Neural Predictors of ad Performance, and the Cannibalism of Brand Performance

Recent neuromarketing studies have produced results that far exceed traditional measures in predicting consumerresponses. Commercial applications have built on such efforts by suggesting superior predictive ability to traditional measures, but few studies have been reported. In the present study, we sought to test how neural responses (emotional and cognitive) and behavioral utterances (facial expressions) to ads wou
ld predict ad performance, and to compare this with traditional self
-reported liking measures. Participants (N=108) from a mixed-gender convenience sample were asked to watch two documentaries, interspersed by ads, and instructed that a post-movie survey would focus on the contents of the documentaries. All ads (16) were recently aired and previously unknown Super bowl ads. We used a T60-XL eye-tracker, Emotient facial coding system, and the ABM X-10 EEG system, running on the iMotions iometric research platform v4.5. Responses were analyzed using JMP v 10.0, using a random effects regression model with ad performance and brand performance as dependent variables and EEG responses (arousal, motivation, cognitive load) and facial coding as independent variables. We find that the combination of neural and behavioral metrics far exceed traditional measures in predicting ad performance, and that ad performance is negatively related to brand communication effects. This
suggests that 1) neural responses to ads are strong predictors of ad and brand performance, and that 2) communication strategies should consider the relationship between ad and brand communication goals more deliberately.