Advertising agencies get paid a lot of money to create successful ad campaigns for their clients. With the pile of cash in mind, these ad creators strive to grab market share with a little help from the psychophysiology world. It’s no secret that the consumers' emotional responses toward the ad (brand) can be an influential motivator of their buying behaviors. Facial electromyography (Facial EMG) is used in marketing research to measure the viewer’s emotional reaction to commercials. Electrodes placed strategically on the face measure the corrugator (frowning) in the brow area and zygomatic (smiling) muscles around the mouth during viewing. Facial EMG tests essentially measure minute muscle contractions on the face of the commercial viewer. Results from the test elicit an overall positive and negative emotional activation score. By measuring a dynamic emotional response to a commercial, useful insights about the elements of the commercials are gained that in turn help marketers create successful campaigns.

Neuroscientists say people actually feel more than they think, and that emotion plays a vital role in all decision-making. And since emotion occurs in the context of an environmental situation or stimulus, viewing a commercial with the aid of a facial EMG is one way that marketers are testing a person's emotional response to that environmental stimulus. The goal of these "neuromarketers" is to make the consumer an active participant in the creation of new ads, products and brands that will rake in the dough for their clients. By utilizing facial EMG testing, marketers are staying on the leading edge of human behavior scientific development and are able to create ads that make consumers want to run right out and buy products and services immediately after viewing their ads.

Though the facial EMG testing technique is intrusive and may alter natural expression, marketers have clearly realized the value of this state-of-the-art technology. The old advertising methodology, repetitive messaging in commercials, just doesn’t work any longer. Marketers know now, with the help of facial EMG testing, emotional buyers are the most powerful consumers. They know how to make us feel thirsty with a beer commercial and vulnerable with an insurance ad. And in today’s competitive market, this might be what makes or breaks an ad campaign.