Spotify commissioned a new study from advertising research firm Neuro-Insight to analyze the engagement that audio ads have on our brains, per an article in Axios. Yes, there is a company that specializes in neuromarketing ‘science’ and Spotify hired them.
What is ‘neuromarketing’? Good question. According to Jon Gibs, the global director and principal data scientist at Spotify, neuromarketing technology lets brands understand what is happening inside the brain as users consume various types of media,
- The results of the study suggest that digital audio and ads seem to generate more engagement and emotional activation than other forms of media — which is a useful insight for anyone selling ads against streaming audio.
What was the study? The study examined the brain activity of more than 600 subjects as they listened to digital audio on Spotify.
- The users listened to different types of music such as rock and rap, and of course, also ads. Meanwhile, the study’s researchers used something called steady state topography (SST), a brain tracking method developed by Neuro-Insight founder Richard Silberstein that supposedly “measures brain electrical activity and speed of response to stimuli” per the Axios article.
- SST can "tap the speed of different parts of the brain very sensitively, and by virtue of the fact that different parts of the brain are specialized for different functions, we're able to infer psychological processes," said Silberstein.
Findings. Unsurprisingly, a study commissioned by Spotify to determine how good audio ads were found that digital audio “was more likely to engage long-term memory for both details and past memories and increase emotional intensity than radio, TV, social media or digital video” per the article. The study was not peer reviewed.
The last word. "Our goal is to use signals like this to make sure we're serving music and podcasts to the user that they want before they know they want it," said Spotify's Gibs. Hmm, ok.
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