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J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
18
Attitude Measurement toward
Neuromarketing in Sports
Selda Hamed1, Amir Dana2*, Vahid Shojaei1
1Department of Physical Education, Sari Branch, Islamic Azad
University, Sari, Iran
2Department of Physical Education, Aliabad katoul Branch, Islamic
Azad University, Aliabad Katoul, Iran
*Correponding Author Email: amirdana2008@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT The aim of the current research is to measure the
attitudes toward the neuromarketing in sports in three groups of
masters of sports management, neuroscientists and marketing
professionals. Three sub-scales of interest and participation in
neuromarketing, consciousness and cognition, and morality were
studied and compared among these three groups. The research
methodology is descriptive-survey and the sample size includes 90
masters of sports management, 70 neuroscientists and
neurologists and 140 professionals in marketing of the sporting
goods. Data analysis about the neuromarketing in sports in three
sub-scales of interest ad participation, consciousness and
recognition and morality among the masters of sports
management, neuroscientist and professionals of marketing had
significant difference. Compared to the other groups the
neuroscientists had more favorable attitude toward the interest
and participation in neuromarketing in sports. Masters of sports
management had less consciousness and recognition about the
neuromarketing in sports in comparison to the other groups, and
professionals in marketing had more concurrence than the other
groups about the fact that neuromarketing is a moral method and
it is not a deceptive method.
KEYWORDS Attitude Measurement, Neuromarketing, Sports
Marketing.
INTRODUCTION
In today’s world several noticeable changes are seen in different fields, especially in the current
economic conditions of the world and markets. These changes permanently affect the global
business activities and along with them they have economic and business opportunities and
threats for the societies. In the world full of changes, companies and institutes are successful
that pay attention to the fast global changes, fast marketing changes, competitors’ state,
distribution systems, group media, new technologies and briefly pay attention to the marketing
and marketing management. Companies will be famous and reliable if they pay attention to their
real mission which is the customer’s satisfaction, and through better satisfying their needs they
will surpass the competitors, furthermore, they should be committed to their social responsibility
and the social welfare and the substantial benefits of their society (Alipour, 2012). The goal of
marketers is to understand the method of consumer’s behavior and making the right decisions
JOURNAL OF
PSYCHOLOGY &
BEHAVIORAL STUDIES
JPBS
Vol 1 (1): 18-25
http://www.jpbsjournal.com
ISSN: 2148-0664
Copyright © 2013
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
19
(Anonymous, 2002). Theories and models of researches about the consumers’ behavior
have changed during the current years (Bagozzi, 1999). In these models the qualitative
research methods play the most important role in determining the perception and
motivation of the consumers and the process of decision making (Richie, 1994).
It is at least four decades since the marketers talk about the costumer’s satisfaction.
Unfortunately satisfaction was a short-life phenomenon and researches show that even
the satisfied customers regularly leave the organization. There is an explanation about
this riddle in the humans’ mind; neuromarketing is a neurological explanation about the
matter that why the professionals of marketing recommend the companies and institutes
to give priority to giving pleasure to the customers than satisfying them. During the past
years, understanding the customers’ behavior has become very important, and
neuromarketing is a giant step in order to achieve this. As Martin Lindestrom states in
the Buyology book, the buying decisions are never as logical as we think and they will
never be (Lawer, 2004). For example while stepping to a bank, customers may choose
services based on their thoughts and emotions which they are not aware of, they are
attracted to a service in a blink of eye by a special provider without knowing why
(Karimi, 2005).
Varian, the marketing researcher states that the existing models for describing the event
of human behavior were not enough, especially the models related to consuming. Varian
declares that the economic model chosen by the consumer, which is usually studied, is
simple and beautiful. This model is the logical starting point for different analyses, but
definitely it won’t be complete. In some cases using deeper model of consumer’s
behavior is needed for a more overt description of decision making (Eser, 2011). Using
the analysis of consuming patterns, Ross and et al provided an interesting research and
they defined the method of achieving a formation of interpersonal decisions in a market,
which within the personal balance among different interests is achieved through
negotiation. This research is a part of neuroeconomics which is conducted by the support
of laboratory researches and methods of subjective imagination. It was during the recent
years when the marketing researches and studying the consumers’ behavior paid special
attention to the neuroscience in order to answer the causes of decision making of the
consumers. From here the neuromarketing started to appear. At first the modern
psychology was combined with technology in order to describe the decision making
processes in brain. Then the theory of economic behavioral decision making was
adjusted in the light of research results of neuroscience. Recently it has been revealed
that emotions have a very important role in the process of decision making, and
especially they are important in decisions which are along with the behavior of the
consumers. In studies of neuroscience when the emotional processes are studied, it
shows that emotions act preliminary and they have the first role in making effective
decisions about the concepts, and understanding the perception and behavior of one
individual. Concepts and understanding of the emotional processes are essential and
important for the progress and development of the marketing and marketing
competitions. In fact the successful labeling and advertising is related to the
understanding and progress of one emotional attraction toward the consumers (Tovino,
2005).
