Neuropsychology

The brain balks at images on cigarette packs

When you look at the images of black lungs, damaged gums and necrosis of the heart, you have such a strong reaction of disgust that the brain’s prefrontal cortex in the right hemisphere, which controls negative emotions, is activated. But images of a pregnant woman smoking, an ashtray filled with cigarette butts or a man coughing have no measurable impact on this part of the brain.

These are the first conclusions drawn from an unpublished neuromarketing study conducted at the Université de Montréal by neuropsychologist Maurice Ptito and Professor Jean-Charles Chebat at the HEC Montréal. With the help of master’s student Shoshanna Campbell, the researchers devised a unique protocol to observe the brain’s activity in response to advertising. Twelve women smokers and as many non-smokers were asked to look at a series of images that included anti-smoking ads. At the same time, a medical imaging device signals the cerebral regions where neurons are the most active. “The results from the first subjects were spectacular,” explains Prof. Ptito. “The region associated with aversion, that is, the dorsolateral portion of the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala, was activated as soon as the subjects looked at certain images.”

To avoid any bias, the researchers presented the images used in the research within a series of neutral or emotionally-positive images. And to evaluate the impact of different labels, the researchers chose 15 of the 16 images which, since 2001, must appear on all tobacco products sold in Canada, accompanied by warnings such as ‘Cigarettes hurt babies,’ ‘Cigarettes are highly addictive,’ or ‘Cigarettes leave you breathless.’ “Although the data is still preliminary, some images clearly have a greater impact than others,” explains Ms Campbell who plans to submit her thesis in the spring. From the entire series of images, the ones that depict damaged organs have the most powerful impact on people’s sensibilities.”

But why not simply create a discussion group and record participants’ comments with respect to this anti-smoking advertising campaign? “Because when you use magnetic resonance, you can see the brain in action. And there is no intermediary between the message and the participant,” explains Prof. Ptito.

Professors Ptito and Chebat are not claiming ownership of neuromarketing, since a few experiments have already been conducted under this name. The most famous experiment was cited in the September 2004 edition of Neuron, and presents consumers’ reactions to Pepsi and Coca Cola, two soft drink brands that share virtually the same chemical composition. The study proved that language and the brain do not have the same perception of a given reality.

Pioneers or not, the researchers see the boundless potential of neuromarketing. “Just imagine the possibilities of a device like this! We could test the effectiveness of messages before investing in their widespread distribution in newspapers and on billboards, for instance,” explains Prof. Ptito.

The images on cigarette packages therefore have a measurable effect when they are presented to a person stretched out in a CT scanner. But do they have any effect on smokers? A study led after the implementation of the regulation revealed that, when buying cigarettes, 17 per cent of smokers asked for a different package of cigarettes at least once because they didn’t like the warning that appeared on their first-choice package. Many have even taken to skilfully handling their pack of cigarettes to avoid these unpleasant images. “It’s fascinating, because we can actually measure a person’s reaction to an image,” explains Prof. Ptito.