Antismoking campaigns’ perception and gender differences: a comparison among EEG Indices

Human factors’ aim is to understand and evaluate the interactions between people and tasks, technologies, and environment. Among human factors, it is possible then to include the subjective reaction to external stimuli, due to individual’s characteristics and states of mind. These processes are also involved in the perception of antismoking public service announcements (PSAs), the main tool for governments to contrast the first cause of preventable deaths in the world: tobacco addiction. In the light of that, in the present article, it has been investigated through the comparison of different electroencephalographic (EEG) indices a typical item known to be able of influencing PSA perception, that is gender. In order to investigate the neurophysiological underpinnings of such different perception, we tested two PSAs: one with a female character and one with a male character. Furthermore, the experimental sample was divided into men and women, as well as smokers and nonsmokers. The employed EEG indices were the mental engagement (ME: the ratio between beta activity and the sum of alpha and theta activity); the approach/withdrawal (AW: the frontal alpha asymmetry in the alpha band); and the frontal theta activity and the spectral asymmetry index (SASI: the ratio between beta minus theta and beta plus theta). Results suggested that the ME and the AW presented an opposite trend, with smokers showing higher ME and lower AW than nonsmokers. The ME and the frontal theta also evidenced a statistically significant interaction between the kind of the PSA and the gender of the observers; specifically, women showed higher ME and frontal theta activity for the male character PSA. This study then supports the usefulness of the ME and frontal theta for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of gender issues and of the ME and the AW and for purposes of PSAs targeting on the basis of smoking habits

Viral Dissemination of Content in Advertising: Emotional Factors to Reach Consumers

Social media has become a relevant content dissemination channel in recent years. Each user has the capacity to potentially reach others, and in this way, social media challenges the traditional distribution of content through mass media. The advertising industry has had to adapt to this new ecosystem and develop audiovisual pieces specifically tailored to this environment as part of their communication strategies. These pieces aim at achieving not only views but to engage viewers in sharing content with their contacts. Recent research indicates that there are certain aspects of human behaviour related to emotions and motivations that have an impact on the decision to share information, news and content with others. However, there are few studies analysing how the features of the content shared influence that decision. This article presents the content analysis results of the 100 most widely shared advertising viral videos around the world from 2011 to 2015 according to Adweek. The analysis was conducted from an emotional perspective in order to establish the common features of the most shared videos and to identify the frequency in which emotional narrative resources are used

EEG-based cognitive control behaviour assessment: an ecological study with professional air traffic controllers

Several models defining different types of cognitive human behaviour are available. For this work, we have selected the Skill, Rule and Knowledge (SRK) model proposed by Rasmussen in 1983. This model is currently broadly used in safety critical domains, such as the aviation. Nowadays, there are no tools able to assess at which level of cognitive control the operator is dealing with the considered task, that is if he/she is performing the task as an automated routine (skill level), as procedures-based activity (rule level), or as a problem-solving process (knowledge level). Several studies tried to model the SRK behaviours from a Human Factor perspective. Despite such studies, there are no evidences in which such behaviours have been evaluated from a neurophysiological point of view, for example, by considering brain activity variations across the different SRK levels. Therefore, the proposed study aimed to investigate the use of neurophysiological signals to assess the cognitive control behaviours accordingly to the SRK taxonomy. The results of the study, performed on 37 professional Air Traffic Controllers, demonstrated that specific brain features could characterize and discriminate the different SRK levels, therefore enabling an objective assessment of the degree of cognitive control behaviours in realistic setting

An electroencephalographic Peak Density Function to detect memorization during the observation of TV commercials.

