presented to them. The same results emerged when the Halal images showed raw and cooked meat. The variations in the results may be due to the high emotional sensitivity of Muslim consumers to using religious products.

This study uses a unique approach to monitor brain activity to confirm that consumers from specific market segments respond differently to market products based on their internal beliefs. Findings from this study provide evidence that marketing managers targeting Muslim markets should consider the sensitivity of presenting products in ways that reflect religious principles, in order to gain higher acceptance in this market segment.

Although the literature reports considerable research on Muslim consumers’ behavior, most of the previous studies utilize conventional data collection approaches to target broad segments of consumers by using traditional products. This paper is the first to track the reactions of the Muslim consumer segment to specific types of market products.

This study aims to illuminate the contribution of neurophysiological techniques in the field of marketing and consumer decision-making and to highlight avenues and research questions that marketing researchers can take advantage of from neuroscience and psychology to inform marketing phenomena.

The authors first reviewed the roots and definition of consumer neuroscience. Then, the authors outlined the main characteristics of the most commonly used neurophysiological tools (namely, skin conductance, facial electromyography, electrocardiogram, eye-tracking, electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, magnetoencephalography and transcranial magnetic stimulation) with a special emphasis on their advantages and weaknesses. Finally, the authors propose the development of research lines that could be implemented by marketing researchers with an appropriate application and understanding of tools and theories of neuroscience and psychology.

The authors propose research questions to be addressed within four thematic areas: opportunities in product decisions (predicting product purchasing decisions, consumer responses to branding efforts and packaging), pricing, communication and retailing scenarios. The authors also incorporate insights into the complementarity of neurophysiological tools to traditional ones and situations in which these tools are useful for enhancing marketing theory. The authors finally shed light on the moral–ethical criticisms of this new branch of marketing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research constitutes the first study in identifying the research opportunities that marketing researchers could take advantage from neuroimaging and physiological tools to inform marketing theory and practice.

Esta investigación tiene como objetivo esclarecer la contribución de las técnicas neurofisiológicas en el campo del marketing y la toma de decisiones de los consumidores y destacar las vías y preguntas de investigación que los investigadores de marketing pueden aprovechar de la neurociencia y la psicología para informar sobre los fenómenos del marketing.

En primer lugar, revisamos el origen y la definición de la neurociencia del consumidor. A continuación, esbozamos las principales características de las herramientas neurofisiológicas más utilizadas (a saber, la conductancia, la electromiografía facial, el electrocardiograma, el seguimiento ocular, la electroencefalografía, la resonancia magnética funcional, la espectroscopia funcional en el infrarrojo cercano, la magnetoencefalografía y la estimulación magnética transcraneal), haciendo especial hincapié en sus ventajas y debilidades. Finalmente, se propone el desarrollo de líneas de investigación que podrían ser implementadas por los investigadores de marketing con una adecuada aplicación y comprensión de las herramientas y teorías de la neurociencia y la psicología.

Proponemos preguntas de investigación para ser abordadas dentro de cuatro áreas temáticas: oportunidades en las decisiones de producto (predicción de las decisiones de compra de productos, respuestas de los consumidores a los esfuerzos de marca y envasado), precios, comunicación y distribución. También incorporamos ideas sobre la complementariedad de las herramientas neurofisiológicas con las tradicionales y las situaciones en las que estas herramientas son útiles para mejorar la teoría del marketing. Por último, arrojamos luz sobre las críticas ético-morales a esta nueva rama del marketing.

