the marketing review

Brain imaging during advertising:

A neuromarketing study of sound and pictures
João Vidigal Costa, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal
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Carlos Lucas de Freitas, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal*

Teresa Paiva, Centro de Electroencefalografia e Neurofisiologia
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Clínica, Portugal

The main objective of this exploratory research was to study the influence of sound
and picture in advertising by observing the neural responses of subjects from
both genders. Electroencephalograms (EEG) were recorded for 11 female and 11
male participants, during the presentation of various experimental conditions of
two television advertisements.
A local frequency analysis pointed out key moments in the ads. A sLORETA
analysis showed and explained a larger neural activation for one ad over the other,
for both genders, especially in areas related to visual and auditory integration as
well as specific decision-related structures.
It was concluded that sound and picture amplify each other’s effects in
advertising. More importantly, the combination of local frequency and sLORETA
analyses can successfully point to effective moments of a marketing campaign.
These techniques can be effectively adopted for advertising management, as they
provide conclusions supported in brain area activations, with a relatively low cost.

Keywords Neuromarketing, EEG, TV advertisement, Wavelet transform,

sLORETA

Introduction

Neuromarketing is an emergent field, which consists of “looking at consumer

behavior from a brain perspective” (Morin, 2011, p. 132). Most scientific works
establish the definition of neuromarketing as “a field of study concerning
the application of neuroscience methods to analyze and understand human
behavior related to markets and marketing exchanges” (Babiloni, 2012, p.

*Correspondence details and biographies for the authors are located at the end of the article.

The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 405- 422
http://dx.doi.org/10.1362/146934715X1450349053594
ISSN1469-347X print / ISSN 1472-1384 online ©Westburn Publishers Ltd.
 406 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

21). Thus, neuromarketing is the combination of neuroscience and marketing,

providing to the second the powerful machinery and insights from the first.
A number of marketing agencies have started using neuroimaging tools
to better understand both the commercial potential and challenges of their
clients (Murphy, Illes & Reiner, 2008).
Neuromarketing is able to provide directly obtainable information about
the neural reactions of individuals (Lee, Broderick, & Chamberlain, 2007).
It can even be used to judge a product before it exists, as its fast execution
could mean that a concept may be swiftly tested, and if the results do not
meet the standards, the manufacturer could abandon that concept early
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on in its production process (Ariely & Berns, 2010). Numerous techniques

used in a neuroscientific context can be employed in neuromarketing, such
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as electroencephalography (EEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging

(fMRI), facial electromyography (EMG) or the measuring of galvanic skin
response (Hess, 2009; Mendes, 2009).
EEG is a non-invasive procedure that can be applied to both adults
and children, and which results in a measure of the electrical brain activity
obtained from the scalp. The electrical signal observed in the human scalp
derives from the electrical voltages generated in the brain, either as action
potentials or postsynaptic potentials (Harmon-Jones & Peterson, 2009;
Teplan, 2002). Modern high resolution EEG allows detection of brain activity
and brain connectivity on the cortical surface, with a spatial resolution of up
to a squared centimeter and the time resolution of milliseconds (Fallani et
al., 2008).
One of the most important analyses that can be performed to the data
resulting from the EEG is that of the waveform. From a waveform perspective,
an evaluation is made on the basis of grouping the different components of
the signal, according to the frequency interval to which they belong. There
are five brain wave patterns to be considered: alpha, beta, delta, theta and
gamma.
Alpha waves (8 - 13 Hz) are generally found in the EEGs of most adults
when they are awake and in a quiet, resting state of thinking. They are most
common in the occipital lobe, but also can be found in the parietal and
frontal lobes, and have a voltage of about 50 μV (Guyton & Hall, 2006).
Beta waves (14 - 30 Hz) may replace alpha waves in the case of a subject’s
attention being directed to a specific type of mental activity. Guyton and
Hall (2006) mention that by simply opening the eyes, visual sensations cause
the alpha waves to cease, with beta waves immediately taking place. These
waves are generally found in the parietal and frontal lobes. Theta (4 - 7 Hz)
and Gamma (30 - 80 Hz) waves play an important role in memory activation
(Jensen, Kaiser, & Lachaux, 2007). Theta waves also play a role in emotional
processing, and gamma waves are associated with attention. Delta waves
(0.5 - 3.5 Hz) are characteristic of specific sleep stages (Guyton & Hall, 2006).
The Wavelet Transform algorithm was used do perform a thorough
frequency analysis. The Wavelet Transform gives a local frequency analysis
of non-stationary signals (like EEG) over a time interval, decomposing the
signal from the time domain to a time-frequency domain. This means that
with this method, one can know the evolution of each desired frequency
over time. Another type of analysis was used to better understand the precise
origin of the electrical signal obtained with the EEG: for a better mapping of
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 407

