What do all the major movies and commercials shown on TV during big sporting events have in common? Besides all the money that gets spent in making them, they are tested using “neuro-marketing methods.”

Neuromarketing means using facial expressions –tiny ones sometimes called micro expressions—eye tracking (measuring exactly where you are looking and for how long), brain waves (when EEG is used), the sweat on our hands, heart rate, and other involuntary reactions to judge how a person responds to a stimulus such as a commercial or movie scene. It’s a new form of science that is advancing how we can test communications for public health.

To pre-test materials and messages related to public health to ensure that materials are clear, attractive, persuasive, and not offensive in any way.

While participants view the materials or videos, we will record their facial expressions (e.g. smiles, frowns, brow wrinkles). In addition to watching the videos or looking at the print materials, we will also have a few survey questions for people to answer right after they see the video or read the material. This will come up in the computer along with the videos, so everything takes place in one session of about 15 minutes, total.