Brain processing of vocal sounds in advertising: A functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), this study aimed at investigating the neural mechanisms associated with human and non-human sounds’ perception in advertising. The study employed a block design paradigm in which participants heard human versus non-human sounds in different sets of advertisements. The results showed that, compared to nonhuman sounds, human sounds elicited greater activation in several areas in or around the primary auditory cortex (t > 5.16, p < 0.001). This result suggests that different types of sounds are processed in different functional brain pathways. The existence of voice-selective areas in the brain lends strong support to the face perception neurocognitive model which proposes that visual, affective and linguistic information are processed in different cortical regions in the brain.

► Using fMRI, we investigated how brain processes vocal sounds in advertising. ► Human sounds were found to be processed in different brain pathways. ► This finding might have a strong impact on advertising design and execution.