February 1, 2007

The Science of Spending: Influences on Consumer Buying Behavior

Consumer buying behaviors are influenced by a number of external events, but activation of certain parts of the brain suggest that internal brain circuitry plays a role as well, according to a new study in the journal Neuron. A team of researchers, including CHP/PCOR associate Brian Knutson, used fMRI technology to investigated how people weigh various factors when making a purchasing decision. The study found that individuals who preferred to buy a product actived the nucleus accumbens, the part of the brain that controls functions such as motivation and reward. Individuals less inclined to buy a product due to excessive prices activated the insula and deactivated the mesial prefrontal cortex, which play roles in pain experience and basic emotions. The research has been covered by various media outlets, including the New York Times, Time magazine, and the Economist.

• » Neural Predictors of Purchases
• » New York Times, TimesSelect piece: "FINDINGS: The Voices In My Head Say 'Buy It!' Why Argue?"
• » The Economist: "The Triumph of Unreason?"