People intend to see the world’s need from their own perspective. This matter is used in
refining and processing the perception and deductions which are important in
environmental information extraction, because brain tries to create the most efficient
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
20
search for the possible random relationship between the multi-variable information,
which ultimately creates perception and deduction. In general, this deduction won’t be
more than a choice among the several interpretations, because at the end if the brain is
forced to process, record and register all of the created information it will possibly
explode. As a result this question comes to mind that how does the consumers’ brain
process the concepts and percepts?.
A part of the brain which is responsible for processing the signals and signs from the
primary perspective and view is the cingulate cortex. After cingulate cortex, the
information flow to the forebrain and especially to the frontal lobe. The information takes
two paths, the primary and secondary paths. The primary flows in the top of the brain
and it is route classified, and it discharges the information from the place where the
objects are placed in the space and the place in relation to the body. Also the secondary
is a road and a route which is continued through the temporal lobes and it is placed
above the ear, and it processes the visual information for classifying the thing the
individual has seen. Similarity of these two paths happens in the longitudinal axis and
also among themselves, because it is in fact the understanding of thesaurus which is
transferred through eyes to the brain. Neuroscientists believe that understanding and
visual perception is widely the result of expectations and statistical predictions.
Understanding and perception and concept are ways that the brain interprets the vague
clues through the most probable explorations and searches which is the result of
previous experiences. Thus the importance of neuromarketing in understanding of
decisions of human is very high. Neuromarketing as one of the branches of cognitive
neuroscience is based on the ability to depict the method of understanding the decision
items and process of decision making by the brain. This branch of marketing studies the
sensors and emotional responses of the customers to the marketing stimuli.
Thus if the marketers are able to determine that which picture of the product results in
the reaction in the frontal cortex of the brain, they will be able to improve their sell
(Kenning & Plassmann, 2005). The methods used for this purpose are psychophysics
(reaction time/detection level) and FMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging).
Researchers use FMRI in order to determine the changes of the activities of parts of the
customers’ brain and they also use the EEG in order to evaluate the activity in a special
regional spectrum of the response of brain, and they use special sensors in order to
know why the customers make a special decision and that which part of their brain tells
them to do a special thing (Kenning & Plassmann, 2005).
The concept of neuromarketing was proposed by psychologists of Harvard University in
1990 and companies such as Google, CBS and Frito-Lay used the neuromarketing
services for evaluating the consumer’s thoughts about the advertisements or their
products among other companies (Kamali, 2000). Several reasons exist for the empty
spot of neuromarketing in the marketing science. Academically in general, neuroscience
and psychology are indicators of frightening subjects. Additionally most of the
professional marketers see the imaging technics unattainable and out of their special
field. One of the solutions for this matter is creation of interdisciplinary specialties and/or
cooperation between the business research groups and the neuroscience (Lee et al,
2007). Thus the neuromarketing is a promising concept for a new kind of marketing
which has a complete interdisciplinary nature. It is the place where the management
science, neurology, psychology and perhaps the art connect each other and they give
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
21
the possibility to the service or product provider companies to sell one box more than
other companies in the current competitive market (Kamali, 2000).
Currently it is long passed since the time that the interdisciplinary studies find their way
among the new sciences, and generally the professionals welcome the concept of using
the beneficial functions of other special fields in their favors. Naturally the professional
marketers are not exceptional. Thus recognizing these new technics has become one of
the biggest challenges of the marketing field. With the attitude of this research toward
this matter, it tries to answer this question that how and in what way the dimensions of
neuromarketing could be used in attracting the customers and especially the customers
of sports markets and how the neuromarketing realizes these goals while it has access to
the technics which in the traditional marketing paths this goal is not attainable?
Professionals and managers of marketing, professors and neuroscientists as people who
are somehow professionals in the researches of neuromarketing, what type of attitude
do they have toward this and how is the difference between their perspectives?
MATERIALS AND METHODS
The current research methodology is descriptive-comparative and three groups of
professionals such as professors’ of sports management, neuroscientists’ and marketing
professionals’ attitudes are described and compared here.
Participants
The current research statistical population includes all of the professors of sports
management, and professors of marketing management of universities and institutes of
higher education and neuroscientists including neurologists, physiologists, psychologists
and professionals in learning and behavior.
