Article Figures & Data
Figures
- Figure 1.
Experimental design and behavioral results. A, Timing of the scanning experiment. Subjects were told that one of the companies (represented by the logos) would be contributing to funds they would receive for compensation in the experiment. During the scanning task, subjects were instructed to merely look at the screens while the paintings/logos were displayed. Sixty paintings were displayed during the scanning session; each painting was shown once, paired with either a sponsor logo or a non-sponsor logo. After scanning, subjects also rated how much they liked each of the paintings (−4 to +4 Likert scale) and ranked their preference for the logos among a group of seven unfamiliar logos. B, In the behavioral session, subjects preferred paintings paired with sponsor logos (*p < 0.002). C, Subjects preferred sponsor logos compared with non-sponsor logos in a postscan questionnaire (*p < 0.002).
- Figure 2.
Neural responses for sponsorship effect. A, Top, VMPFC response increases linearly with preference rating (p < 0.001, uncorrected), MNI [4, 50, −16]. Bottom, Region of interest in VMPFC. B, Time series showing that percentage signal change in VMPFC is higher for sponsor than non-sponsor paintings in the defined ROI (blue box denotes onset of painting). *p < 0.05. C, No regions were found in the GLM for the contrast sponsor paintings > non-sponsor paintings (p < 0.05, FDR corrected).
- Figure 3.
Neural activity related to painting preference and effect of sponsorship. A, Neural activity during passive art viewing that covaried with subjects' individual preferences was found in the bilateral temporal-occipital junction [38, −75, 15], the parahippocampal gyrus [29, −41, −13], and the precuneus [−13, 54, 10] (displayed at p < 10−6, uncorrected, n = 87). B, Percentage signal change showing effect of sponsorship on brain regions correlated with preference responses in the $300 task. Middle temporal-occipital and parahippocampal regions were significantly more active for sponsor paintings (*p < 0.05).
- Figure 4.
Experimental design for mere-offer experiments and behavior/imaging results. A, In group 1 (n = 21), both companies offered to pay the subject, and the computer randomly selected which of the two companies sponsored the subject's participation. B, In group 2 (n = 24), one company offered to sponsor their participation in the experiment. The computer randomly selected whether they received their compensation from the company or through our normal route of compensation (without sponsorship). Only the subjects in which the computer selected payment without sponsor were included in the analysis. After the introductory screens, the experiment proceeded as the original task, with paintings being displayed paired with either the mere-offer company logo or the other company logo. C, The mere offer of a favor increases the behaviorally expressed preference for paintings compared with a company that makes no offer. The average painting preference is lowest for the no-offer condition (original branded favor task), intermediate for the mere-offer condition in group 1 (A), and highest for the mere-offer condition in group 2 (B). *p = 0.05, **p = 0.002. D, Neural responses in medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate increase linearly with value of mere offer (p < 0.005, uncorrected).
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