AdAge has an interesting article on the research firm Neurofocus, which wires consumers to EEG machines in hopes of truly divining what they might actually buy. The firm also uses eye-tracking machines to analyze ad viewing, and "a galvanic skin-response meter to measure arousal and emotional response." It's the absolute latest in a decades-long search for the perfect scientific method to capture consumer intentions.

A.K. Pradeep, the company's founder, is clearly onto something. He's finishing up his 100th research project since 2005 and working with some of the world's biggest firms. He's got a crew of PhD's working for him and business is booming.

So why does this all feel so 1950s?

AdAge brings in a variety of marketing and scientific types to debate the effectiveness of neuroscientific research. The promoters hype its potential at last to break through the reality of consumers lying to market researchers while detractors claim the science remains in its infancy and is unable to handle the multitude of factors that go into purchase decisions.

But aren't they all missing the main point about the customer-driven economy? If you're still trying to do research ON customers in some scientifically controlled setting rather than simply listening to their ongoing conversations in real life and engaging them in honest discussion, you'll never get far in understanding what might be useful. Even more, as we should all know by now, buyers increasingly want to participate directly in developing their own products, services, and solutions.

Exciting as it may be to think we may finally have some foolproof method to help us craft just the right message to trigger the buy buttons in our customers' brains,  we need to remember that  "the message" is simply less and less relevant. The conversations are what matter and we need to spend a lot more time figuring out how to have them in open, authentic, and constructive ways so our customers stop lying to us of their own accord.