[简答题]Inside the Mind of the
Consumer
Could brain-scanning technology provide
an accurate way to assess the appeal of new products and the effectiveness of
advertising
A Marketing people are no longer prepared to
take your word for it that you favour one product over another. They want to
scan your brain to see which one you really prefer. Using the tools of
neuroscientists, such as electroencephalogram (EEG) mapping and functional
magnetic-resonance imaging (fMRI), they are trying to learn more about the
mental processes behind purchasing decisions. The resulting fusion of
neuroscience and marketing is, inevitably, being called
’neuromarketing’.
B The first person to apply
brain-imaging technology in this way was Gerry Zaltman of Harvard University, in
the late 1990s. The idea remained in obscurity until 2001, when BrightHouse, a
marketing consultancy based in Atlanta, Georgia, set up a dedicated
neuromarketing arm, BrightHouse Neurostrategies Group. (BrightHouse lists
Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines and Home Depot among its clients.) But the company’s
name may itself simply be an example of clever marketing. BrightHouse does not
scan people while showing them specific products or campaign ideas, but bases
its work on the results of more general fMRI-based research into consumer
preferences and decision-making carried out at Emory University in
Atlanta.
C Can brain scanning really be applied to
marketing The basic principle is not that different from focus groups and other
traditional forms of market research. A volunteer lies in an fMRI machine and is
shown images or video clips. In place of an interview or questionnaire, the
subject’s response is evaluated by monitoring brain activity. fMRI provides
real-time images of brain activity, in which different areas ’light up’
depending on the level of blood flow. This provides clues to the subject’s
subconscious thought patterns. Neuroscientists know, for example, that the sense
of self is associated with an area of the brain known as the medial prefrontal
cortex. A flow of blood to that area while the subject is looking at a
particular logo suggests that he or she identifies with that brand.
D At first, it seemed that only companies in Europe were prepared
to admit that they used neuromarketing. Two carmakers, DaimlerChrysler in
Germany and Ford’s European arm, ran pilot studies in 2003. But more recently,
American companies have become more open about their use of neuromarketing.
Lieberman Research Worldwide, a marketing firm based in Los Angeles, is
collaborating with the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) to enable
movie studios to market-test film trailers. More controversially, the New York
Times recently reported that a political consultancy, FKF Research, has been
studying the effectiveness of campaign commercials using neuromarketing
techniques.
E Whether all this is any more than a
modern-day version of phrenology, the Victorian obsession with linking lumps and
bumps in the skull to personality traits, is unclear. There have been no
large-scale studies, so scans of a handful of subjects may not be a reliable
guide to consumer behaviour in general. Of course, focus groups and surveys are
flawed too: strong personalities can steer the outcomes of focus groups, and
people do not always tell opinion pollsters the truth. And even honest people
cannot always explain their preferences.
F That is
perhaps where neuromarketing has the most potential. Most people say they prefer
the taste of Coke to Pepsi, but cannot say why. An unpublished study carried out
last summer at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, found that most
subjects preferred Pepsi in a blind tasting—fMRI scanning showed that drinking
Pepsi lit up a region called the ventral putamen, which is one of the brain’s
’reward centres’, far more brightly than Coke. But when told which drink was
which, most subjects said they preferred Coke, which suggests that its stronger
brand outweighs Pepsi’s more pleasant taste.
G ’People
form many unconscious attitudes that are obviously beyond traditional methods
that utilise introspection,’ says Steven Quartz, a neuroscientist at Caltech who
is collaborating with Lieberman Research. With over $100 billion spent each year
on marketing in America alone, any firm that can more accurately analyse how
customers respond to products, brands and advertising could make a
fortune.
H Consumer advocates are wary. Gary Ruskin of
Commercial Alert, a lobby group, thinks existing marketing techniques are
powerful enough. ’Already, marketing is deeply implicated in many serious
pathologies,’ he says. ’That is especially true of children, who are suffering
from an epidemic of marketing-related diseases, including obesity and type-2
diabetes. Neuromarketing is a tool to amplify these trends.’ Dr. Quartz counters
that neuromarketing techniques could equally be used for benign purposes. ’There
are ways to utilise these technologies to create more responsible advertising,’
he says. Brain-scanning could, for example, be used to determine when people are
capable of making free choices, to ensure that advertising falls within those
bounds.
I Another worry is that brain-scanning is an
invasion of privacy and that information will be compiled on the preferences of
specific individuals. But neuromarketing studies rely on small numbers of
volunteer subjects, so that seems implausible. Critics also object to the use of
medical equipment for frivolous rather than medical purposes. But as Tim Ambler,
a neuromarketing researcher at the London Business School says: ’A tool is a
tool, and if the owner of the tool gets a decent rent for hiring it out, then
that subsidises the cost of the equipment, and everybody wins.’ Perhaps more
brain-scanning will someday explain why some people like the idea of
neuromarketing, but others do not.
—EconomistReading Passage 2 has nine paragraphs, A-I.
Which paragraph contains the following information
Write the correct letter, A-I, in boxes on your answer sheet.
NB You may use any letter more than once.
the drawbacks of neuromarketing
[单项选择]Putting traffic signals inside cars could save fuel, a German researcher told at a conference in London last week. Dr. Ulrich Seiffert, who works for Volkswagen’s research division, was speaking at a conference on the future development of technology which had been organised by the Open University.
He said that a pilot scheme had just been installed in Wolfsburg by Volkswagen, in conjunction with Siemens and the local council. It would be tested over the next few months. The central feature of the scheme is a link between computer-controlled traffic signals and lights on the vehicle dashboard which tell drivers whether to slow down or speed up.
Each time drivers slow down they lose momentum, and so waste fuel when they accelerate again. Even when a group of traffic signals on a stretch of road are synchronised(同步) so that traffic at a set speed, normally around 45 km/h, always gets a green light, the full potential is not realised.
This is because drivers approaching a r
A. it employed such advanced electronic technology as that by Siemens
B. it has been developed by Volkswagen--one of the world’s greatest car makers
C. it electronically integrates the traffic signal and individual car
D. it will lead to a boost in global auto production
