EEG correlates of mentalizing: Implications for ad effectiveness

Mentalizing, the ability to attribute thoughts, intentions, and emotions to others, is a fundamental mechanism of social cognition. Recent research suggests that mentalizing may significantly predict ad liking and may also be linked to transportation into the ad narration. However, the neural mechanisms underlying this process have yet to be fully understood, particularly through electroencephalography (EEG). This study addressed this gap by investigating the EEG correlates of mentalizing in ads and defining the role they play in narrative transportation and ad effectiveness. 46 participants viewed a set of 30 ads with high and low narrative structure while undergoing EEG recording. Mentalizing and Narrative transportation extents were assessed both via validated video-based tasks and self-report scales. Ad effectiveness was evaluated via self-report measures of ad liking, purchase, sharing and recommendation intent. The study contributes to the theoretical foundations of social cognition processes by identifying an EEG measure of mentalizing with characters. Moreover, it places this measure within a consumer behavior model of practical relevance that demonstrates how it can influence the audience's narrative transportation in the ad story and its final ad perception. Its findings can offer practical implications for companies, providing them with a mentalizing EEG measure to evaluate the effectiveness of advertising campaigns while also accounting for this mental process to achieve a more comprehensive assessment of consumer behavior.