EHS Hotels: Neuroimaging or Self-Reports When Evaluating Tourism Advertising and Websites?

Abstract

The growth of e-commerce and new digital methods of payment has ushered in unexpected repercussions on many companies throughout the world.

The hotel chain EHS is an example. An increase in competition resulting from the digitalization of hotel bookings has led to a 5% reduction in its net sales in 2019. To address this situation, EHS’s CEO charged the chain’s marketing department with two tasks in 2020: develop an effective advertising campaign and design a website to foster online bookings. The current case study describes the characteristics of two very different marketing agencies engaged by the marketing department to analyze the hotel’s advertising and web design: (i) Idith, a company basing its findings on self-reported data (questionnaires or surveys), and (ii) Neuronsy, a firm which resorts to neuroimaging and psychology (eye-tracking or functional magnetic resonance imaging). Based on this, students should advise the EHS marketing department as to which marketing agency to engage to assist in the design of the most trustworthy and effective advertising and website strategies. To help students achieve this, the case study discusses the advantages and drawbacks, the price, the utility, the methodology and the nature of data captured by the two methods, which all need to be considered for evaluating and deciding on which option and marketing consulting agency to use.

Teaching Note

Case Summary

The emergence of e-commerce and new payment methods has led to unexpected consequences for many companies around the world. The (fictitious) hotel firm EHS is an example. Digitalization and the ever-growing competitive environment provoked a 5% reduction in the hotel’s net sales of 2019. To address the situation, its CEO charged the chain’s marketing department with two tasks for 2020: develop an effective advertising campaign and design a trustworthy website for online booking. The current case study describes the advantages, disadvantages and characteristics of two very different marketing agencies contacted by the marketing department: (i) Idith applying self-reports (questionnaires and surveys), and (ii) Neuronsy, specializing in neuroimaging and psychology (eye-tracking and functional magnetic resonance imaging).

Teaching and Learning Objectives

The main objective of the current case study is for students to understand the differences between carrying out market research based on traditional self-reported and neuroimaging techniques in order to propose strategies and ways to apply these methods according to business aims.

After completing and discussing the case study, students will be in a position to:

• 1. Identify the strategies a marketing department must develop to contribute to the success of their company. The study specifically familiarizes the student with two potential alternatives: (i) design an advertising campaign to attain higher levels of preference, reward and recall, and (ii) modify a website to evoke a more reliable experience during the online purchase process.

• 2. Identify the functions ofmarketing consultanciesas well as the variety of services and data that they offer.

  • 2.1. Functions carried out by marketing agencies applying self-reports: branding services, SEO/SEM strategies as well as quantitative (e.g., surveys) and qualitative (e.g., focus groups) marketing research.

  • 2.2. Functions carried out by marketing agencies resorting to consumer neuroscience tools: assessing of unconscious reactions of consumers through fMRI, EEG, heart rate and eye-tracking.

• 3. Learn to evaluate the differences, advantages and drawbacks of traditional selfreports versus neuroimaging.

  • 3.1. The case study raises questions as to the legitimacy of traditional self-report methods in light of market pressures and technology designed to capture short term data.

  • 3.2. The study also identifies marketing agencies specialized in different market research techniques and hence proves how the role of method influences the initiatives advocated by marketing agencies.

  • 3.3. The study offers the student a clear overview of the nature, complexity, sample size requirements, utility and consumer variables serving both self-report and neuroimaging analyses. It aims for the student to see the need to resort to complementary data offered by the two different methods.

• 4. Understand the utility of self-reported and neuroimaging data for managerial marketing purposes.

Target Audience

The current case study can serve undergraduates and graduates (master’s degree) in the fields of hospitality, business, management, tourism, marketing and psychology as it pertains to diverse strategies implemented by social and business institutions such as hotels, recreation sites and tourist destinations. The intention is to develop an understanding of the diverse methods applied by marketing consultancies, a topic suitable for undergraduates who may encounter market research tasks in the future. Issues emerging from traditional self-reports as well as the understanding of the added value of recent neuroimaging techniques in business environments are equally topics suitable for a master’s degree class.

Teaching Approach

The class structure and discussion should be as follows:

• (i) The teacher creates groups of 4–5 students and assigns to each one of the following set of questions:

• Which strategies did the CEO of the EHS hotel chain recommended to the marketing department to come out of the financial crisis?

• What are the main functions of a marketing consultancy? How can a marketing consultancy help increase hotel sales?

• Explain the main services offered by traditional self-report and innovative consumer neuroscience consultancies? How does the method influence the marketing initiative advocated by each of the consultancies?

• Describe the advantages and drawbacks of the self-report and neuroimaging methods applied by Idith and Neuronsy.

• Which is the better scenario for EHS? Provide three reasons to back up your response.

• Search for five marketing consultancies that resort to neuroimaging or psychological tools. Do they use different neuroimaging methods? If so, describe them.