the brain activity, the sLORETA software package was used, as it presented a
better approximation to the real activation of the brain than other algorithms
like dipole fitting (Pascual-Marqui, 1999). The sLORETA (Standardised Low
Resolution Electromagnetic Tomography) yields a good approximation for
the solution of the inverse problem of the EEG, i.e., to determine the spatial
localisation of the neuronal generators of the EEG responses. It depicts these
phenomena with the lowest localisation error from all the 3D localisation
methods (Pascual-Marqui, 2002), with a 5 mm spatial resolution (Fuchs,
Kastner, Wagner, Hawes, & Ebersole, 2002; Pascual-Marqui, 2002), which is
close to what some fMRI systems are able to offer (fMRI’s strongest point is
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its very good spatial resolution).

In this research, the focus was on studying the reaction of participants to
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different TV ads for the same brand and product. EEG was used to acquire
the reactions of the participants, which were analysed to better understand
factors like feelings, levels of attention and arousal. This was complemented
with a questionnaire. The main goals of this research were to:

• verify if a simple experimental paradigm, with only target stimuli, can

be reliable for a neuromarketing analysis;
• attest if neural responses can point to key moments in an ad; and, if
so, recognise when and why those occur;
• identify what structures show the most significant differences
between different ads;
• observe the importance of sound in the context of advertisements;
and
• analyse the usefulness of methods, like the Wavelet Transform and
sLORETA, in neuromarketing studies.

Methodology

Participants
The sample is a convenience sample, comprising 22 subjects (11 of each
gender). All the subjects were right-handed, had normal or corrected vision,
and had no diagnosed neurological issues. They were all Caucasian, were of
the same nationality, and were all young adults aged between 22 and 28
years old, educated to university level.

Research design
The research design of this experiment consisted of the showing of two
different TV commercials, under four conditions: original audiovisual form
(Sound and Picture), with Sound Only, with Picture Only and with the Sound
Swapped. Each stimulus was shown six times, and they were separated
by a neutral image (a black dot in the centre of the screen). The duration
of the stimuli was normalised so that both ads had the same duration,
while keeping the main body of both ads intact. The research stimuli were
sequenced using E-Prime® (Toscani, Marzi, Righi, Viggiano, & Baldassi, 2010),
a software package for psychological experiments involving audiovisual
stimuli. E-Prime also has the advantage of presenting millisecond accuracy,
 408 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

which is of the utmost importance, to allow correspondence between stimuli

and neuronal effects. It also allows a set of experimental parameters to be
defined beforehand, such as the number of repetitions of each stimulus,
the time of exposure and if they are to be shown in sequential order or in
random order (in this case they were displayed in random order) to mitigate
potential subject-expectancy effects.
The two commercials advertised the same product, a women’s perfume
called J’adore, produced by Dior. Both ads star Charlize Theron, a famous
Hollywood actress from South Africa, and have both at some point been
shown on national television. A summary of both ads will be presented next:
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• First ad (Ad1): The older of the two adverts was shown in 2010,
and features the protagonist in a Parisian apartment, walking
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determinedly through a series of rooms, all the while undressing. The

song ‘A Funky Space Reincarnation’, a single released in 1979 by the
late American musician Marvin Gaye, plays in the background for the
whole duration of the ad. The protagonist says numerous lines that
culminate in her saying the name of the product, transitioning to an
outside view of the building in which the Paris Dior store is located,
with the Eiffel Tower in the background. The full ad had a duration of
27.6 s.
• Second ad (Ad2): This ad was shown in 2011 and 2012, and features
Theron preparing for and taking part in a catwalk show, while two
famous (deceased) actresses walk past her: Grace Kelly and Marilyn
Monroe. These two actresses were computer generated, and the
latter is actually shown holding the perfume and saying its name. The
soundtrack (speech and music) of the ad consists almost entirely (with
the exception of the mentions of the product and brand by ‘Marilyn’
and Theron), of the song ‘Heavy Cross’, released by the American
band Gossip, in 2009. The ad was edited to have the exact duration
of 27.6 s.

