Mindframe

    “You are what you buy,” our consumer culture seems to tell us. But how fixed and immutable are our buying preferences? How subject are they to chemical manipulation? This may sound like the premise for a paranoid and on-the-nose thriller about capitalism but it’s also the question raised by a recentcollaboration between Caltech, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Western Ontario, and ZRT Laboratory. And the results of that study suggest the answer is: very.   Researchers assembled 243 men between the ages of 18 and 55. Half were randomly dosed with testosterone, while the other half were given a placebo. 4 hours later, when the testosterone in their blood had nearly peaked, they were given several tasks. First, the subjects were presented with a 10-point scale, featuring a brand with high social status on one end, and a brand with low status—but otherwise equal quality—on the other. The men were asked to move a ...

Last time you pulled up to a gas pump, you had to make a choice. That choice consisted of 87% with ethanol, Regular, or Premium. It’s a choice you’ve made thousands of times. In fact, far beyond the gas pump, you’re asked to make that very same kind of “good, better, best” decision over and over again, whether you’re picking airplane seats or breakfast cereal. It seems to make sense: in a fast-changing world where the options seem to multiply every day, there is something comforting about “good, better, best” as an easy navigation tool. Your brain adapted so well to this strategy, it’s likely you don’t even think about it. It’s just another heuristic, just another way the brain conserves energy by employing a rule of thumb that spares you from thinking too hard. Why not bring it into the cereal aisle? Marketers hit upon this tactic years ago. It seems like a hugely successful move for anyone who wants to take advantage of the brain’s natural tendency towards fuel conservation, o...

Every day, billions of dollars are exchanged for goods or services in that most American pastime known as shopping. Some people are addicted and some approach it like a firing squad, but sooner or later we all find ourselves partaking. Arguably, shopping is what sets us apart from the animals. What you might not have considered is just what goes on inside your brain during the shopping experience. Suppose you want to buy something. It could be tires for your car, a house, a cell phone, or a sandwich--in any case, it all starts with a product, and a thought experiment. We imagine how that new dress will look at the party this Saturday, or how that new genuine leather wallet will slip comfortably into your pocket. Your brain follows a simple pattern: once a product grabs your attention, you project forward, imagining your new life with that item. If the scenario you've fabricated goes well, you're far more likely to buy. So maybe I'm standing in the Apple store, cons...

So somehow you find yourself stuck in the Mall of America, mannequins staring vacantly at you from all sides, dressed in the latest fashions, which like fruit flies, reach their full life cycle in less than 30 days. Quick, what do you do? Of course: you duck into a Cinnabon, enticed by the sweet nectar of cinnamon and sugar wafting through the air, seductively calling your name. (Your first name in this case; Cinnabon marketers are that clever.) Normally, you resist temptation, but not this time--no, this time you find the buttery warm pastry gliding over your lips and hitting your taste buds faster then a Nolan Ryan fast ball. You see, Cinnabon knows how your brain works. In particular, they know that all outside information is delivered to your  brain through your five senses. And they know that smell is the only sense that doesn't go through any kind of filtering process. It is our most primitive and powerful sense. And so it is no surprise the marketing geniuses at Ci...