Advertisers to play on Phantom Cell Phone Ringtone

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Most of us, if not all have at some point thought we heard our Cell Phone ringing when in fact it was not ringing at all. These are often referred to as Phantom phone rings and are often due to us hearing certain frequencies and patterns of sounds similar to our cell phone ringtones and our brain fills in the rest and makes us think our cell phone is actually ringing.

Noises such as running water, blow dryer, and music can all trigger this effect. These phantom rings are described scientifically as a \"psycho-acoustic phenomenon\" and are a result of the way the human brain interprets sound. People have become extra vigilant to the sound of their ringtone and often the brain over compensates by being extra sensitive to ringtone type sounds.

Now television advertisers are thinking of cashing in on this phenomenon by including sounds in their adverts that trigger the response. Advertisers believe that this would be most effective on adverts ending with a call to action for the potential customer to call them.