Complementary questionnaire
A questionnaire was then given to the participants to complete immediately
after the experiment, to complement the neuromarketing data. It assessed
participant characteristics, and opinions about the brand, the product, and
the ads. The ad-based questions focused on perception, memorisation,
sound and image pleasantness, previous knowledge of elements of the ads,
and general feelings about them. The questions were scored using a seven-
point Likert scale, ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree);
these were inspired by the ‘Brand Experience Scale’ (Brakus, Schmitt, &
Zarantonello, 2009) that had four dimensions: sensory, affective, behavioural,
and intellectual. The questionnaire was produced and administered using
Qualtrics®.
Using ANOVA and Kruskal-Wallis tests, the responses of both genders
were compared, to observe if there were significant differences, with 
= 0.05, while the Repeated Measures ANOVA and Friedman tests were
computed to verify any significant differences between the two ads, again
with  = 0.05.
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 409

Equipment
The amplifier used for all the signal acquisitions, was a BrainVision® QuickAmp
72, which allowed the amplification of the very small currents obtained
through the EEG system. The sampling rate used for all the acquisitions was
2000 Hz, to prevent aliasing.
The electrode cap used here follows the 10-10 system, with 63 Ag/AgCl
electrodes and is made of a spandex-like material (Figure 1). An additional pair
of electrodes was used to obtain the vertical components of eye movements,
and enable the removal of the artifacts caused by these.
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Signal processing
A wavelet transform was obtained for each stimulus. This resulted in the
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normalised powers of the theta, alpha, beta and gamma bands over time,
from each repetition of the stimuli. The frequency data were grand-averaged
across subjects.
The averaged EEG data of each subject were obtained and exported for
use in sLORETA. These data were used for t-tests over time ( = 0.05), to
detect moments where there were significant differences between stimuli,
and between both genders. Moreover, they were used to compare the
average neural activity in that interval (the first second of the ad), with the
purpose of observing if there were significant differences between the two
commercials, for their Sound and Picture conditions (the ads in their original
form).

Figure 1

On the left, a schematic of the electrode placement used in a 10-10 system is presented (adapted from Duffy,
McAnulty, McCreary, Cuchural, & Komaroff, 2011). On the right, the picture presents the electrode cap used
for this work.
 410 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

Results

Questionnaire results
From the analysis of the questionnaire responses between the two genders,
it was concluded that most of the ad-based questions did not present any
significant inter-gender differences. The only exception showed that, for
both ads, females remembered the protagonist the most (Table 1).
For the brand- and product-based questions, the results show that the
female participants had a greater experience with Dior products, and J’adore
in particular, as well as a greater desire to acquire and use these in the future
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(Table 2), than their male counterparts. They had more interest in this kind of
product which, given its nature, was to be expected (all male subjects rated
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their experience with the perfume at the lowest possible value).

From the responses of the whole group of participants, there was only
one item where inter-ad differences were significant (Table 3): the song
that featured in the second ad (Heavy Cross by Gossip) was better known
outside the context of the commercial than the song that featured in the
first ad (A Funky Space Reincarnation by Marvin Gaye), which given the fact
that the former is much more contemporary to the subjects than the latter,
could be considered natural. Both songs were, nonetheless, highly rated
by the participants and so was the protagonist’s attractiveness and voice
pleasantness in both ads.

Table 1 Kruskal-Wallis test for advertisement-based items with significant

differences across genders

First ad Second ad
Questions Gender Mean Ranks p-value Mean Ranks p-value
Knew the protagonist very well Male 8.05 .011 7.95 .009
Female 14.95 15.05

Table 2 Product and brand based questions that presented significant differences
across genders

Questions Gender Mean Ranks p-value

Male 7.73
Had used products from Dior, multiple times .003
Female 15.27
Male 8.00
Desire of using Dior products in the future .010
Female 15.00
Male 8.18
Interest in this kind of product .014
Female 14.82
Male 9.05
Had used J’adore, multiple times .002
Female 13.95
Male 6.09
Desire of using J’adore in the future .000
Female 16.91
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 411

Table 3 Friedman’s test for advertisement-based questions

First ad Second ad
Questions p-value
Mean Ranks Mean Ranks
Knew the song before watching the ad 1.23 1.77 .008

Both ads’ means are below the middle of the scale for the question
about the previous knowledge of the ad, which shows that subjects didn’t
remember them well from before the experiment. It is also worth mentioning
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that the standard deviations and means for the question about the possible
improvement of the opinion on the product were exactly the same for both
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ads, signalling that the participants felt no conscious preference for one ad
over the other.