Nowadays, there is a growing interest in measuring the impact of advertisements through the estimation of cerebral reactions. Several techniques and methods are used and discussed in the consumer neuroscience. In such a context, the present paper provides a novel method to estimate the level of memorization occurred in subjects during the observation of TV commercials. In particular, the present work introduce the Peak Density Function (PDF) as an electroencephalographic (EEG) time-varying variable which is correlated with the cerebral events of memorization of TV commercials. The analysis has been performed on the EEG activity recorded on twenty healthy subjects during the exposition to several advertisements. After the EEG recordings, an interview has been performed to obtain the information about the memorized scenes for all the video clips watched by the subjects. Such information has been put in correlation with the occurrence of transient peaks of EEG synchronization in the theta band, by computing the PDF. The present results show that the increase of PDF is positively correlated, scene by scene, (R=0.46, p<;0.01) with the spontaneous recall of subjects. This technology could be of help for marketers to overcome the drawbacks of the standard marketing tools (e.g., interviews, focus groups) when analyzing the impact of advertisements

Human Factors and Neurophysiological Metrics in Air Traffic Control: a Critical Review

International audienceThis article provides the reader a focused and organised review of the research progresses on neurophysiological indicators, also called “neurometrics”, to show how neurometrics could effectively address some of the most important Human Factors (HFs) needs in the Air Traffic Management (ATM) field. The state of the art on the most involved HFs and related cognitive processes (e.g. mental workload, cognitive training) is presented together with examples of possible applications in the current and future ATM scenarios, in order to better understand and highlight the available opportunities of such neuroscientific applications. Furthermore, the paper will discuss the potential enhancement that further research and development activities could bring to the efficiency and safety of the ATM service

Forefront users\u2019 experience evaluation by employing together virtual reality and electroencephalography: A case study on cognitive effects of scents

Scents have the ability to affect peoples\u2019 mental states and task performance with to different extents. It has been widely demonstrated that the lemon scent, included in most all-purpose cleaners, elicits stimulation and activation, while the lavender scent elicits relaxation and sedative effects. The present study aimed at investigating and fostering a novel approach to evaluate users\u2019 experience with respect to scents\u2019 effects through the joint employment of Virtual Reality and users\u2019 neurophysiological monitoring, in particular Electroencephalography. In particular, this study, involving 42 participants, aimed to compare the effects of lemon and lavender scents on the deployment of cognitive resources during a daily life experience consisting in a train journey carried out in virtual reality. Our findings showed a significant higher request of cognitive resources during the processing of an informative message for subjects exposed to the lavender scent with respect to the lemon exposure. No differences were found between lemon and lavender conditions on the self\u2010reported items of pleasantness and involvement; as this study demonstrated, the employment of the lavender scent preserves the quality of the customer experience to the same extent as the more widely used lemon scent

Neurophysiological correlates of psychological attitudes of air traffic controllers during their work

The research proposed in this thesis is part of a European project called NINA (Neurometrics Indicators for Air Traffic Management) funded by Sesar Joint Undertaking, and it involves the participation of Sapienza University of Rome, École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC), and Deep Blue srl (Human Factor and Safety Consultant Company). The main goal of the project is to elaborate neurophysiological measurements for real-time assessment and monitoring of the cognitive state in particular professional categories, such as Air Traffic Controllers (ATCOs). The evaluation is performed by using a combination of techniques such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Electrocardiography (EKG) and Electrooculography (EOG), during simulated and realistic working conditions. In the area of ATCOs, the Skill, Rule and Knowledge (S-R-K) taxonomy was developed by Rasmussen to describe the human performance under various circumstances and to integrate a variety of research results coming from human cognition studies (attention, memory, problem solving, decision-making, etc.) under a common framework. It provides a description of human cognition that is functional to the understanding and prediction of behaviour: it specifically deals with how people control their activity and behave in interaction with complex systems. Therefore, by considering the aspect of the cognitive processes in the framework of such taxonomy, it is possible to contextualise them in the work practices. Since to our knowledge there are no corresponding studies in the existing literature, another challenging objective of the project is to develop the SRK concept from a neurophysiological point of view. The focus of the proposed thesis is thus to verify the existence of identifiable neurophysiological features associated to the three levels of cognitive control of behaviour (Skill, Rule and Knowledge), in Air Traffic Management (ATM) context, by using a neurometric able to identify the behaviours of the original taxonomy from a different perspective. To map the neurophysiology of the SRK framework in ATM domain, and to use this methodology, could represent a promising step forward into the analysis of human behaviour, and furthermore, to develop new Human Factors tools able to discriminate the level of operators’ expertise during ecological tasks. In detail, the first part of this work illustrates a brief description of the brain and the Electroencephalographic technique, then an introduction of the NINA project and the literature related to the S-R-K levels of cognitive control are presented. The second section is focused on some additional brain features’ literature and on the experimental phase where several steps were performed as follows: a) the three categories of behaviours were associated with specific cognitive functions (e.g. attention, memory, decision making etc.) already investigated in literature with EEG measurements; b) a link between S-R-K behaviours and expected EEG frequency bands configurations were hypothesized; c) specific events were designed to trigger S, R and K behaviours and integrated into realistic ATM simulations; d) finally, the machine-learning algorithm automatic stop StepWise Linear Discriminant Analysis (asSWLDA) was trained to differentiate the three levels of cognitive control of behaviour by using brain features extracted from the EEG rhythms of different brain areas. Several professional ATCOs from the École Nationale de l’Aviation Civile (ENAC) of Toulouse (France) were involved in the study and the results showed that the classification algorithm was able to discriminate with high reliability the three levels of cognitive control of behaviour during simulated air-traffic scenarios in an ecological ATM environment