本研究旨在阐明神经生理学技术在营销和消费者决策领域的贡献, 并强调营销研究人员可以从神经科学和心理学中利用的途径和研究问题, 以告知营销现象。

我们首先回顾了消费者神经科学的根基和定义。然后, 我们概述了最常用的神经生理学工具（即皮肤电导率、面部肌电图、心电图、眼球追踪、脑电图、功能性磁共振成像、功能性近红外光谱、脑磁图和经颅磁刺激）的主要特点, 特别强调了它们的优势和劣势。最后, 我们提出了研究路线的发展, 这些路线可以由营销研究人员通过适当的应用和理解神经科学和心理学的工具和理论来实施。

我们提出了四个主题领域的研究问题：产品决策中的机会（预测产品购买决策、消费者对品牌推广工作的反应和包装）、定价、沟通和零售场景。我们还纳入了对神经生理学工具与传统工具的互补性的见解, 以及这些工具对加强营销理论有用的情况。最后, 我们对这个新的营销分支的道德伦理批评进行了说明。

纸张类型 – 研究论文

This study aims to examine the association of frontal functioning with subclinical bipolar spectrum by a newly developed convenient method. We investigated subclinical bipolar tendency and frontal lobe activation during word productions using multi-channel near infrared spectroscopy. Participants: 44 healthy university students (mean ages 20.5 years old, and 29 female) gave their written informed consent, and we strictly protected privacy and anonymity was carefully preserved. A 13-items self-report questionnaire (Mood Disorders Questionnaire; MDQ) and a 16-channel near-infrared spectroscopy were used to compare frontal activations between two samples divided by median (4 points) of the total MDQ scores and to analyze correlations between relative changes of cerebral blood volume and bipolarity levels. There was no case suspected as bipolar disorders by MDQ screening (mean 3.4, max 10). Significant differences in lower activations were noted in the right and left pre-frontal cortex (PFC) with higher bipolarity scores using the specific software to analyze the NIRS waveform (P<0.05). Total MDQ were correlated significantly with frontal activation negatively in many channels; therefore, we conducted multiple linear regression to select significant frontal activations using the MDQ as a dependent variable. Stepwise method revealed that activation in left lateral PFC was negatively associated to bipolar tendency, and this regression model was significant (R2=0.10, F=4.5, P=0.04). Differences in frontal functioning suggest that subclinical bipolar tendencies might be related to left lateral PFC activations. It should be confirmed whether the identical pattern can be identified for clinical subjects with bipolar disorders.

To advance marketing research and practice, this study aims to examine the application of the innovative, mobile-applicable neuroimaging method – mobile functional near-infrared spectroscopy (mfNIRS) – in the field of marketing research, providing comprehensive guidelines and practical recommendations.

A general review and investigation of when and how to use mfNIRS in business-to-consumer and business-to-business marketing settings is used to illustrate the utility of mfNIRS.

The research findings help prospective marketing and consumer neuroscience researchers to structure mfNIRS experiments, perform the analysis and interpret the obtained mfNIRS data.

The application of mfNIRS offers opportunities for marketing research that allow the exploration of neural processes and associated behaviour of customers in naturalistic settings.

The application of mfNIRS as a neuroimaging method enables the investigation of unconscious neural processes that control customer behaviour and can act as process variables for companies.

This is one of the first studies to provide comprehensive guidelines and applied practical recommendations concerning when and how to apply mfNIRS in marketing research.

This study aims to evaluate a human rights-informed dementia prevention program promoting better health and social care among older adults. In this study, the authors examined whether a dual-task training would improve cognition in healthy older adults.

Individuals attending the systematic health education program for older adults based in Japan were recruited for study inclusion, and divided into a dual-task training group (TG) and a control group (CG). The TG underwent 90 min of a weekly dual-task training for 12 weeks. Severity of dementia was measured using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) test. Brain function was assessed using a go/no-go task paradigm, during which cerebral blood flow was additionally measured using functional near-infrared spectroscopy to quantify oxyhemoglobin (oxy-Hb).

MMSE total score, number of errors in the go/no-go tasks and oxy-Hb values showed significant improvements in the TG.

Owing to the small number of participants allocated to the CG, the results must be interpreted with caution. Replication and further validation based on large-scale, randomized-controlled trials is warranted.

This study highlights potential benefits of incorporating an early prevention training for dementia into a human rights-friendly health education program.

This study suggests a potential means to reduce costs of social security and health care by introducing a human rights-informed dementia prevention program.

The results suggest that dual-task training may improve cognitive function in healthy older adults, thereby contributing to better health and improvement of social health care, based on a human rights-informed health education program for the prevention of dementia.