• (ii) The teacher then defines the length of the teamwork (about 3 contact hours).

• (iii) The academic staff then instructs the students to get to know the other members of their group. If they have not previously met, they should spend time together and exchange information as to their backgrounds, interests and contact details.

• (iv) This is to be followed by a general group discussion along the lines of the questions cited above as well as the challenges of neuroimaging.

• (v) Then, the teacher proposes a role game in which two of the team members delve deeper into the advantages of consumer neuroscience and self-reports for businesses and consumers while the other two comment on their potential drawbacks.

• (vi) Having analyzed the great potential of consumer neuroscience and self-reports, each group member then stands and offers reasons and observations supporting the usefulness of implementing consumer neuroscience.

• (vii) The case study evaluation criteria resorts to a system of anonymous and repeated peer rating. Students rate the qualities of others anonymously throughout the study. These include communication skills, ability to cooperate and listen to the concerns of others, fulfill assignments and foster team cohesion. Although the students then view the ratings, only those of aggregate nature will serve to foster discussion as to team functionality.

• (viii) Finally, the teacher leads a general discussion and offers tips for the academic staff to bear in mind.

Guidelines for Boosting Student Discussion

One of the main objectives of the current case study is for students to realize the importance of complementing traditional self-report methods with innovative neuroimaging techniques when carrying out market research. This combination leads to a diversity of information when evaluating the same marketing stimuli (website layout), crucial to achieve a more accurate and objective investment.

Some example questions and responses:

• What strategies are recommended to the marketing department by the CEO to improve the financial situation of the EHS hotel group?

John and Clara, the supervisors of EHS’s marketing department, are tasked with (i) creating anadvertising campaign to raise the level of preference, reward and recall, and (ii) apply changes to the EHS website to foster a reliable experience during the online purchase process. After several meetings, the marketing supervisors proceeded as in previous cases. This consisted of first designing several advertisements and web layouts to meet the task’s objectives. These were then initially tested by colleagues in the company before sending the screened examples to the most competitive marketing consulting agencies.

• What are the main functions of a marketing consultancy? How can a marketing consultancyhelp increase hotel bookings?

Marketing consultancies are organizations that analyze data gleaned through self-reports (surveys or focus groups) to assess the effectiveness of a website design, product, price or advertisement. Marketing consultancies, based on objective and reliable results, assist companies in determining the attitude, intention, confidence and recall of certain products, websites or advertisements. They can even predict their degree of acceptance among a target population. In other words, they show the way to be successful in marketing strategies.

• Describe the advantages and drawbacks of the self-report and neuroimaging techniques used by the Idith and Neuronsy consultancies.

A summary of advantages and drawbacks of each technique is provided in Table 15.4.

Table 15.4 Advantages associated with self-reports and consumer neuroscience tools of market research

• How does the method influence the marketing initiative advocated by each of the marketing consultancies ?

The different methods applied by the two agencies allow them to offer a variety of services and means of data analysis to the EHS marketing department. The firm Idith, on the one hand, develops brandinganalyses, surveys, interviews and SEO/SEM strategies yielding information based on conscious responses from participants along the lines of trust, attitudes and recall when viewing marketing stimuli. The firm Neuronsy, on the other hand, applies consumer methods of neuroscience and offers diverse neuroimaging tools to explore the psychological origins of a greater number of consumer variables such as attention, affection, trust, recall and arousal.

• Which scenario should the EHS adopt? Provide three reasons to back up your response.

Considering the previous advantages, drawbacks, prices and outcomes from each of the methods, the current case study advises resorting to a combination of self-report and neuroimaging data. This alternative not only avoids breaking the professional relationship with Idith (and benefitting from its self-reported data), but includes innovative methods stemming from psychology and neuroscience applied to advertising and website strategies. The complementary and diverse information offered by each of the two methods can thus lead to designing efficient website and advertising environments.

Additional Reading

Consumer Neuroscience vs. Self-reports: Definitions, Advantages and Drawbacks

• Casado-Aranda, L-A., Sánchez-Fernández, J., Ibáñez-Zapata, J-Á., et al. (2020). How consumer ethnocentrism modulates neural processing of domestic and foreign products: A neuroimaging study. Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, 53, 101961.

• Dimoka, A. (2010). What Does the Brain Tell Us About Trust and Distrust? Evidence from a Functional Neuroimaging Study. Mis Quarterly, 2(34), 373–396.

• Eser, Z., Isin, FB. & Tolon, M. (2011). Perceptions of marketing academics, neurologists, and marketing professionals about neuromarketing. Journal of Marketing Management, 27(7–8), 854–868.

• Lee, N., Chamberlain, L. & Brandes, L. (2018). Welcome to the jungle! The neuromarketing literature through the eyes of a newcomer. European Journal of Marketing, 52(1/2), 4–38.