EEG time-frequency results

Theta-band: Prefrontal cortex
The wavelet transform of the EEG signals of the participants allowed a
detailed analysis of the frequency of the brain reactions to the ads, and of
their changes through time. Figure 2 presents one graphical representation
of results obtained from this analysis, in this case, pertaining to the frontal
region of the brain.
The first result to be explored is the strong bilateral theta activation
that occurred over the anterior region of the frontal cortex, for most of the
duration of both ads. Sammler, Grigutsch, Fritz and Koelsch (2007) argued
that pleasant music increased theta activity over the frontal midline. This can
be interpreted as originating from the perception of both songs as pleasant,
as expressed by the high scores in the questionnaire.
When the soundtracks from the two ads were swapped, the resulting
Sound Swapped stimuli caused very similar patterns of activation; however,
the subjects presented less medial prefrontal theta activity than they had with
the ads in their original form. Even though the theta peaks covered a good
portion of each commercial, it was clear that as a result of the sound being
presented out of sync with the pictures, sound wasn’t perceived as being as
pleasing as it was in the original commercials. This proves the importance of
the editing that is done when creating an ad, to combine and synchronise
sound elements with the visual stimuli.

Theta-band: Frontotemporal cortex

In both Sound Swapped stimuli, frontotemporal theta peaks were observed.
For instance, there are two clear theta frontotemporal synchronisations for
the first ad, occurring at the same time as two lines spoken in the original
ad, that in this case cannot be heard (‘Gold is Cold’ and ‘Don’t Pretend’).
There are similar peaks in the Sound Only condition of the first commercial,
around the time of the first and third lines that are spoken. This shows an
anticipatory response to these specific sound bites, since it occurs both when
the participants heard those sounds and when they did not.
 412 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

Figure 2 Grand averaged power spectrum

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Grand averaged power spectrum of the 22 participants, for the whole duration of the second ad, when sound
and picture were presented. The x-axis represents time (0 to 28 seconds), the y-axis represents the frequency
domain (4 to 60 Hz) and the colours represent the spectral power (-0.25 to 0.50 μV2).

Theta-band: Temporoparietal cortex

In the first ad, the Picture Only condition presents right temporoparietal
peaks very close to three key visual moments of the ad where a close up of
the main female character is shown: first, the moment when she takes the
net off her hair, freeing it; second, when she starts taking off her bracelets;
and finally, when she starts unzipping her dress. Sauseng et al. (2004) have
shown that theta waves’ amplitude is increased over both temporoparietal
regions by visual memory processes. Furthermore, memory encoding elicits
right dominant peaks, while retrieval is a bilateral process. Thus, these three
key visual moments of the ad should be seen as crucial instances of memory
encoding (i.e., memory formation).

Theta-band: Occipital cortex

Several theta occipital peaks were elicited for the various experimental
conditions, including those with no picture (Sound Only) or no sound
(Picture Only). Concerning occipital theta activation, Lee, Lee, Kim and Zhang
(2012) have also described the importance of theta waves, over the left and
right hemispheres of the occipital lobe, for episodic memory during audio-
visual pairing tasks. The lack of this kind of activity for the Sound Swapped
condition means that memory retrieval is lower than for other conditions,
which does make sense since it was an entirely new stimulus to the subjects.
Also, the Picture Only condition for the first ad did not generate these spikes.
Given that in the questionnaire the song that featured in the first ad scored
significantly lower than the song that featured in the second ad in terms of
previous memories (Table 3), this is understandable.

Alpha-band
The two conditions that held more constant alpha activity, especially over
anterior frontal regions and the occipital cortex, were the two stimuli from
the Sound Only condition. The alpha waveform has been generally noted as
an “idling rhythm” (Pfurtscheller, Stancák, & Neuper, 1996), occurring during
periods of decreased information input, and being maximised when the eyes
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 413

are closed (Feige et al., 2005). The constantly large alpha activity in both
Sound Only stimuli occurred because of the lack of visual input (Toscani et
al., 2010).
For the first ad, all the conditions present increased alpha activity after
the 20th second, which is approximately the time of the first verbal mention
of the advertised product, and it is then that the focus is changed from the
main female character to the product. In the case of the first experimental
condition (Sound and Picture) for the first ad, this happened systematically
until the end of that stimulus. Conversely, for the two remaining conditions
containing picture (Picture Only, and Sound Swapped), alpha activity
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over that interval was not as significant. Nevertheless, some beta activity
spikes followed alpha synchronisations/desynchronisations (i.e., amplitude
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growths/drops) for these conditions. For those moments that elicited this
dual behaviour, what happened was that attention was actually amplified,
as there was an anticipatory reaction, followed by an attentional increase.

