Consumer Neuroscience: TV commercials vs. virtual reality commercials

In marketing world, it is not enough to commercialize the products only trough traditional channels anymore. Today’s consumers research new stimuli and would like to be engaged in different ways. This consumer neuroscience research aimed at detecting the different cognitive and emotive responses during the vision of two types of commercials: traditional TV commercials and virtual reality commercials. Implicit (brain oscillations and physiological indexes) and explicit (subject evaluation) measures were considered in order to understand the different consumer engagement. Indeed, brain oscillations (delta, theta, alpha, beta) and physiological indexes (SCL, SCR, Puls) were monitored, when subject (N=seventeen) observed four traditional TV commercials and four virtual reality commercials in randomized order. During the vision of virtual reality commercials, the participants were absorbed into the advertisement and interacted with it thanks to “Oculus Rift”. Subjects were also asked to explicitly evaluate each commercial (on eleven dimensions) and to express their preference on them. The results show a more prefrontal cortex increased theta activity and greater SCL (Skin Conductance Level) in response to virtual reality commercials, evaluated as more emotionally involving and interesting, compared to traditional advertising. It is evident a strong relationship between explicit and implicit measures. The subjects appeared more captivated, enthusiastic and felt like protagonists thanks to a new way to do advertising.