• Ramsøy, TZ. (2019). Building a Foundation for Neuromarketing And Consumer Neuroscience Research: How Researchers Can Apply Academic Rigor To the Neuroscientific Study of Advertising Effects. Journal of Advertising Research, 59(3), 281–294.

• Reimann, M., Castaño, R., Zaichkowsky, J., et al. (2012). How we relate to brands: Psychological and neurophysiological insights into consumer–brand relationships. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(1), 128–142.

• Stanton, SJ., Sinnott-Armstrong, W., & Huettel, SA. (2017). Neuromarketing: Ethical Implications of its Use and Potential Misuse. Journal of Business Ethics, 144(4), 799–811.

• Yoon, C., Gonzalez, R., Bechara, A., et al. (2012). Decision neuroscience and consumer decision making. Marketing Letters, 23(2), 473–485.

Application of Consumer Neuroscience to Marketing Domains

• Bigné, E., Llinares, C. & Torrecilla, C. (2016). Elapsed time on first buying triggers brand choices within a category: A virtual reality-based study’, Journal of Business Research, 69(4), 1423–1427.

• Casado-Aranda, L-A., Sánchez-Fernández, J. & Montoro-Ríos, FJ. (2017). Neural correlates of voice gender and message framing in advertising: A functional MRI study. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 10(4), 121–136.

• Chen, Y-P., Nelson, LD. & Hsu, M. (2015). ‘From “Where” to “What”: Distributed Representations of Brand Associations in the Human Brain. Journal of Marketing Research, 2(4), 453–466.

• Couwenberg, LE., Boksem, MAS., Dietvorst, RC., et al. (2017). Neural responses to functional and experiential ad appeals: Explaining ad effectiveness. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34, 2355–366.

• Doré, BP., Cooper, N., Scholz, C., et al. (2019). Cognitive regulation of ventromedial prefrontal activity evokes lasting change in the perceived self-relevance of persuasive messaging. Human Brain Mapping, 40(9), 2571–2580.

• Falk, E. & Scholz, C. (2018). Persuasion, Influence, and Value: Perspectives from Communication and Social Neuroscience. Annual Review of Psychology, 69(1), 329–356.

• Falk, E., Berkman, ET., Whalen, D., et al. (2011). Neural activity during health messaging predicts reductions in smoking above and beyond self-report. Health Psychology, 30(2), 177–185.

• Falk, E., Spunt, RP. & Lieberman, MD. (2012). Ascribing beliefs to ingroup and outgroup political candidates: neural correlates of perspective-taking, issue importance and days until the election. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 367(1589), 731–743.

• Fehse, K., Simmank, F., Gutyrchik, E., et al. (2017). Organic or popular brands—food perception engages distinct functional pathways. An fMRI study. Cogent Psychology, 4(1), 1284392.

• Garcia, JR. & Saad, G. (2008). Evolutionary neuromarketing: darwinizing the neuroimaging paradigm for consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 7(4–5), 397–414.

• Guixeres, J., Bigné, E., Ausín, Azofra JM., et al. (2017). Consumer NeuroscienceBased Metrics Predict Recall, Liking and Viewing Rates in Online Advertising. Frontiers in Psychology, 8.

• Heinonen, J. (2018). Conjoint fMRI method for shortening analysis time. Cogent Psychology, 5(1), 1446254.

• Hsu, MY-T. & Cheng, JM-S. (2018). fMRI neuromarketing and consumer learning theory: Word-of-mouth effectiveness after product harm crisis. European Journal of Marketing, 52(1/2), 99–223.

• Krampe, C., Gier, NR. & Kenning, P. (2018). The Application of Mobile fNIRS in Marketing Research—Detecting the “First-Choice-Brand” Effect. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12.

• Lewinski, P. (2015). Don’t look blank, happy, or sad: Patterns of facial expressions of speakers in banks’ YouTube videos predict video’s popularity over time. Journal of Neuroscience, Psychology, and Economics, 8(4), 241–249.

• Weber, R., Huskey, R., Mangus, JM., et al. (2015). Neural Predictors of Message Effectiveness during Counterarguing in Antidrug Campaigns. Communication Monographs, 82(1), 4–30.

Consumer Neuroscience in the News

• BBC Radio 4. (2019). Brain Culture: Neuroscience and Society, Brain Science and Behaviour Change. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b017mszy. Accessed 22 February 2020.

• Bell, V. (2015). Marketing has discovered neuroscience, but the results are more glitter than gold. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jun/28/vaughan-bell-neurosciencemarketing-advertising. Accessed 22 February 2020.

• Wu, T. (2019). Neuromarketing: The new science of consumer decisions. https://www.ted.com/talks/terry_wu_neuromarketing_the_new_science_of_consume r_decisions. Accessed 22 February 2020.