Second doctorate unlocks new insights into young smokers and consumer behaviour

In 2020, just as the COVID-19 pandemic was setting in with all its restrictive challenges, Ayanda Vilakazi embarked on his second doctorate: a Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Commerce. Already three decades into a marketing career that has included a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and Doctor of Business Administration (DBA), he sought novel insight into consumer decision-making and behaviour through neuroscience. His research focused on a sample group of young users of nicotine electronic cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes.

It is an area drawing increasing scholarly attention, as neurological determinants outstrip the limitations of more traditional behavioural models to reveal immediate and novel insights into consumer-brain responses to decision-making stimuli. It allows researchers to measure real-time brain-activation response levels to experimental input and approaches.

“Consumer neuroscience has vast potential towards helping us understand the human experience,” Ayanda said. “Notably, neuroimaging has revolutionised our understanding of the brain’s fronto-parietal network (FPN) and its role in executive function, decision-making and visual working memory.”

Market success, as reflected in market share, revenue, profitability and customer experience, depends on an in-depth understanding of consumer behaviour. What do buyers respond to?

“As a strategic marketer and brand development specialist, I have consistently sought stronger frameworks to improve marketing approaches and brand strategy based on consumer insight, improvement and innovation,” he said.

“From an academic perspective, this study strengthens knowledge and addresses a gap in the consumer behaviour literature.”

Choosing UCT for a PhD

In addition to 30 years’ experience in the public and private sectors, from Metropolitan Holdings to corporates such as Exxon Mobil, Colgate-Palmolive and the Coega Development Corporation, Ayanda has continued to build on his original honours degree in commerce, ultimately graduating with an MBA and DBA in business management, all from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Currently the general manager at the South African National Roads Agency and a non-executive chairman at LAMA Marketing and Advertising, this is his first degree with UCT.

“As a leading academic research institution in Africa, UCT supports the production of high-quality research under the supervision of experienced professionals. To the best of my knowledge, this is the first PhD from the UCT Faculty of Commerce to apply Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) using the OBELAB NIRSIT system as the primary instrument for data collection and registration.”

Examining the brain’s role in nicotine use and decision-making

The FPN, also known as the central executive network, links the frontal and parietal lobes and functions as a fundamental brain system that governs attention, visual working memory (VWM) and purposeful action, managing day-to-day visual tasks. VWM is an important part of cognitive development in youth.

“The study examined the FPN to identify neurobiological mechanisms that traditional methods may not fully capture, and serum cotinine concentration indicative of tobacco use,” Ayanda explained.

He focused specifically on the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), a node of the FPN which plays a crucial role in executive function, such as visual working memory, and information processing critical to choices made by consumers.

“The long-term effects of regular nicotine exposure remain poorly understood, particularly among youth during sensitive developmental periods.”

Working with a sample group of 68 regular users of nicotine electronic and tobacco cigarettes, and non-smokers aged between 18 and 35, the study used fNIRS to gather data during visual working memory tasks which activated the DLPFC. This included task training and practice and working memory loads of items to be selected at varied delay intervals over nineteen trials.

In so doing, Ayanda set out to gain deeper insight into youth decision-making and behaviour, as well as the impact of nicotine, as working memory load becomes increasingly complex.

“The FPN is sensitive to nicotine exposure. Chronic use has been linked to altered connectivity, reduced prefrontal activation during attentional tasks, and weakened top-down modulation of sensory regions. The long-term effects of regular nicotine exposure remain poorly understood, particularly among youth during sensitive developmental periods and in relation to DLPFC-mediated executive functions.”

This study addresses these gaps by using fNIRS to examine DLPFC activation during a validated VWM paradigm. It is a new approach that helps to overcome the shortcomings of orthodox consumer behaviour methods to better understand, in real-time, decision making and behavioural outcomes.

Research findings

Researchers found visual working memory load was a significant predictor of decision times across all groups. As tasks rose from two and four, to six and complexity increased, so did decision times, regardless of smoking status. Overall visual working memory accuracy across all load conditions averaged 81.0%.

However, less consistent working-memory performance in the visual task was evident among tobacco users.

“Indicators of low working-memory storage capacity in youth smokers may include losing track of tasks, forgetting or rereading instructions, difficulty remembering phone numbers or names, and feeling overwhelmed by multi-step tasks.”

“Memory function is essential across all life stages, yet it may be compromised by nicotine exposure.”

In this way, neurobiology enhances our understanding of consumer behaviour, Ayanda said. These biologically grounded insights into neural behaviour across complex processes around decision-making and visual working memory offer a new paradigm, as described in his thesis, “Examining fronto-parietal network activation in the healthy human brain of youth users of electronic and combustible cigarettes during visual working memory task”.

Findings around youth tobacco users and working memory have implications for public health messaging and evidence-based policy aimed at youth nicotine use, he said, especially given that youth usage serves as a gateway into tobacco usage in maturity.

“Memory function is essential across all life stages, yet it may be compromised by nicotine exposure.”

Indeed, this research was motivated by a knowledge gap around e-cigarette use and visual working memory. Introduced some two decades ago, the safety of electronic nicotine delivery systems has been debated ever since. Some stakeholders support e-cigarettes as tobacco substitutes, while others highlight potential health risks.

Many minds – the power of collaboration

“Conducting a PhD in Consumer Neuroscience with youth users of electronic cigarettes and tobacco was demanding and complex, particularly during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020/21, when restrictions affected the purchase of tobacco products,” he said.

Indeed, Ayanda himself, was hospitalised in intensive care for over three weeks, and extends gratitude to his wife, Lorraine Vilakazi, for her support in this difficult time.

He cites a collaboration between UCT, Stellenbosch University and neuromarketing company, Neural Sense, as strengthening the study by aligning research protocol with objectives and practical industry relevance.

“After the pandemic, this collaboration helped accelerate the research process. I am grateful to the research team and contributors who supported this work, including Associate Professor Stefan du Plessis (Stellenbosch University); Dr David Shihō Rosenstein (clinical psychologist at Neural Sense); and Dr Pragasen Pillay (UCT Faculty of Commerce).”

He also thanked his son, Ayanda Vilakazi junior, a former BSc Computer Science student at the University of the Witwatersrand, for his role.

Inspiring the next generation of consumer neuroscience students

Further study will support ongoing innovation and improvement, while generating deeper longitudinal insights into consumer behaviour, Ayanda said.

His advice to students: “Make full use of available support and learning opportunities. Where needed, seek guidance and inspiration from those who have already travelled this path. With the right career choices, consumer neuroscience can offer a meaningful and rewarding professional journey.”

Along with the support of mentors in the field, Ayanda is grateful to his family for their support over the completion of his second PhD, while holding a management position.

“Family support, encouragement, and motivation played an important role throughout. I am especially grateful to Nombuso Vilakazi, my eldest daughter, for the much-needed support she provided during the research process.”