THE DIVERGENCE BETWEEN SUBJECTIVE AND OBJECTIVE DATA IN NEUROMARKETING ADVERTISING RESEARCH: THEORETICAL ANALYSIS AND CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

Neuromarketing studies of advertising consistently document divergence between consumers' verbal
self-reports and neurophysiological measurements. Despite the reproducibility of this phenomenon, it has not yet received
an integrative theoretical conceptualization: existing accounts draw separately on dual-process theory, persuasion
knowledge, or the neurophysiology of memory, which constrains diagnostic interpretation of observed patterns. This
article aims to develop an integrative model that localizes divergence at specific stages of cognitive processing.
Methodologically, the study employs a critical synthesis of 28 publications from Q1–Q2 journals indexed in Scopus and
Web of Science, coded along three analytical dimensions: type of divergence, level of cognitive processing, and type of
registered response. Three contributions follow. First, a five-stage cascading model is developed, tracing the sequence
from a perceptual filter through implicit emotional appraisal, persuasion knowledge activation, and cognitive correction
to the behavioral outcome, and localizing divergence primarily at the interface of stages 2–4. Second, a typology of
divergences is introduced along valence, intensity, and temporal parameters, and modulating factors are systematized for
each stage. Third, the status of divergence is conceptually reframed: it is qualified as a substantive diagnostic indicator
rather than a methodological artifact. The practical implication of the model is the principle of methodological
triangulation and an operational algorithm for interpreting divergences in advertising effectiveness assessment by small
and medium-sized enterprises.