Sick with Economic Gloom
Sometimes I think I should just repost everything Jonah Lehrer writes because it’s all awesome and insightful. (Just subscribe to his blog, that’s probably easier.)
Anyhow, he had a good piece in the Dallas Morning News about what’s going on in your brain when you buy stuff. Though I’m generally pretty skeptical of any kind of neuromarketing stuff, I like what he has to say, especially this bit: “When times are tough, the emotional tug-of-war inside the brain is thrown out of whack, and consumers act like everything is overpriced. We’re so worried about the dismal economy that the reward areas of the brain are stifled.”
Crazy, huh? Basically the recession leaves us ill (or well, depending on who you ask), immune to the tricks of consumerism.
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Fascinating post, Noah. I’m particularly curious about the NAcc and the experiences that lead up to its reaction.
In particular, can previous brand experiences turn it on, or is its trigger embedded much deeper in our psyche, based on experiences over a much longer time frame?
I might say the opposite. Or more that the reward area of the brain is so starved that its heightened; we know we can’t have it but we want it. When we get a little its like a starving person thinking the rancid tuna sandwich is the best thing they’ve ever had.