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Visitor's decision "to click" made up long before actual click

Unconscious decisions in the brain

         

Tastatura

4:39 pm on May 9, 2008 (gmt 0)

10+ Year Member



I came across this study while doing 'webamster unrelated' research, but thought it might tie into visitors "should I click or should I go" behavior.
In a nutshell study claims that we make-up decisions about actions up to 7 seconds prior to actually taking an action. Consider that when thinking about user behavior, site design and call to action

Already several seconds before we consciously make a decision its outcome can be predicted from unconscious activity in the brain...brain activity predicts even up to 7 seconds ahead of time how a person is going to decide.

There has been a long controversy as to whether subjectively 'free' decisions are determined by brain activity ahead of time. We found that the outcome of a decision can be encoded in brain activity of prefrontal and parietal cortex up to 10 s before it enters awareness. This delay presumably reflects the operation of a network of high-level control areas that begin to prepare an upcoming decision long before it enters awareness.

summary of the study from Max Planck Society
[mpg.de...]

Article in Nature (for you who have subscription to it)
[nature.com...]

dickbaker

4:18 am on May 10, 2008 (gmt 0)

WebmasterWorld Senior Member 10+ Year Member



I'm sure that most motorcycle riders would agree with the study. You can tell what an automobile driver is going to do several seconds before he or she actually does it. They give subtle cues, such as moving closer to the left or right lane marker.

But how can the results of the study help webmasters increase their clicks?