What our skin says about ads: Evaluating emotional reactions through GSR

Abstract To determine whether stimuli, such as advertisements, evoke the intended emotional response, emotion measurement tools are essential. Among these, Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) is a reliable physiological indicator that reflects changes in skin conductivity, linked to the parasympathetic nervous system. In this study, GSR sensors were used to assess emotional reactions triggered by advertisements with diverse themes. Data collected from 44 participants, resulting in 51,000 data points, underwent cluster analysis, which grouped responses into homogeneous categories. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) further demonstrated that different advertisements elicited distinct emotional responses, highlighting their varying effectiveness. While the method effectively measured emotional intensity and structural impact, additional refinement is required to pinpoint the specific direction of emotions. This research underscores the value of GSR as an objective emotional measurement tool in advertising, offering insights for optimizing marketing strategies and enhancing consumer engagement.