Neurological Research Into Newspaper Effectiveness

The Newspaper Marketing Agency (NMA) has announced the world’s first commercial application of the groundbreaking “Brain Fingerprinting” technique, which allows the objective measurement of consumers’ response to advertising and its effectiveness.

Working in partnership with Millward Brown, the NMA has commissioned Brainwave Science, a leading US neurological research company headed by Dr Lawrence Farwell, to conduct a series of tests into the way consumers engage with newspaper advertising both as a solus medium and in combination with TV.

Brain Fingerprinting technology measures the brain’s involuntary response to stimuli; not just what people recognise but also what is significant for an individual.

Subsequently, this allows research into the effect of different media or media combinations by measuring the brain’s response not only to ads but also to the message the advertiser is aiming to get across.

Summarising, Dr Lawrence Farwell said: “What Brain Fingerprinting allows us to do is to look inside the brain and get an objective measurement of people’s response to advertising and how effective that advertising is.”

A pilot study using the technique has been completed, testing the effect of newspapers solus, TV solus and newspapers and TV in combination. The results from the pilot showed that the newspaper ads greatly enhanced the effect of the TV ads; for those exposed to both TV and newspapers there was a clear and measurable incremental effect.

The field work for the full study has just been completed and the results will be announced later this year.

Maureen Duffy, Chief Executive of the NMA, said: “This technique will allow us to take a huge step forward in our understanding and measurement of newspaper advertising. We are enormously excited at the potential not just to enhance accountability of the medium but also to advance our understanding of how it works on the human brain.”

Newspaper Marketing Agency: www.nmauk.co.uk