Morality in advertising: An fMRI study on persuasion in communication.
Fabian SimmankMihai AvramKai FehseTilmann H SanderYuliya ZaytsevaMarco PaoliniYan BaoSarita SilveiraPublished in: PsyCh journal (2020)
Advertising slogans serve the function of persuasive communication by presenting catchy phrases. To decide whether a slogan is convincing or not, cognitive reasoning is assumed to be complemented by a more implicit and intuitive route of information processing, presumably similar to evaluating normative judgments in moral statements. We employed functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while Western male subjects judged advertising slogans and moral statements as another decision task with subjective nature. Compared to a neutral control condition that targeted declarative memory and to an aesthetic-related condition, the evaluation processes in both domains engaged the anterior medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), which is associated with decision-making incorporating personal value. Conjoint activations were also observed in the left temporoparietal junction (TPJ) when compared to the aesthetics condition. Results are discussed with reference to domain-independence, a suspected difference to aesthetic-like appreciations, and functional organization in the mPFC and the TPJ.
Keyphrases
- decision making
- prefrontal cortex
- magnetic resonance imaging
- computed tomography
- resting state
- breast reconstruction
- pulmonary embolism
- south africa
- patient satisfaction
- cancer therapy
- case report
- working memory
- drug delivery
- physical activity
- sleep quality
- healthcare
- depressive symptoms
- magnetic resonance
- diffusion weighted imaging