Phil Scott, managing director of ACP Magazines said, “ACP is pioneering new territory but also confirming what we already know: consumers love magazines. They involve, inspire, engage, evoke emotions, resonate, motivate and inform.”
Neuroscience research company Neuro-Insight conducted the study to determine exactly what goes on in the brains of its readers while they read their favourite magazines – the intensity of their emotional reactions in terms of like/dislike, their engagement and attention levels, and whether or not what they read becomes encoded in long-term memory.
A statement from ACP outlines, “In a world first approach to measuring the magazine reading experience, rather than simply ask readers how engaged they felt with their magazines, ACP used neuroscience to quantify, in a more scientific way, how deeply immersed and engaged consumers actually became.”
The neuroscience research was conducted with 200 women aged 18 to 64 across 11 ACP titles. Eight key areas of brain functionality were measured on a second-by-second basis to determine which areas of the brain had heightened neurological activity, and to what degree.
The average scores across the 11 titles on key measures – such as engagement, like/dislike, emotional intensity, attention and memory – were higher than those for any other media or advertising measured by Neuro-Insight on a worldwide basis, including television, internet, radio and out-of-home.
Phil Scott continues, “Quite simply, magazines work – for consumers and for advertisers.”
A parallel study using traditional quantitative methodology was carried out to both verify the neuroscience results and allow further probing of specific questions.
Also commenting, Peter Pynta, Neuro-Insight director said, “This is now the most comprehensive neuroscience database of magazine engagement and advertising impact data in the world in terms of sample size and breadth of metrics.
“The results of this ground-breaking approach to understanding how readers engage with magazines is that we learn what works with readers and the science of why.”
The study coincides with ACP Magazines’ new trade campaign “I Love Magazines”, which the company claims is the most extensive in a decade promoting the strength, vibrancy and relevance of Australian magazines.
According to ACP, the I Love Magazines campaign showcases how the valuable medium engages consumers and inspires loyalty. The campaign spans leading advertising and marketing media featuring some of Australia’s most successful media industry leaders endorsing their use of magazines to drive business and marketing success.
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