The “trace” of advertising remains in our brain for three months. This conclusion was reached by a group of French researchers who studied the impact of advertising on the Internet on users.
How many hours a day do we spend on the Internet? In general, hardly less than three. What information does the brain receive while we look at the screen of a computer or smartphone? It is obvious that he is busy not only with the content of search queries, reading news, browsing friend feeds or scrolling through photo albums.
While consciousness is fixated on the text, pop-up flashing pictures or banners located above, below or on the sides are imprinted on the retina of the eye and transmitted to the brain, whether we like it or not.
“Makeup, phones, gifts, cars, “click here to find out” arrows all enter the brain and stay there for months,” said Didier Courbet, leader of a team of researchers studying the effects of advertising on the psyche.
The brain stores impressions from what we see without our knowledge.
Don’t forget about pop-up windows, which are small images that activate automatically. We try to ignore them, or we actively try to remove them from view.
To assess the impact of such advertising on the human psyche, scientists tested 400 volunteers. They were invited to search for something on the Internet and periodically, at random intervals, sent them advertising banners, simulating what usually happens when we browse the Internet.
Participants were then asked if they noticed that they were trying to “sell” certain products, and if so, which ones. “No,” the volunteers answered unanimously (and ingenuously). None of them saw or remembered anything.
We do not notice and do not remember much, but the brain stores all the information it receives. This is exactly what was confirmed when the scientists decided to continue the experiment about the effect of advertising on the brain.
Information storage
First, seven days later, and then three months after the first stage, the volunteers were provided with the goods advertised during the experiment. Users had to identify them as quickly as possible and say if they wanted to buy them.
It didn’t take much time to think. This means that they are not seeing these products for the first time – they have an imprint of their name or image (or both at the same time) in their brain.
In three months, there were even more people who wanted to buy the advertised product than a week later. From this it follows that randomly received information is stored in the brain for at least several months.
What to do with overload?
So, even if we think we are protected from the effects of advertising, the brain stores the impressions of what we see without our knowledge. What to do with such an “intractable” partner? Treat him with the utmost care and respect.
The information flow, noise and color attacks, which constantly fall upon us in a world oversaturated with information, do not pass without a trace. They load the brain, “pollute” the psyche and periodically remind of themselves.
However, researchers from Didier Courbet’s group believe that we are able to resist the negative effects of advertising.
To do this, it is first of all important to recognize that advertising, under the pressure of which we unwittingly find ourselves on the Internet, really leaves its mark on the brain. Therefore, it is worth taking care that the brain remains plastic, not allowing it to be inactive.
Oriental techniques, especially meditation, help a lot with this. Keeping the brain in working condition and learning to comprehend everything that we see on the Web, we can more likely avoid unwanted manipulations.