Bauer’s Heat neuroscience study illustrates ads drive ‘emotional response’
Bauer teamed up with ‘brain experts’ Neuro Insight to conduct the research, who recruited 180 female consumers (aged 18-34) and measured brain responses using the ‘steady state topography’ technique, which measures several emotions as a result of electrical activity in the brain, for example engagement, long term memory encoding, desirability, emotional intensity and visual attention.
“We wanted to understand why it’s important for ads to drive emotional response, and how this enhances the ad message,” said Diamond. In the study, half of the sample were exposed to the Heat brand and the other half to a competitor, over five advertising campaigns.
“The results demonstrated the unique role of each platform,” said Diamond. “Magazines are good at driving emotion and visual attention, radio is strong for desirability, TV is associated with long-term memory and engagement and online drives left brain responses, especially attention,” he added.
The study also found that the Heat brand elicits a strong and positive emotional state. “We knew our editorial did this, but this also translates directly to ads,” said Diamond.
This study has been rolled-out across media agencies, and in January, Bauer started a consumer marketing campaign based on the findings.
“We have got customers to reappraise and think about how they use the brand, and achieved an increase of 3+ on Heat platform campaigns,” concluded Diamond.
