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News on the cognitive science of advertising from The Frontal Cortex.

A new study, published in The Journal of Consumer Research suggests that vivid commercials trick the hippocampus into believing that the scene we just watched on television actually happened to us.

Image via.

The experiment went like this: 100 undergraduates were introduced to a new popcorn product called “Orville Redenbacher’s Gourmet Fresh Microwave Popcorn.” (No such product exists, but that’s the point.) Then, the students were randomly assigned to various advertisement conditions. Some subjects viewed low-imagery text ads, which described the delicious taste of this new snack food. Others watched a high-imagery commercial, in which they watched all sorts of happy people enjoying this popcorn in their living room. After viewing the ads, the students were then assigned to one of two rooms. In one room, they were given an unrelated survey. In the other room, however, they were given a sample of this fictional new popcorn to taste. (A different Orville Redenbacher popcorn was actually used.)

One week later, all the subjects were quizzed about their memory of the product. Here’s where things get disturbing: While students who saw the low-imagery ad were extremely unlikely to report having tried the popcorn, those who watched the slick commercial were just as likely to have said they tried the popcorn as those who actually did. Furthermore, their ratings of the product were as favorable as those who sampled the salty, buttery treat. Most troubling, perhaps, is that these subjects were extremely confident in these made-up memories. The delusion felt true. They didn’t like the popcorn because they’d seen a good ad. They liked the popcorn because it was delicious.

Read more here.

Video won’t embed in our template, but check out: David Ogilvy: Essentials

Other articles:

David Ogilvy and Me
The Fantastic Real Life Adventures of Advertising Genius David Ogilvy
Past Perfect
The First (and Last) Ad Man

New work by Swiss artist Zimoun is further proof that the simplest of materials and technologies, imaginatively utilized and carefully assembled, can produce delightful, captivating experiences.

(More on Zimoun’s Zimoun’s vimeo page.)

Via, and by.

The consequence of specialization and success is that it hurts you. It hurts you because it basically doesn’t aid in your development. The truth of the matter is that understanding development comes from failure. People begin to get better when they fail, they move toward failure, the discover as a result of failing, they fail again, they discover something else…So the model for personal development is antithetical to the model of professional success.

Via @issue.

See more at Marcel’s site. Via.