Is it possible to influence a candidate’s selection process? For this, we will first have to look at how this process works. Neuromarketing is based on neuroanalysis. In this article, Recruitment Tech describes how neuromarketing in recruitment works and what the options are.
What is neuroanalysis?
Neuroscientists are simply concerned with mapping what the brain does and how it works. Thanks to the many technological advances, research in this area has been on the rise since the 1990s. By analyzing the brain, a person’s behavior or reaction can be better predicted and explained. One well-known party that uses neuromarketing is Google. This superpower has studied how people’s brains react to various advertisements, which enables Google to improve its advertising policy, for example.
Neuromarketing in recruitment
Neuroanalysis often looks at consumers, where the choice process is revealed by looking deep into the brain for choices. But it can also look at the selection process of an applicant or candidate. There are four well-known methods used in recruitment neuromarketing, namely eye-tracking, EEG, Facial Expression Recognition and fMRI. What these methods entail is outlined below.
Eye-tracker: What is the target group looking at?
Nowadays, everything has to go faster and faster. This makes it important that your message, or in this case your job posting, stands out. By finding out where your target group is looking, it becomes clear what is best to post. This can be done by means of eye-tracking.
EEG (electroencephalogram): Is it appealing?
With an EEG, brain activities are measured. This mainly provides insight into whether, for example, a candidate or applicant feels attracted to the vacancy or expression. A simple example of this is that it can be checked whether the attention wanders while reading a job ad. Together with eye-tracking, we can then see what this person is looking at.
Facial Expression Recognition: What emotions are expressed?
Facial expressions are also of great importance here. Nowadays, mico-expressions can be accurately measured, which (in combination with an EEG) can determine which emotions are evoked when seeing an employer’s message or reading (a certain part of) a job ad.
fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging): why?
Through a 3D brain scan, the precise brain activities can be revealed. By looking on the scan to see where oxygenated blood is present, it is possible to see where brain activity has taken place. Since each part of the brain has a function, it is possible to see what emotion a person is experiencing at any given time, such as feelings of trust, expectation or desire. This information can be used to determine whether or not people will apply to you.
Examples within recruitment
As mentioned, neuroanalysis is on the rise and there are also tools within recruitment that respond to this. Neurolytics, for example, uses psychophysiological biometrics to help recruiters better pre-select candidates based on soft skills. Co-Founder Belen Hein previously told Recruitment Tech, “Our tool analyzes videos of candidates to provide information on soft skills. (…) We see it as essential for organizations and candidates to find the right match and that requires high quality objective information to make a positive difference.”
Another well-known Dutch tech vendor is BrainsFirst. In the summer it was announced that BrainsFirst will help the DFB, the Deutscher Fußball-Bund, identify and develop talent purely by looking at the brains of youth players. At Unleash Amsterdam we spoke with Andries van der Leij, who showed us how BrainsFirst works. In the interview below he shows the tool and explains how it works. Read the whole article here.
Sources: intemarketing, Brandchart, Recruitment Tech
