Story Board 18: How brands use neuroscience. Kumaar Bagrodia's interview
- Apr 3
- 3 min read
Walk into a store, scroll through an app, or even stand in a cinema queue, every detail around you is part of a designed experience. From lighting and music to scent and layout, increasingly, brands are turning to neuroscience, the study of how the brain processes stimuli and behaviour, to better understand how these elements work together.
A study compiled by marketing firm Amra & Elma found that 84% of shoppers say sensory elements like lighting, scent and music influence their purchasing decisions, while 85% are more likely to buy when multiple senses are engaged.
It starts with your senses
Neuroscientist Kumaar Bagrodia, founder of NeuroLeap, said one of the most visible ways brands are using neuroscience today is through sensory design, creating environments where inputs like smell, light and sound are carefully structured to drive behaviour.
Kumaar Bagrodia, Founder, NeuroLeap: “The brain operates on five senses, and brands are designing experiences around them.”
He explained that these choices are rarely random. Stores targeting younger consumers tend to use brighter lighting and upbeat music, while premium brands lean towards softer lighting and more understated sensory cues. “It’s geared towards the target consumer of the brand, the target age group,” he said.
These elements work together to shape mood and perception, often at a subconscious level, making consumers more receptive to the environment around them.
Too much choice? That’s also by design
Then comes something more invisible: cognitive load. Some stores feel clean, minimal and easy to navigate. Others feel busy, almost overwhelmed. That difference is intentional.
Bagrodia explains that brands either reduce distractions to keep your focus tight, or increase visual complexity to create a sense of abundance and choice.
Even the way you walk through a store is planned. Large-format retailers often create a fixed path, guiding your journey and subtly structuring your decisions along the way. Research shows these environments don’t just look better, they keep you inside longer and increase the chances of a purchase.
Digital platforms: urgency by design
If physical spaces guide behaviour subtly, digital platforms tend to be more direct.
E-commerce and quick commerce platforms frequently use cues such as limited stock alerts, countdown timers and fast delivery promises to create urgency. These triggers are designed to push users towards quicker decisions and, in many cases, impulse purchases.
Bagrodia noted that these platforms rely heavily on constant nudges to keep users engaged and “always available” to make a purchase.
At the same time, this always-on engagement is leading to fatigue. Consumers today are “constantly bombarded” with notifications across devices, leaving little room for reflection or instinctive thinking, he said.
Beyond retail: experience as a strategy
The use of neuroscience is not limited to stores or apps. It is increasingly visible in entertainment and large-scale experiences.
Bagrodia pointed to cinema chains, where a significant portion of investment goes into lobby design, lighting, food and ambience, so that waiting becomes part of the overall experience rather than a friction point.
Similarly, large film franchises operate like powerful brands. By tapping into identity, where audiences see themselves reflected in characters, and collective emotion, they create shared experiences that resonate more deeply. According to Bagrodia, this activates the brain’s social reward systems, making the experience more immersive and memorable.
Multi-sensory storytelling: filling the gaps
Brands are also becoming more deliberate about engaging multiple senses, especially in environments where some senses are absent.
In digital advertising, for instance, consumers cannot physically taste or smell a product. To compensate, brands amplify other cues. The exaggerated crunch in snack advertisements is designed to signal freshness, while packaging choices, such as glass bottles, enhance tactile perception and perceived quality.
The underlying idea, Bagrodia said, is simple: the brain processes the world through five senses, and effective branding attempts to engage as many of them as possible.
The limits of neuromarketing
Despite the growing interest in neuroscience-led marketing, Bagrodia cautioned against overstating what current tools can achieve.
Technologies such as eye-tracking and brainwave measurement can indicate attention or levels of engagement, but they cannot reliably predict whether a consumer will make a purchase
“Buying decisions are made on multiple different considerations in that moment,” he said, pointing to factors such as affordability, personal preference and context.
Broader research in the field also suggests that while such tools can capture immediate reactions in controlled settings, they struggle to account for real-world variables, ranging from environment to biological state, that influence actual decision-making.
Storytelling still holds its ground
Even as brands adopt more stimulus-driven design, storytelling continues to play a central role, particularly in premium categories.
Bagrodia said some brands rely heavily on narrative to draw consumers in, while others combine storytelling with immersive environments to strengthen the overall experience.
The shift is clear: brands are no longer just selling products. They are designing environments, experiences and interactions that shape consumer behaviour at multiple levels.
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