Why Your Brain Loves Sales
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What makes holiday shopping feel overwhelming?
Where didn't we go shopping? Yeah, we walked around a lot. So Alina Selyuk, you're a business correspondent at NPR and you apparently know a lot about malls.
If teenage Alina knew that you can get paid for knowing stuff about the malls, she'd be really impressed. I cover retail, so I have to shop for science.
Right. For science. And you are kind enough to talk to us a little bit about the science involved in shopping, right? Specifically, the psychology of a sale, which is why we went hunting for sales at Pentagon City Mall just outside Washington.
How do sales influence our emotions?
Yes. And this is the peak holiday shopping season. There is one question that I always get around this time. You can probably guess what it is. I think I can. Are holiday discounts actually a good deal? That's exactly it. Bingo. And that is really subjective. Honestly, sales can be good. They really can. And it really depends on your budget. It depends on how badly you need whatever this item is.
Are holiday discounts actually a good deal?
Or do you even need this item, right? And none of this is science, to be clear. But there is a field of study called consumer neuroscience. And it has a slightly more controversial sibling or maybe cousin called neuromarketing. Oh, OK. And they both study what happens in your brain when you're making purchasing decisions or just generally wearing the shoes of a consumer.
OK, so what makes neuromarketing controversial?
What is consumer neuroscience?
It's more commercial. It's the field that advertisers have embraced. So companies use neuromarketing to get people to fall in love with their brand or to buy their stuff. So some researchers have split off into consumer neuroscience, presenting it as a less corporate field, if that makes sense. But they're definitely linked.
And they confirm this idea that something does happen in your brain when you encounter a discount.
It's not really that complicated as far as science goes, but it's all about the sense of urgency, scarcity, with a sprinkling of imaginative anticipation and FOMO, really.
Today on the show, your brain on discounts.
I'm here to tell you about how you process a sale, how stores push your buttons, and how to outsmart them.
I'm Regina Barber. I'm Alina Siluk. You're listening to Shortwave from NPR.
How does urgency affect shopping decisions?
How do you feel about shopping?
I feel pretty overwhelmed. There are like way too many things. I don't know what to choose. It's a lot of pressure. It's a lot of pressure and we haven't even started. Yeah. Yeah. So you don't have a list. Don't have a list. Do you have a budget? I should, but I don't. You don't have a budget. But I want to save money. good start. This is a great start. I should have been better prepared. Yes. Okay. So the mall was huge and it was busy. And standing in that food court, I definitely felt unprepared.
I mean, this is kind of the perfect recipe for the stores of that mall. You know, they are thrilled when people like us come in without a plan, with no list, with no budget. It's kind of ideal for them. Right. Because here's what happens when you shop. In your brain, there's a constant push and pull between what can be described as the emotional and the rational parts.
The human brain has essentially evolved to feel first and think next.
That's Carolyn Yoon, who's one of the top experts on consumer neuroscience. She's a professor of marketing at the Michigan Ross School of Business.
Whenever you see anything like some stimulus, like a chocolate chip cookie that smells really great, that immediately activates your nucleus accumbens, which is a part of this area called the ventral striatum, which is a key part of the reward circuitry.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What makes holiday shopping feel overwhelming?
0:32–1:03
2
How do sales influence our emotions?
1:03–1:30
3
Are holiday discounts actually a good deal?
1:30–1:59
4
What is consumer neuroscience?
1:59–3:12
5
How does urgency affect shopping decisions?
3:12–6:18
6
What happens in your brain when you see a sale?
6:18–8:29
7
How does stress affect shopping behavior?
8:29
8
What role does anticipation play in buying?
7:56–14:13
Speakers
4 identifiedMore from Short Wave
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