4: The Convergence of Disciplines

Neuromarketing is the convergence of disciplines: neuroscience and marketing. Each contribute to the combined discipline, but there is some danger in the convergence. A few notes:

• A marketer does not need medical training to be involved in neuromarketing, but would be well advised to defer to those with greater expertise in the medical aspects.
• Neither is medical "science" incontrovertible. Neurologists study the way the brain functions as an organ, but few of them are adept, or even interested, in relating the physiological properties to the way that people think and behave. This remains theoretical.
• Many other disciplines (psychology, sociology, economics, HR, marketing, etc.) are concerned with behavior, and their observational research has validity even in the absence of medical evidence.
• However, be aware that charlatans abound: people who intentionally deceive others to sell "neuromarketing" techniques and consulting services that are unsound. In some instances, they may themselves have been deceived as to the soundness of their theories. Be cautious.
• Also, be aware that science is not all it's cracked up to be. Researchers are often desperate to prove something, or to prove anything, to justify their use of funding. Even in the best of cases, "proof" should be taken with a grain of doubt.

Also, neuroscience is the latest tool to gain insight into human behavior, but the task of analyzing human behavior is not new. More than a century ago, we began to use psychology to do the same thing; and millennia before that, we used philosophy. Neuroscience does not replace these "old" tools, but merely adds to our toolbox. One does not throw away a hammer, declaring it to be invalid and useless, simply because they have purchased a screwdriver. They keep both tools, using each as appropriate - to do otherwise is plainly absurd.

Also, human behavior is studied by a number of different disciplines, each of which has a different scope and goal. Marketers focus on determining what customers want and how to deliver it to them; economists focus on the behavior of suppliers in reaction to the demands; sociologists take a broader perspective of behavior in society; anthropologists take the same perspective toward societies and cultures of the past; and clinical psychologists apply behavior on the individual level to help their patients.

Each of these disciplines is focused on behavior, but each uses different tools and pursues different goals - and sometimes are based on theories that seem contradictory if compared outside of their intended context. But again, consider the purpose for which a theory is intended in evaluating its validity, and considering whether you are applying it correctly.