Alpha and beta synchronisations

The alpha rhythm works in an antagonistic way to the beta rhythm, the latter
being a mark of increased processing by cortical structures, and so a solid
indicator of attention. These systematic ‘ups and downs’ on both frequency
bands are connected due to the fact that with the numerous repetitions of the
ads, the participants started anticipating some of the key moments. Babiloni,
Vecchio, Bultrini, Romani and Rossini (2006) observed that the alpha rhythm
increased over frontal, parietal and occipital areas, before anticipated stimuli,
but rapidly reacted with a power decrease for those same stimuli. Other
authors reported similar ‘cueing’ effects, like Snyder and Foxe (2010) in the
occipital cortex, or Laufs et al. (2006), who observed such alpha patterns
followed by beta synchronisations over attentional regions like the prefrontal
cortex and the parietal lobe.

Beta-band
A beta peak occurred in the Sound and Picture condition of the first ad,
right after the view of the Dior building where the brand’s main store in
Paris is located, another peak occurred when the perfume is shown, and
yet another when the brand name is shown and also mentioned by Theron.
Also in this Sound and Picture condition, the other main attentional peaks
occurred around the time that Theron takes off her necklace and when she
took off her bracelets. These moments were important moments in the ad,
where participants presented a greater focus on what they were watching.
For the first ad, the biggest difference between the original ad and the
other two conditions with picture (Picture Only and Sound Swapped) was
that it generated more alpha synchronisations/desynchronisations, coupled
with beta synchronisations right up to the eighth second. This is right before
Charlize Theron takes off her golden necklace, and most importantly, says
her second line, a moment that actually elicited a beta synchronisation in the
original condition, but did not for the other two conditions. When the sound
(speech and music) from the second ad is inserted into the first ad, frontal
peaks occurred during and right after the first close-up of the protagonist,
after she takes the net off her hair, when she starts taking off her dress, when
her silhouette is shown, and also, as already mentioned, the moment where
 414 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

the perfume fades into the picture. Almost all of the beta synchronisations
that occurred in the Picture Only condition have also been observed in either
one, or both of the Sound and Picture and Sound Swapped conditions,
showing that sound did not dilute the impact of the visual stimuli.
In the case of the second ad, during the first four seconds, the protagonist
is seen running across a hall full of photographers, and then entering a room
surrounded by more people. For both the Sound Swapped and Picture and
Sound conditions, the common key attention moments were the close-up
of Grace Kelly, the moment when Charlize Theron steps onto the catwalk
(where the Dior name is strategically positioned in the background), when
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the bottle of J’adore is shown, and when the name of the product appears.
Then, just as for the Sound Swapped condition, there was also a notable
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increase in attention when Charlize Theron is seen for the first time, and
when Theron speaks for the first time (‘Gold is Cold’), highlighting this as
a particularly captivating line. For this condition, there were also attention
peaks around the time that Theron is shown getting dressed, and when the
Dior name appears. Inversely, for the Sound and Picture condition of the
second ad, the other key moment was the first time that Marilyn Monroe
appears, when she mentions the brand name. Therefore, in both conditions,
using the voices of the characters (either Charlize Theron’s or Marilyn’s)
proved to be an effective way of drawing attention to the product.

