Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response, or more commonly referred to as ASMR is defined by Wikipedia as a “neologism for a perceptual phenomenon characterized as a distinct, pleasurable tingling sensation in the head, scalp, back, or peripheral regions of the body in response to visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, or cognitive stimuli.” In other words, exposure to certain stimuli like the sound of whispering or watching someone brush their hair triggers a blissful almost trance-like feeling.
Many of these triggers are visual or auditory in nature and as such, Pornhub has video content specifically intended to bring on this “brain orgasm” in viewers. Over the past 18 months ASMR searches have increased 1085% on Pornhub, perhaps in part due to the considerable amount of media attention the phenomenon has received within the same time period.
Once we learned more about what ASMR was, we were very eager to see what kinds of content our community had created catering specifically to an ASMR audience. We first took a look at some of the top searched ASMR-related terms and noted that ‘asmr whisper,’ ‘asmr joi’ (jerk off instructions), ‘lips asmr,’ ‘asmr massage’ and ‘dirty talk asmr’ were among the most popular.
To see if these ASMR viewers enjoyed other types of stimulus, we looked at the most common searches preceding a search for ASMR. The average person visiting Pornhub views around 8 pages before finding the right video to get the job done. It’s a process of refining results to find the video that fits their current mood.
Prior to ASMR, the most commonly searched term is “joi” (jerk off instructions), likely because these videos feature voice coaxing in addition to a visual experience. Next we find searches like “whisper”, “binaural”, “dirty talk” and even “headphones”. So it seems that people seeking these sensations ultimately find that adding ASMR to their search will help find the right type of video.
That’s it for this edition of Pornhub Insights. Have you ever experienced ASMR? Let us know in the comments section below.