Beyond Brand Image: A Neuromarketing Perspective

The study presents, discusses and analyses the brand image and the role of emotions. The text consists of two parts: neuroscience and marketing-psychological. The neuroscience section presents and discusses emotions from a medical perspective. Emotions are expressed by visceral motor changes. A special review is based on Damasio’s theory of emotions analysed in the context of neuromarketing. In the marketing-psychological part, the roles of emotions on consumer behaviour are discussed. It starts from the presentation of the brand image and the connection with the brand identity. The image starts from the roots of imagination, the theory of emotion and the psychological construct of self-image. The brand becomes the consumer’s image communicating at the symbolic level, and at the same time represents the active image of the consumer’s self-image. Given the increasing complexity of the neuromarketing doctrine, the proposed approach could be useful for improving the understanding of brand image from an interdisciplinary perspective. This study provides theoretical framework on brand image and neuromarketing. Moreover, it offers valuable insight to marketers from neuroscience and semiotics.