TV Networks Open Neuroscience Labs To Improve Their Shows and Ads (reuters.com)

An anonymous reader writes: NBCUniversal's recently-opened Orlando neuroscience lab is trying to develop methods of delivering advertisements related to the scene in the show preceding them, such as delivering a food advertisement directly after a scene which has been shown to make test-subjects hungry. Viacom is building a lab right now to take electroencephalagrams of viewers while they watch. "And ratings firm Nielsen Holdings, which just bought neuroscience firm Innerscope Research earlier this year, is adding facial coding and biometrics to its labs, which currently conduct eye tracking and perform EEGs." NBC doesn't trust what viewers say when asked for their opinion on shows. They want to use science to determine which scenes trigger an emotional response, whether the viewer acknowledges it or not.

Comments

Re:They shouldn't trust people's expressed opinion

[kilfarsnar]

>> NBC doesn't trust what viewers say when asked for their opinion on shows.

They shouldn't trust people's expressed opinions. How many people have you heard say naive things like "I'm not influenced by advertising" or "I do my own research"? And yet, advertising works, particularly because advertisers know where prospects go to "research" and get their pitches in there.

This article should disabuse anyone of the notion that they are not influenced by advertising. They are studying brain physiology in order to sell you stuff! They are operating on a subconscious level that many people aren't even aware exists! We have little defense if our conscious mind doesn't even enter into the equation. And if you think these techniques are just used to make you want hamburgers, think again.

Advertising and other forms of subconscious manipulation are used to sell you wars, government policies and political candidates. People think their opinions are their own, but often they have just been selected from a menu presented to them by the media.

Yeah, advertising works. Millions if not billions of dollars have been spent to understand how you think, what motivates you, and how to influence that without your knowledge. Anyone who thinks they are not affected is foolish and ignorant.