The sampling method is purposive sampling. A set of 450 Email addresses and addresses
were collected from the population all around the country and the questionnaires were
sent to the email addresses and the addresses. During three weeks three reminders
were sent to them in order to increase the participation of respondents and increase
their participation in the research.
Neuromarketing questionnaire in sports
This questionnaire was adjusted by Eser et al (2011). The mentioned questionnaire
consists of 14 questions measuring three sub-scales of interest and participation,
consciousness and cognition, and morality. Four questions of this questionnaire were
about morality, three questions about consciousness and cognition and 7 questions
about interest and participation. The scale of measuring the answers was a five-value
scale including items of completely agree, agree, no comment, disagree, and completely
disagree, which the score of 5 is for completely agree and the score of 1 is determined
for the item of completely disagree.
These researchers detected the most important factors of neuromarketing for
construction and validation of these tools firstly by the formation of a group of 6
individuals consisting of two university professors, two neuroscientists, and two
marketing professionals in Turkey, and the high cost, interest and participation and
moralities were the subjects of complete agreement among the members. Then in a
preliminary test the questions of questionnaire were reviewed by 10 university
professors, five neuroscientists and five marketing professionals in order to avoid any
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
22
misconceptions. At the end after conducting some minor reformations in the
questionnaire it turned to a developed assessment tool and again it was handed to the
above mentioned professionals.
The Cronbach’s alpha was used in order to determine the validity of questionnaire from
the perspective of professionals and specialists and also in order to study the reliability
of the questionnaire. The amount of achieved Cronbach’s alpha of 0.71 shows that the
questions of questionnaire have enough reliability.
Data collection
In order to collect the required data, after adjusting the questionnaire it was sent to the
respondents through Email addresses and postal addresses. For increasing the
participation of respondents three reminders were sent to them during three weeks in
order to increase their participation in the research.
Data analysis
In order to describe and analyze the data, firstly by the use of the descriptive statistics,
mean, standard deviation, table and diagram, the research variables were described.
Also in order to determine the homology and congruence of the groups the Kolmogorov-
Smirnov tests were used. The ANOVA test was used for comparing the attitude of three
groups of professors of sports management, neuroscientists and marketing
professionals, and the Scheffe’s test was used for determining the difference between
groups. The significance level of the current research was 0.05.
RESULTS
The data analysis results showed that a difference exists between the attitude of
professors of sports management, neuroscientists and marketing professionals in sub-
scale of interest and participation of neuromarketing in sports (table 1).
Table 1. One-way ANOVA test.
Total Square
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Intergroup
139.309
2
69.654
5.299
0.005
Intragroup
3903.771
297
13.144
Total
4043.080
299
The results of Scheffe’s test showed that the significant difference only exists between
the mean of group of marketing professionals with neuroscientists. The difference
between the mean of these two groups was -1.585 (p≤0.05) and there was no
significant difference between the group of professors of sports management and two
other groups (table 2).
Table 2. Results of testing the means (Scheffe).
1st Job
2nd Job
Mean Difference
SD
Sig.
Marketing
Professionals
Neuroscientists
-1.58571*
0.53071
0.012
Professors of Sports Management
-1.11905
0.48983
0.075
Neuroscientists
Neuroscientists
1.58571*
0.53071
0.012
Professors of Sports Management
0.46667
0.57777
0.722
Professors of
Sports
Neuroscientists
1.11905
0.48983
0.075
Professors of Sports Management
-0.46667
0.57777
0.722
*At significance level of p≤0.05 it is meaningful.
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
23
Results achieved from the one-way ANOVA test about the sub-scale of consciousness
and cognition shows that there is a difference between the attitude of professors of
sports management, neuroscientists and marketing professionals in this sub-scale (table
3).
Table 3. Results of one-way ANOVA test.
Total Square
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Intergroup
434.182
2
217.091
26.868
0.000
Intragroup
2399.765
297
8.080
Total
2833.947
299
Results of Scheffe’s test in relation to this sub-scale showed that there is a significant
difference between the mean of group of professors of sports management with two
groups of marketing professionals (with mean difference of -2.701 and significance level
of 0.000) and neuroscientists (with mean difference of -2.444 and significance level of
0.000) but no difference exists between two groups of marketing professionals and
neuroscientists (table 4).
Table 4. Results of testing the means (Scheffe).
1st Job
2nd Job
Mean Difference
SD
Sig.
Marketing
Professionals
Neuroscientists
0.25714
0.41549
0.901
Professors of Sports
Management
2.70159*
0.40730
0.000
Neuroscientists
Neuroscientists
-0.25714
0.41549
0.901
Professors of Sports
Management
2.44444*
0.51660
0.000
Professors of
Sports
Neuroscientists
-2.70159
0.40730
0.000
Professors of Sports
Management
-2.44444*
0.51660
0.000
*At significance level of p≤0.05 it is meaningful.
