What do consumers really want? That’s a question market researchers would love to answer. But since people don’t always say what they think, marketers would need direct access to consumers’ thoughts to get the truth.
Now, in a way, that is possible. At the “Mind of the Market” laboratory at Harvard Business School, researchers are looking inside shoppers’ skulls to develop more effective advertisements and marketing styles. Using imaging techniques that measure blood flow to various parts of the brain, the Harvard team hopes to predict how consumers will react to particular products and to discover the most effective ways to present information. Stephen Kosslyn, a professor of psychology at Harvard, and business school professor Gerald Zaltman, oversee the lab. “The goal is not to influence people’s preferences,” says Kosslyn, “just to speak to their actual desires."
The group’s findings, though still preliminary (初步的), could change how firms develop and market new products. The Harvard group use position emission tomography (PET) scans to monitor the brain activity. These PET scans, along with other imaging techniques, enable researchers to see which parts of the brain are active during specific tasks(such as remembering a word).Correlations (相互关系) have been found between blood flow to specific areas and future behavior. Because of this, Harvard researchers believe the scans can also predict future purchasing patterns. According to an unpublished paper the group produced, “It is possible to use these techniques to predict not only whether people will remember and have specific emotional reactions to certain materials, but also whether they tend to want those materials months later.”
The Harvard group is now moving into the next stage of experiments. They will explore how people remember advertisements as part of an effort to predict how they will react to a product after having seen an ad. The researchers believe that once key areas of the brain are identified, scans on about two dozen volunteers will be enough to draw conclusions about the reactions of specific sections of the population. Large corporations-including Coca Cola, Eastman Kodak, General Motors, and Hallmark-have already signed up to fund further investigations.
For their financial support, these firms gain access to the experiments but cannot control them. If Kosslyn and Zahman and their team really can read the mind of the market, then consumers may find it even harder to get those advertising jingles-out of their heads when buying things.
1. Which of the following statements can be the best title for this passage?
A. Reading the Mind of the Market.    
B. Influencing the Customers’ Choice.
C. Influencing the Style of Advertising.      
D. Experimenting with the Way to Foretell
2. Why do the Harvard researchers use scientific technology in the experiments?
A. Because they want to find a better way to persuade people into purchasing patterns in the future.
B. Because they don’t trust the findings already done by other researchers.
C. Because they want to see how particular products can influence consumers and find out the most effective ways to advertise.
D. Because they think the marketing strategies can actually be changed after the experiments.
3. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. People sometimes hide their true feelings when questioned by the marketing surveyors.
B. Stephen Kosslyn and Gerald Zaltman are in charge of the experiment and think ill of the study.
C. Harvard researchers have found some relation between people’s brain and future behavior.
D. Many large companies finance the Harvard group’s further investigations.
4. What does “to speak to” in the 2nd paragraph mean?
A. To communicate with.                           B. To say to.                
C. To talk to.                                              D. To respond to.
5. The last sentence of the passage implies that ___________.
A. it is very likely that customers will buy unnecessary things just depending on the ads in the future.
B. in fact, the real purpose of Harvard group’s research is to attract more consumers into the market.
C. Coca Cola or the General Motors can exploit the findings of the experiments in their own marketing.
D. Consumers may find it more difficult to get out of the advertising jungle and it may cause them headaches.

科目 英语   题型 阅读理解   难度 较易