Gamma-band
Most gamma peaks over the prefrontal cortex occurred around the same
time as beta peaks. The only exceptions happened in the Sound and Picture
condition of the first advertisement, around the 17th second, right after one
of the lines is spoken (‘Feel what’s real’), and on the 3rd second of the second
ad, for the same condition. This last one was most likely due to the opening
notes of the song in synch with the image of the protagonist entering the
dressing room. Even more importantly, the Sound Only condition of the first
ad elicited an exceptionally high amount of synchronisations in the gamma
frequency band over the temporal lobe, around the time of the first, second
and third lines that were spoken. The temporal lobe has an essential role
in auditory processing, since it contains the auditory cortex, pointing to an
increase in auditory perception (Crone, Boatman, Gordon, & Hao, 2001). This
shows that participants were specially engaged by the protagonist speaking,
even more so than for the rest of the auditory stimuli.
In summary, both commercials presented numerous peaks in moments
that can be considered key to their effectiveness, such as when the product
is shown, or when the brand or product name are either displayed or
mentioned, or key characters speak or appear. They show somewhat similar
patterns of frequency responses, and are in agreement with the results of the
questionnaire. The isolated sound of the first ad actually presented signs of
increased auditory impact over the second commercial, due to the various
moments where the protagonist spoke (whereas in the second ad there
are only two ‘speech’ moments, close to the middle and to the end of the
ad, whispering the name of the perfume and then also the name of the
brand). So, while some results are in tune with those from the questionnaire,
this analysis pointed to some additional specific elements that have caused
physiological responses from the participants.
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 415

sLORETA
In this last analysis, the first second of each ad from the Picture and Sound
condition was selected to observe if there was a significantly different initial
reaction between genders. Two two-tailed paired t-tests were used, one
over the first second, and one for a specific time period within that first
second, defined as being the one with larger statistical differences in the
first test. So, the first test tackles the question “When are the two ads most
significantly different?” and the second test addresses the question “Which
brain structures have significantly different reactions?” Therefore, for the first
test, the averaged EEG data of each participant are used, while the second
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test used the sLORETA transformed data of each subject.

The interval from 663 ms to 694.5 ms was observed to be the time
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in which larger differences occurred between both ads, during their first
second, for female subjects (Figure 3). Then, a t-test with spatial localisation
was performed over that interval (Figure 4), in which the following regions
were identified as having differences of the type A(Ad2) > B(Ad1):
Left Hemisphere: Medial Frontal Gyrus - Brodmann Area 6 (Brodmann &
Garey, 2006).
Right Hemisphere: Precentral Gyrus (Brodmann Areas 4, 6, 43, 44), Inferior
Frontal Gyrus (Brodmann Areas 44, 45, 47), Insula (Brodmann Area 13),
Superior Temporal Gyrus, (Brodmann Areas 13, 21, 22, 38), Fusiform Gyrus
(Brodmann Area 20), Inferior Temporal Gyrus (Brodmann Areas 20, 21),
Temporal Lobe Sub-Gyral (Brodmann Area 21) and Middle Temporal Gyrus
(Brodmann Areas 21, 22).
There were also differences of the opposite type, in the Middle Occipital
Gyrus (Brodmann Area 19).
In the case of men, the interval between 538.5 ms and 572.5 ms was
where the most significant differences were found between the two ads,
during the first second (Figure 5). All differences were of the type A(Ad2) >
B(Ad1) (Figure 6), and occurred in the following regions:
Left Hemisphere: Superior Frontal Gyrus (Brodmann Area 8), Middle Frontal
Gyrus (Brodmann Area 8), Posterior Cingulate Gyrus (Brodmann Area 30),
Limbic Lobe Sub-Gyral (BA 31), Precuneus (Brodmann Area 7, 19, 31),
Superior Temporal Gyrus (Brodmann Areas 21, 22, 42), Middle Temporal
Gyrus (Brodmann Area 21), Transverse Temporal Gyrus (Brodmann Area 42)
and Cuneus (Brodmann Area 7, 19, 30).
Right Hemisphere: Cingulate Gyrus (Brodmann Area 31), Precuneus
(Brodmann Areas 7, 19, 31), Supramarginal Gyrus (Brodmann Area 40),
Superior Temporal Gyrus (Brodmann Area 22, 39), Middle Temporal Gyrus
(Brodmann Area 39), Cuneus (Brodmann Area 7), Precuneus (Brodmann
Area 31) and Middle Occipital Gyrus (Brodmann Area 19).
These results demonstrate that men and women had inverse reactions
to both ads in the middle occipital gyrus that is related with differences of
spatial attention (Mangun, Buonocore, Girelli, & Jha, 1998). Females had
higher levels of spatial attention for the first ad, possibly because of visual
elements like the protagonist’s dress and jewellery, while males were more
focused on the second ad, probably due to the anticipation of the protagonist
appearing by the end of the first second. The right inferior frontal gyrus is
 416 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

