being normal

Ad men use brain scanners to probe our emotional response | Guardian

fuckyeahneuroscience:

Neuromarketers are using MRI scanners and electrode caps to work out our hidden reactions to their adverts

The world’s biggest companies have got a new way of convincing you to buy their products – by getting inside your head. Brands including Google, Facebook and ITV are turning to mind-reading technology to help them develop products and create adverts that people like.

Traditionally, focus groups have been used to tell marketeers what they think of adverts. Unfortunately for advertisers, some people don’t tell the truth.

Faced with the prospect of consumers hiding their emotions – perhaps a middle-aged man reluctant to reveal that he shed a tear at a sentimental John Lewis Christmas advert – a new breed of “neuromarketer” has emerged, armed with medical technology to probe consumers’ brains for genuine responses.

Scary