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Neuromarketing: Coming to an Agency Near You [Mind Hacks 4/16/2005; 9:53:36 AM] The TV programme Scientific American Frontiers has made online video available from a programme on the psychology and neuroscience of hidden motives. The first segment explores the brain's reaction to 'cool' and 'uncool' products, a new field, christened neuromarketing. Shades of William Gibson's PATTERN RECOGNITION ...  [Update: referenced on BoingBoing 4/18/2005]

From the article: Montague had his subjects take the Pepsi Challenge while he watched their neural activity with a functional MRI machine, which tracks blood flow to different regions of the brain. Without knowing what they were drinking, about half of them said they preferred Pepsi. But once Montague told them which samples were Coke, three-fourths said that drink tasted better, and their brain activity changed too. Coke "lit up" the medial prefrontal cortex -- a part of the brain that controls higher thinking. Montague's hunch was that the brain was recalling images and ideas from commercials, and the brand was overriding the actual quality of the product. For years, in the face of failed brands and laughably bad ad campaigns, marketers had argued that they could influence consumers' choices. Now, there appeared to be solid neurological proof. Montague published his findings in the October 2004 issue of Neuron, and a cottage industry was born.