A systematic review of the prediction of consumer preference using EEG measures and machine-learning in neuromarketing research.

INTRODUCTION: The present paper discusses the findings of a systematic review of EEG measures in neuromarketing, identifying which EEG measures are the most robust predictor of customer preference in neuromarketing. The review investigated which TF effect (e.g., theta-band power), and ERP component (e.g., N400) was most consistently reflective of self-reported preference. Machine-learning prediction also investigated, along with the use of EEG when combined with physiological measures such as eye-tracking. METHODS: Search terms 'neuromarketing' and 'consumer neuroscience' identified papers that used EEG measures. Publications were excluded if they were primarily written in a language other than English or were not published as journal articles (e.g., book chapters). 174 papers were included in the present review. RESULTS: Frontal alpha asymmetry (FAA) was the most reliable TF signal of preference and was able to differentiate positive from negative consumer responses. Similarly, the late positive potential (LPP) was the most reliable ERP component, reflecting conscious emotional evaluation of products and advertising. However, there was limited consistency across papers, with each measure showing mixed results when related to preference and purchase behaviour. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: FAA and the LPP were the most consistent markers of emotional responses to marketing stimuli, consumer preference and purchase intention. Predictive accuracy of FAA and the LPP was greatly improved through the use of machine-learning prediction, especially when combined with eye-tracking or facial expression analyses

Consumer Neuroscience e Brand Relationship: misurare l’associazione implicita tra il Sé del consumatore e il brand.

Il presente elaborato si focalizza sulla connessione tra Consumer Neuroscience e Brand Relationship con un focus specifico sul Sé del consumatore, analizzato attraverso uno strumento di misurazione indiretta del comportamento. L’obiettivo è stato quello di contribuire alla validazione e all’utilizzo nel contesto italiano di un SC-IAT per lo studio dell’associazione tra Sé e brand, interpretandone i risultati tramite un’analisi di matrice neuroscientifica su stimoli brand-related. Il vantaggio di questo strumento, rispetto allo IAT tradizionale, è quello di poter ‘fotografare’ un’istantanea sulla relazione senza la necessità di utilizzare una dimensione comparativa. Misurando direttamente la forza dell’associazione tra il concetto del brand e quello del Sé. Per farlo, l’autore è passato attraverso fasi distinte che hanno prima indagato gli aspetti puramente psicometrici dello strumento, per dedicarsi successivamente a un test neuroscientifico. I risultati hanno evidenziato delle buone performance del SC-IAT, così pensato, suggerendo approfondimenti futuri e applicazioni a brand dalla differente architettura. Inoltre, l’analisi neurofisiologica ha evidenziato come lo strumento possa risultare efficace nel fornire un’interpretazione aggiuntiva agli indicatori neurofisiologici testati durante la visualizzazione di uno stimolo relativo al brand