Brain activity explains message effectiveness: A mega-analysis of 16 neuroimaging studies

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Science
• Social Psychology

Background:

• Persuasive communication significantly impacts marketing, politics, and public health outcomes.
• Understanding the neural underpinnings of message effectiveness is crucial for optimizing communication strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the neural correlates of message effectiveness using a large-scale mega-analysis of functional MRI data.
• To examine how brain activity predicts message success in individuals and at scale across various domains.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a mega-analysis pooling data from 16 functional MRI datasets, involving 572 participants, 739 messages, and 21,688 trials.
• Assessed neural activity associated with message reception and its correlation with message effectiveness.
• Utilized exploratory analyses to identify additional relevant brain processes.

Main Results:

• Brain activity in regions associated with reward and social processing significantly predicted message effectiveness, both individually and at scale.
• Exploratory findings indicated the involvement of language, emotion, and sensorimotor processes.
• Neural activity provided predictive information on message effectiveness at scale, complementing self-report data.

Conclusions:

• Neurocognitive mechanisms involving reward and social processing are central to effective messaging.
• Brain activity offers a powerful predictor of message success, extending beyond individual responses to group-level impact.
• Findings provide insights for designing more effective persuasive messages and advancing persuasion research.