Neuroscience and advertising: Redefining the role of the unconscious

The role of the unconscious has long been of interest to marketers and this paper examines new thinking in psychology, neurology and sociology that has implications for how advertisers think about the unconscious.

Neuroscience and advertising: Redefining the role of the unconscious1

Cristina de Balanzó Bono and Nuria Serrano AbadTNS London and Sra Rushmore, Madrid

This paper revises and questions the usually negative perception of the relationship between the unconscious and advertising. The objective is to acknowledge the relevance of the unconscious in the behavior of consumers, by providing a new point of view based on the innovative findings of cognitive neuroscience and biometric techniques. Specifically, the paper highlights recent studies on emotion, (implicit) memory, and creativity, focusing on their implication in the advertising process. The intention of this...

Not a subscriber?

Schedule your live demo with our team today

WARC helps you to plan, create and deliver more effective marketing

  • Prove your case and back-up your idea

  • Get expert guidance on strategic challenges

  • Tackle current and emerging marketing themes

We’re long-term subscribers to WARC and it’s a tool we use extensively. We use it to source case studies and best practice for the purposes of internal training, as well as for putting persuasive cases to clients. In compiling a recent case for long-term, sustained investment in brand, we were able to support key marketing principles with numerous case studies sourced from WARC. It helped bring what could have been a relatively dry deck to life with recognisable brand successes from across a broad number of categories. It’s incredibly efficient to have such a wealth of insight in one place.

Insights Team
Bray Leino

You’re in good company

We work with 80% of Forbes' most valuable brands* and 80% of the world's top top-of-the-class agencies.

* Top 10 brands