Neuromarketing Glossary: Key Terms Explained

Neuromarketing Glossary: Key Terms Explained

The vocabulary of neuromarketing and ad testing is used loosely across the industry, which makes it hard to compare tools and articles. This glossary defines the terms that matter, plainly, so you can read the scores and the claims with the same dictionary.

The six cognitive dimensions

The dimensions that AI-based prediction tools score creative against. Wreltik scores all six; the full explanation of each lives in understanding Wreltik's six cognitive dimensions.

• Visual engagement. How effectively the visuals capture and hold attention, and where viewers may scroll past.
• Emotional arousal. The predicted intensity of emotional response across the video, independent of whether the emotion is positive or negative.
• Reward valuation. How rewarding the content feels, driven by the brain's anticipation and resolution of outcomes.
• Attention capture. Whether the opening holds viewers in the first seconds, the highest-leverage moment in short-form video.
• Memory potential. How likely the key moments are to be encoded into memory, which predicts whether the ad is remembered.
• Cognitive load. How much processing the content demands; high load with weak emotion usually means a message too dense to land.

Ad testing terms

• Pre-testing. Testing creative before you spend on distribution. The methods, costs, and workflow are covered in what is ad pre-testing and the complete guide to video ad pre-testing.
• Hook. The opening designed to stop the scroll. Hook testing methods compares the ways to test it.
• Thumbstop rate. The share of impressions that become views, a measure of whether the creative stops the scroll. Paired with hold rate in thumbstop rate vs. hold rate.
• Hold rate. How much of the video viewers actually watch, a measure of retention once the hook worked.
• A/B testing. Running two or more variants against live traffic and comparing outcomes. Its strengths and its traps are covered in A/B testing ads on Meta.
• Statistical power. Whether a test has enough data to distinguish signal from noise, the difference between a decision and a guess. See statistical power in ad testing.
• Creative fatigue. The decline in performance as an audience sees the same creative repeatedly. Detection and handling are covered in creative fatigue.

Neuromarketing terms

• Neuromarketing. Applying neuroscience to marketing decisions: measuring or predicting how brains respond to advertising, products, and brands. The methods are covered in what is neuromarketing.
• fMRI. Functional magnetic resonance imaging, a measurement method that tracks brain activity through blood flow while participants view content in a scanner.
• EEG. Electroencephalography, a measurement method that tracks electrical activity through scalp electrodes.
• Eye tracking. Recording where and how long people look, an indirect read on attention.
• AI-based prediction. Software trained on existing neuroscience research that predicts how brains may respond to new content, without participants. It is not a measurement, which is why the distinction matters; see why predictions, not measurements.
• Traditional studies. Participant-based neuromarketing research using equipment, usually ranging between $15,000 and $80,000. The full cost picture is in how much traditional neuromarketing costs.