What is it about a TV advert that triggers people to find the product online? Scanning consumers’ brains has allowed Linda Couwenberg of Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM) to discover that a TV advert works best when it both highlights a product’s functional benefits and triggers the viewer’s imagination.

This particular combination of elements activates specific parts of the viewer’s brain most intensely, she found, which makes the advert more effective.

Read more on RSM Discovery: https://discovery.rsm.nl/articles/detail/275-brain-scans-reveal-what-makes-a-tv-advert-effective/

Read the paper: Couwenberg, L.E., Boksem, M.A.S., Dietvorst, R.C., Worm, L., Verbeke, W.J.M.I. & Smidts, A. (2017). Neural Responses to Functional and Experiential Ad Appeals: Explaining Ad Effectiveness. International Journal of Research in Marketing, Accepted (in press): http://bit.ly/2iOiyAN