The holy grail of marketing—a universal predictor of customer behavior—may be closer than ever, thanks to recent advances in the field of neuromarketing.

Even at its best, traditional market research has built-in limitations. First of all, consumers may be biased or unwilling to reveal their true opinions. But beyond this, there is only so much conscious insight anyone has into his or her own decision-making process—especially if you agree that purchases are mostly controlled by the subconscious mind. This can be a hindrance for marketers who are more interested in knowing the why of a purchasing decision over the what. For a truly granular understanding of consumer behavior, it’s necessary to find a method that knows consumers better than they know themselves.

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