Enhance of theta EEG spectral activity related to the memorization of commercial advertisings in Chinese and Italian subjects

Advertisings related to the fruition of carbonated beverages are intensively presented on the usual TV programs worldwide. Recent functional neuroimaging studies have begun to investigate how commercial brand information is processed in the brain. While the role of prefrontal cortices is then highlighted in the generation of appreciation for a brand, it is not really addressed the issue how this appreciation is spread across different cultural models, i.e. across different Western and Oriental people. In this study we investigated the cerebral activity during the fruition of similar advertising related to very popular carbonated beverages (Coca Cola and Pepsi Cola) in group of Western and Oriental people, homogeneous for age. We used such EEG technologies since it is now known that it is possible to investigate the activation of prefrontal cortex also by using advanced EEG processing techniques. By comparing the theta spectral activity of the population who remembered the TV commercial against the one who forgotten it, results present an increase of EEG activity related to frame segments showing the product advertised and its brand. These findings, focused on the prefrontal cortex and obtained with EEG measurements, suggest that this kind of technology is able to track variation of the cerebral activity related to cognitive function, such as memorization, across TV commercials. Moreover, there is the possibility to investigate frame segments of particular interest for marketers and, on the other hand, to identify part of the videoclip that are not particularly attractive. © 2011 IEEE