The persistence of memory: an fMRI investigation of the brain processing of Surrealistic imagery in advertising

Abstract

Surrealistic images sought to duplicate the mysterious workings of dreams by the juxtaposition of incongruous and seemingly unrelated objects. Although Surrealist images have been the subject of extensive critical reflection, no previous neuroimaging studies have investigated how the brain processes Surrealistic imagery in advertising. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, this study aimed at investigating the neural mechanisms associated with Surrealistic art techniques in advertising. The study employed a block design paradigm in which participants viewed five blocks of different real sets of advertisements arranged in four conditions: novel-congruent, repeated congruent, novel-Surrealistic and repeated Surrealistic. The results showed that, compared to other types of advertisements, Surrealistic imagery elicited greater activation in several brain areas including the parietal cortex (BA 1, 2, 3), the precuneus (Brodmann area (BA) 7), the lateral parietal cortex (BA 39/40), the prefrontal cortex (BA 6/9), the inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45/46), the anterior cingulate cortex (BA 24), the insula (BA 13) and the amygdala. This result suggests that, compared to other types of advertisements, Surrealistic advertisements are processed in different functional brain pathways. This finding lends strong support to the elaboration and surprise hypotheses, which postulate that incongruous stimuli elicit increased processing that leads to more distinct and robust memory traces.

Keywords::

• advertising
• surrealism
• fMRI
• elaboration hypothesis
• incongruence
• visual stimuli

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Patrice Jissendi, Service de Neuroradiologie, ULB, Brussels, Belgium for his help with paradigm design. Thanks also to Justin O'Brien, Brunel University, West London, UK for his help with MATLAB programming.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mohamed M. Mostafa

Mohamed M. Mostafa holds the PhD from Manchester University, UK. He has other postgraduate degrees from Brunel University, UK, University of Northern Colorado, USA, and Port Said University, Egypt. He has been employed at universities in the USA, Egypt, Portugal, Cyprus, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Kuwait. His current research interests include artificial Intelligence applications in business and marketing, neuromarketing/consumer neuroscience, art in advertising, green and social marketing and business efficiency. He has published over 50 research papers in several leading academic peer reviewed journals, including Psychology & Marketing, Journal of Managerial Psychology, International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, among others. He has also presented numerous papers at professional conferences worldwide.