Understanding how Popular Brands make use of Neuromarketing on Instagram

Abstract

It is imperative to conduct research on Instagram as a marketing tool and its relation to neuromarketing. Marketers need to understand the underlying reasons of why and how their brand’s content evokes emotional connections in order to truly and effectively communicate with current and potential audiences (du Plessis 2011:50). Many brands have seen a drastic increase in popularity and consequently sales, by posting images that intrigue followers or evoke nostalgia or other emotions and feelings (Goor 2012). Understanding why users of Instagram follow certain brands and what emotions or feelings are evoked when viewing content posted by these brands, will allow for a deeper understanding into popular brands use of neuromarketing on Instagram and why Instagram is currently so successful. In this research report, a qualitative study involving two levels of research will be conducted to understand what factors of noticeability are relevant for brands posting on Instagram and what emotional connections are made that may result in a form of engagement. The results revealed that it is evident that brands are leaning towards abstraction or emotional strategies in order to elicit emotions from target audiences. It is evident that successful, popular brands are subconsciously or consciously using the notion of neuromarketing to implement instamarketing tactics in order to stimulate emotional connections and engagement that lead to the target audience filling a personal void. The implication of emotional manipulation regarding the use of neuromarketing tactics may be viewed as unethical, however, if a brand composes images that are true to their main purpose and identity, which caters to the psychographic needs of their target market, one can presume that the brand is simply filling a void within their target market’s lives.