'Children's Literature Offers a Fresh Perspective, Helping us Discover New Insights in Everyday Things'

Yulia Zaripova studies neuromarketing, exploring how our brain makes decisions. In this interview with the HSE Young Scientists project, she discusses her academic career, reflects on the importance of celebrating even small victories, and shares her favourite places in Perm.

How I Started a Career in Science

This story is deeply intertwined with the HSE Campus in Perm. The first time I came here was to attend preparatory courses while I was still in school. Later, I successfully earned my bachelor's in Management and a master's in SMART Marketing: Data, Analysis, Insight, and then became a lecturer and researcher myself. I love our university for its commitment to nurturing early-career researchers, offering them the freedom to explore fascinating scientific fields, and supporting them in finding colleagues to help navigate this challenging journey. 

I first seriously considered pursuing a career in science while studying for my master's degree, as I chose an unconventional topic for my thesis research—neuromarketing. In the fourth year of my bachelor's, while employed by the Marketing and Communications Centre at HSE Perm, I did my first interview with Sofya Kulikova, who is currently the head of our subdivision. She explained to me how brain research aids in studying consumer behaviour, how an electroencephalography cap functions, and why experiments are essential. I was so fascinated by this that I chose a related topic for my master's thesis, and the academic supervisor of the programme, Irina Shafranskaya, supported my decision. 

I am currently completing my doctoral studies and preparing intensively for the defence of my dissertation. 

The Subject of My Research

The Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience pursues a fairly broad range of research topics and serves numerous external clients. My research primarily focuses on projects that explore the neurocorrelates of people's willingness to pay for different foods. 

My master's thesis focused on chocolate. We investigated which brain lobes are activated when consuming a hedonistic food item. We were also interested in determining whether packaging has an effect—either positive or negative—on people's willingness to pay for a product. This year, we have been studying honey. We are currently preparing to publish our first article on developing scales for describing the flavour profile of honey from the perspective of its consumers. Our plans for next year are already set—we will focus on milk and contribute a chapter to a book edited by a professor from Rio de Janeiro.

I am also interested in exploring other aspects of behavioural research. For example, in collaboration with a charitable foundation in Perm, we plan to investigate what factors might influence charitable giving by individuals.

How Research Ideas Are Generated

Sometimes, new research ideas emerge during communication with external clients. Our partners are aware that there is a laboratory on HSE Campus in Perm studying the human brain. As researchers, we are prepared to address questions on how people perceive a particular product.

When we use eye-tracking and electroencephalography in our research, we access aspects of human behaviour that are difficult to verbalise and often hidden from conscious awareness. Such experiments help us develop higher-quality predictive models and gain a better understanding of which neurometrics are valuable for discovering how consumers make decisions.

What I Take Pride In

Our paper on chocolate ranked among the top 30 in the field of neuromarketing and was featured in the anniversary issue of the Neuromarketing Yearbook in Hollywood. Some of my papers have been published in Food Quality and Preference, a peer-reviewed journal. Of course, this is just the beginning, but I always make it a point to celebrate even small academic victories.

What Is Neuromarketing

Neuromarketing is an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of neurophysiology, cognitive psychology, and marketing. Consumers interact with goods and services daily, making thousands of decisions. The price of a product is not always the primary factor influencing a person’s choice; we often respond to packaging, texture, colour, brand, ambient music, and other conditions while making a purchase. Generally, consumer behaviour is often quite irrational. Neuromarketing helps us address critical questions: how decisions are mediated and how to predict the behaviour of target segments more accurately.

Neuromarketing experiments complement traditional tools and help uncover new phenomena. We are not deceiving anyone or coercing consumers into making purchases, nor are we exposing their secrets or private information. Instead, we record neurophysiological responses and interpret them, all while ensuring that the data remains anonymised.

If I Hadn't Become a Scientist

I could become a medical professional. My mother is a top-rank neurologist, and in eighth grade, I believed that attending medical school was my only path. 

But my mum—who always ends up being right—preferred that I pursue a career in science and teaching instead. One day, I visited her at work, and she spent the entire day trying to show me that a doctor's life is not as glamorous as it might seem. But I was fascinated, and nothing could distract me from my dream of becoming a doctor. A pivotal moment came later when I took a mock exam in chemistry and realised that I definitely did not want to spend several years studying natural sciences at university. Now, I am actually pleased to explore certain aspects of neurophysiology from a completely different perspective.

I was drawn to managerial fields but had no clear idea of what they involved. Today, even an eighth grader is familiar with concepts like marketing, startup, and project. From the first year, HSE University instilled in me a passion for management, and I am incredibly grateful for the way my educational path has unfolded. 

Scientist I Would Like to Meet

Just as every marketing analyst would love to speak with Philip Kotler, every neuromarketing researcher would dream of meeting Daniel Kahneman, one of the founders of behavioural economics, who sadly passed away recently.

A Typical Day for Me

My entire day revolves around current deadlines—a habit I developed during my bachelor's and master's studies. I am currently finishing the text of my dissertation and have established a clear system of check-ins with my academic supervisor. With projects in the laboratory and the university’s admission campaign, I strive to create a balanced workday that ensures no part of my life is neglected.

I enjoy spending evenings off work with my husband, who is a wonderful support in all my research endeavours. He is understanding when I have to teach classes on Saturdays and even takes part in EEG experiments when needed. On weekends, we enjoy walking outdoors, doing household chores together, and visiting friends and family. Sometimes, my weekend 'dates' involve MS Word, Excel, and work emails, but I try to limit these moments to maintain a balance between my personal and academic life. 

What I Enjoy Reading

Children's literature. My love for children's books was instilled in me by my entire family. When we revisit children's books as adults, we begin to notice how the characters build relationships, make friends, and interact with their parents. As a child, you follow the plot, but as you grow up, you start reading between the lines. Children's literature offers a fresh perspective, helping us discover new insights in everyday things. 

My Favourite Place in Perm

They are the places of my childhood such as Motovilikha, Visim, and 1905 Goda Street. I really enjoy strolling through the ‘Rayskiy Sad’ park, buying pastries from an old bakery, and walking to our summer cottage, where my grandparents tend an incredibly beautiful vegetable garden and my parents decorate the house. The embankment and city centre in Perm are now in full bloom.  Come and visit us!