Aston University - When it just says 'buy me'

A worldwide study is to investigate the influence of advertising on consumer choices. The British Science Association study is led by Nick Lee, an expert in marketing and organisational research, and Carl Senior, a cognitive neuroscientist, both at Aston University, who will assess how humans interpret different types of information and whether this leads to a change in behaviour. It will consider, for example, whether some individuals are more influenced by celebrities or by scientific arguments in adverts. Professor Lee said the project was "an exciting attempt to understand how advertising works, but also more importantly how we react to different types of messages".