A study of brainwave processing to evaluate the effectiveness of Nike brand advertising on athletes' decision to buy

The purpose of the present study was to analyze brain waves to evaluate the effectiveness of Nike brand advertising on athletes' decision to buy. The purpose of this study is to apply a quasi-experimental one-way blind method. The statistical population of the study consisted of male and female undergraduate, postgraduate and postgraduate students with sporting experience and membership in the sports teams of Mohaghegh Ardabili University in the academic year of 1997-96 (N = 80): Forty of them were selected as the statistical sample in the second half of the year 1396 through restricted probability sampling (all right-handed, in the age range of 18-25 years). The brain waves of the testers were converted to numbers using Brain Mapping software. SPSS software was used for data analysis. Paired t-test, independent t-test, repeated measures ANOVA and LSD test were used to test the hypotheses. Statistical findings showed a significant difference between the effect of advertising on the purchase decision of men and women athletes (P = 0.007). The findings also clearly show the difference in brain wave frequency activity (alpha, beta, delta, and theta) before, during, and after viewing advertising among athletes in all four groups. Based on the findings of this study, marketers can understand how the human brain functions in consumer buying behavior to reach their goals, and can tailor their ads to their audience.