Figure 3 Maximum t-values over time for the averaged EEGs of females
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Figure 4 3D mapping of the significant differences between the two ads for the
11 female subjects

Red and yellow (to the right hand end of the spectrum) represent areas where significant differences were
observed.

stimulated when important attentional elements are perceived (Hampshire,

Chamberlain, Monti, Duncan, & Owen, 2010), and the left medial frontal
gyrus is connected with approach behaviour (Talati & Hirsch, 2005). On the
other hand, the right fusiform gyrus and inferior temporal gyrus, which were
more active in the second ad for females, are structures involved in face
processing (Gross, 2008; Rossion, Hanseeuw, & Dricot, 2012). This was most
likely caused by the faces of photographers shown at the beginning of the
stimulus.
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 417

Figure 5 Maximum t-values over time for the averaged EEGs of males
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Figure 6 3D mapping of the significant differences between the two ads for the
11 male subjects

Red and yellow (to the right hand end of the spectrum) represent areas where significant differences were
observed.

Both genders had increased processing in the superior and middle

temporal gyrus for the second commercial, i.e., areas involved in musical
processing and voice recognition, caused by better recall of the song featured
in the commercial, also expressed in the questionnaire. Men also presented
increased activation of the transverse temporal gyrus, which is an area of
auditory integration, showing that the song featured in the second ad was
more effective in hooking these spectators.
 418 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

The fact that men presented greater activation of Brodmann Area 8 for
the second ad shows a more successful memorisation (Astolfi et al., 2008).
This is an important result, given that men could be interested in acquiring
this product later on as a gift. A greater rate of memorisation can make the
product more viable, as men will be more prone to recall it when considering
what to buy as a gift.
The precuneus and the supramarginal gyrus, also more active in men in
the second ad, are responsible for memory retrieval, showing that not only
was the memory formation more effective here, but so was memory retrieval
(Lundstrom, Ingvar, & Petersson, 2005), an item where the questionnaire
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responses did not show significant differences. In the limbic lobe, there was
also an increased activation of the posterior cingulate gyrus (Brodmann Area
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23), important for evaluative judgment (Zysset, Huber, & von Cramon, 2002),
showing that they found it to be more aesthetically pleasing.
In summary, for the first second of the commercials in the Picture and
Sound condition, both men and women show higher levels of arousal
caused by the song featured in the second ad than by the song featured in
the first one. Both genders also presented increased memory generation for
the second commercial. Still, females seemed to engage in more selective
visual attention for the first ad, and more facial specific processing for the
second. Conversely, men show more selective attention to the second ad,
but no facial specific differences of arousal between ads. Male subjects were
demonstrated to be more involved in attitude formation for the second ad.
Therefore, this analysis points to a better initial reaction from both genders
to the second commercial over the first.
While in this analysis only the first second of each ad was used, further
assessment of an ad would be able to use the same methodology for other
periods of that ad, going as far as fully dissecting that commercial, and the
reactions it generated.
This study shows that the combination of the EEG with an algorithm like
sLORETA can be a powerful tool to understand the different ways by which
specific groups react to different commercials, over specific periods of time.

Conclusions and managerial implications

During this exploratory research, we used a simple experimental setup to

approximate the experiment to a natural viewing of TV commercials. This
proved to be effective to produce relevant frequency and sLORETA data.
The frequency analysis (wavelet transform) and sLORETA analysis were
vital to obtain pertinent results for this study. The wavelet transform and the
sLORETA technique allowed the study of the neural responses over the whole
ad and a good localisation of the sources of those responses for specific time
intervals.
Thanks to the wavelet transform algorithm, it was possible to pinpoint
moments when memory, attention and emotional processes were particularly
elicited. This was observed for the first commercial in moments where either
the brand or the product were presented, as well as in moments where the
protagonist is on screen. In the second commercial, besides these moments,
appearances of other famous figures also generated relevant responses.
 Costa, Lucas de Freitas & Paiva Brain imaging during advertising 419

