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  3. What do consumers really want? That’s a question market researchers would love to answer. But since people don’t always say what

What do consumers really want? That’s a question market researchers would love to answer. But since people don’t always say what

admin2013-01-19  57
问题     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 pitches. 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 manipulate people’s preferences," says Kosslyn, "just to speak to their actual desires." The group’s findings, though still preliminary, could radically change how firms develop and market new products.
    The Harvard group use position emission topography (PET) scans to monitor the brain activity. These PET scans, along with other non-invasive imaging techniques; enable researchers to see which parts of the brain are active during specific tasks (such as remembering a word). Correlations 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 According to an unpublished paper the group produced, "It is possible to use these techniques to predict not only whether people will remember and have specific emotional reactions to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 will be inclined 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 segments 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 Zaltman 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.
What does "to speak to"in the last sentence of the second paragraph mean?
选项 A、to talk to
B、to say to
C、to communicate to
D、to respond to
答案D
解析 此处的to speak to意为“对(人们)的实际需求做出反应”。因此答案为D。
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