Mentalizing with the Consumer Brain From a Review of EEG-based Measures of Consumer Processes to the Definition of Neural Correlates of Consumer Mentalizing

This work lies within the fields of consumer neuroscience and neuromarketing, aiming to contribute to their theoretical and methodological development. The first part presents a systematic review of how EEG has been used in consumer research (Chapter 1). It analyses the main cognitive and emotional constructs investigated through EEG (attention, emotion, motivation, workload, decision-making, and engagement), discusses the inconsistency in the naming, measures, and methods used across studies, and highlights which processes should be further explored, particularly those related to social cognition, such as mentalizing. Building on these findings, the work indeed focuses on this less explored process: mentalizing, the ability to infer other people’s thoughts and emotions. After theoretically and practically defining the relevance of assessing this process within consumer research, and with a consumer neuroscience approach (Chapter 2), it develops an EEG-based measure of mentalizing and applies it within the context of advertising perception, specifically through narrative advertisements (Chapter 3). Results reveal distinct EEG patterns in the alpha and delta bands, specifically in frontal and centro-parietal regions. The role of this measure is then examined in relation to narrative perception measures, as a mediator between ad characteristics and outcome measures of advertising effectiveness, and compared with corresponding self-report measures. Overall, the work proposes a new role for mentalizing and demonstrates how it can be applied in consumer research, particularly in the study of advertising perception. Through theoretical reflection and empirical testing, it aimed to contribute to the development of more robust and transparent methodologies in consumer neuroscience and neuromarketing studies and to finally strengthen the dialogue between academic research and industry practice.