Eye-tracking recordings and psychophysiological reactions

Nowadays the techniques that study consumers’ behaviour can take advantage of neuroscientific findings. That is why researchers have initiated discussions on a new research field, Neuromarketing. Although this is a promising field, many issues about the use and application of neuroscientific tools, methods and technologies are still being debated in the scientific community. It is not evident yet how to apply the results and methods provided by neuroscience and psychophysiological research into the practice of marketers, even though other social sciences, such as economics, have already integrated neuroscience into a new research field called neuroeconomics. To add empirical data to these topics, we showed 30 IULM students 20 advertising flyers. They were asked to come to the Brain and Behavior Lab on IULM University campus and sit in front of a computer while their neuro and psychophysiological reactions were recorded with non-invasive sensors: namely, EEG, EMG, Galvanic Skin Response, Heart Rate and Respiration. The recording device was synchronized with an eye-tracker system, in order to measure the pupil dilation, as an additional contactless indicator of emotional reactions, and the tracking of subjects’ gaze pointing to the PC screen. Firstly, the data analysis revealed that the most successful flyer, according to the expressed opinions of the students, is characterized by a specific pattern of neuro and psychophysiological signals. In contrast, the least successful flyer was associated with another specific pattern. These data results might help in designing a procedure to test advertising flyers based on neuro and psychophysiological reactions.