Using sLORETA, differences in the initial responses from one commercial

to the other were observed mainly in auditory processing regions in the
temporal lobe, and in regions related to selective visual attention, for each
gender. Responses were also significantly different for structures related to
memory processes, face specific processing and attitude formation. From this
analysis, results evidenced a larger initial reaction to one ad over the other,
something that would not be perceived from a conventional questionnaire.
The sample used in this study was relatively small, something that
obviously conditioned the results from the questionnaire. However, the same
was not observed for the EEG, showing that when an EEG analysis is applied,
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the need for a larger sample is greatly attenuated. Moreover, while in this
study the sLORETA algorithm was applied just for the first second of each
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ad, it proved to be a successful way of understanding how individuals react

to advertisements, and it can be used to study the complete length of those
ads.
It was observed that replacing the sound of one ad with the other did
change the attentional responses considerably, even though it did not clearly
modify the preference of one ad over the other. Also, sound alone seemed
to be much less effective to catch the subjects’ attention when compared to
stimuli where sound and picture where combined, and in some cases it was
even perceived as deviant by the subjects, due to the lack of synchronisation
between sound and picture. So, from the point of view of the advertisers,
reusing the image of one ad with sound effects from another seems to be
less effective, and while creating a new ad, special care must be employed to
combine what is heard and what is seen.
Moreover, the Picture-Only stimuli also presented the loss of some of
the effects found in the original ads, and the Sound-Only stimuli seemed
to greatly disperse the attention of the subjects. It seems that these two
elements amplified each other, as the combination of both did not just
generate a superposition of their individual reactions, but also generated
more constant emotional reactions and more attention peaks which, due to
their larger average amplitudes, showed that these reactions occurred more
consistently across subjects.
While some results obtained through the use of the EEG analyses
complement what was obtained from the questionnaire, they go further in
the explanation, and even highlight some results that were not significant
in the questionnaire analysis. The use of these EEG data analysis techniques
proved to be less affected by the size of the sample, unlike more traditional
means like the questionnaire. This analysis shows that neuroscience
techniques can be very useful to gather information about how and
when a group reacts to an advertisement, and which elements improve
or decrease the public’s engagement. Moreover, while a questionnaire
only allows for being able to interpret what participants are trying to say
and for participants knowing how to express how they felt about the ads,
a neuroscientific methodology, like the one applied here, gives answers at
both conscious and subconscious levels. Furthermore, the fact that these
techniques can be relatively inexpensive, and do not require large samples,
makes them a viable and useful candidate for both the marketing industry
and for academia, while helping the advancement of knowledge both in
marketing and neurosciences.
 420 The Marketing Review, 2015, Vol. 15, No. 4

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About the Authors and Correspondence

João Vidigal Costa, Licensed Engineer and MSc, is a researcher with CEG-IST,
the Centre for Management Studies, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade
de Lisboa, working on management (marketing) and neurosciences. He
graduated in Biomedical Engineering at Instituto Superior Tecnico, with a
Masters Dissertation in Neuromarketing. He is currently working at a strategic
consultancy company.
João Vidigal Costa, Centro de Estudos de Gestão, Instituto Superior
Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa; Avenida Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001,
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Lisboa, Portugal
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E joao.vidigal.costa@gmail.com

Carlos Lucas de Freitas, Licensed Engineer and MBA (Universidade do

Porto), with a PhD in Marketing from London Business School, University
of London, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering and
Management, and affiliated with CEG-IST, the Centre for Management
Studies, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa. He is currently
working on Neuroscience and Management (focusing on Product Marketing
Communications and Pricing), and Engineering and Management of Health
Systems, with emphasis on the uses of technological innovations. He is also
involved in research on sustainability in supply chains, with a focus on the
social dimension.
Corresponding author: Carlos Lucas de Freitas, Centro de Estudos
de Gestão, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa; Avenida
Rovisco Pais 1, 1049-001, Lisboa, Portugal
E clucas@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Teresa Paiva, MD, PhD and Aggregation in Medicine (Neurology),

Universidade de Lisboa, is a Neurologist, Neurophysiologist and Sleep
Medicine Specialist (Portuguese Medical Association and European Sleep
and Research Society). Teresa is the Clinical Director of CENC (Centro
de EEG e Neurofisiologia Clínica), an Associate Professor of Neurology at
Faculdade de Medicina (retired), an Invited Associate Professor at Instituto
Superior Técnico, and member of ISAMB- Environmental Health Institute,
Universidade de Lisboa. Teresa Paiva is actively involved in research in Sleep
Medicine, and Neurosciences and Biomedical Engineering, having published
various peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and several books.
Teresa Paiva, Centro de Electroencefalografia e Neurofisiologia Clínica,
Rua Conde Antas 5, 1070 Lisbon, Portugal
E teresapaiva0@gmail.com
ORCID 0000-0002-7937-7841