Comparing the perspective of professors of sports management, neuroscientists and
marketing professionals in sub-scale of moralities of neuromarketing in sports showed a
significant difference.
Table 5. One-way ANOVA test analysis.
Total Square
df
Mean Square
F
Sig.
Intergroup
789.011
2
394.505
53.249
0.000
Intragroup
2200.386
297
7.409
Total
2989.397
299
In table 5 the results of Scheffe’s test between three perspectives in sub-scale of
moralities of neuromarketing are presented.
Table 6. Results of testing the means (Scheffe).
1st Job
2nd Job
Mean Difference
SD
Sig.
Marketing
Professionals
Neuroscientists
2.77143*
0.32881
0.000
Professors of Sports
Management
3.53810*
0.41519
0.000
Neuroscientists
Neuroscientists
-2.77143*
0.32881
0.000
Professors of Sports
Management
0.76667
0.43663
0.224
Professors of
Sports
Neuroscientists
-3.53810*
0.41519
0.000
Professors of Sports
Management
-0.76667
0.43663
0.224
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
24
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION
Results of the current study showed that the attitude of three groups of professors of
sports management, professionals and neuroscientists and marketers toward the
neuromarketing in sports was different from each other. This result was consistent with
the research finding of Eser et al (2011). In a similar research they concluded that a
significant difference exists between the perspectives of three groups of professors,
neuroscientists and professional marketers about the neuromarketing.
Comparing the sub-scale of interest and participation in neuromarketing of sports in
three groups of professors of sports management, neuroscientists and sports marketers
showed that a significant difference exits between these three perspectives. This
difference is in a way that it is observable in the group of neuroscientists and sports
marketers, and the results of post-hoc test show that the neuroscientists have a positive
and more favorable attitude toward this matter. This finding was predictable, because
the neuroscientists are more familiar with the applications of neuroimaging, due to their
job and they have more belief on the progress of this science in the future. In the
research of Eser et al (2011) the results also showed that the interest and participation
in three mentioned groups have significant difference but this difference is caused by the
difference of attitude between the professors and neuroscientists, in a way that the
neuroscientists have more favorable attitude toward the interest and participation. This
result is different from the current research finding, because in this research the attitude
and perspective of neuroscientists is different from the sports marketers’ and it is more
favorable than theirs.
But comparing the sub-scale of consciousness and recognition of neuromarketing in
sports in three groups of professors of sports management, neuroscientists and sports
marketers showed that a significant difference exists, and it is in a way that the attitude
of all of the three groups is different from each other. Marketing professionals had a
more favorable attitude toward the consciousness and recognition about the
neuromarketing in sports than the professors of sports management. On the other hand
the neuroscientists also had a different and more favorable attitude toward the
consciousness and recognition about the neuromarketing in sports than the professors of
sports management. Thus the amount of consciousness and recognition about the
method of neuromarketing researches in sports in group of professors of sports
management is less than the two other groups.
Eser et al (2011) also came to the same conclusion. They showed that more
consciousness and recognition in the three above mentioned groups had significant
difference as such the neuroscientists had more consciousness and recognition than the
professors about this matter. This result was consistent with the current research
finding. It seems that the reason that the professors of sports management have less
information than other groups about the method of neuromarketing researches is that
the management field is a wide area and sports management is a concept that includes a
wide range of subjects related to the sports sciences. Although the sports marketing has
been at the center of attention in this field, up to now no researches have been observed
about the sports marketing by the use of neuromarketing technics in the country. Thus
very few conducted researches in this field by the researchers are the main causes of
their unfamiliarity with this subject.
J. Psych. Beh. Stud. Vol., 1 (1), 18-25, 2013
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Findings of this research showed that the sub-scale of morality in neuromarketing in
sports in three groups of professors of sports management, neuroscientists and sports
marketers is different as such the marketing professionals have a positive and more
favorable attitude than the two other groups. This finding is also consistent with the
research results of Eser et al. They also concluded that the moralities in three groups of
professors, marketers and neuroscientists have significant difference and the marketing
professionals have a more favorable attitude toward this matter than the professors.
This matter that the marketing professionals show a more favorable attitude toward the
moralities in neuromarketing was not far-fetched. Paying attention to the ethics and
maintaining the honesty in the marketing is one of the basic principles. They are obliged
to pay attention to these principles in their profession. Thus the marketing professionals
consider the methods used in the marketing as ethics according to the code of conduct.
Up to now few studies in the field of neuromarketing has been in the form of conceptual
studies. It is recommended that the future studies survey and study the applicable
method of this matter.
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