Thought Dependency
Neuroeconomics is Responsible for Your Addiction
There is a fine line between scientific research and psychologically manipulating users.
It is no surprise to witness the proliferation of neuroscience in the past decade. With the rise of the “creator economy” exploding into a billion-dollar industry and with an increase in consumer habits, companies will leverage science to their advantage to mass-exploit their consumers.
Social media has proven time and time again to pose mental health risks along with feelings of inadequacy and FOMO (Fear of missing out). However, since it’s profitable, our focus primarily lies on increasing profitability and the mobilization of consumer traffic to websites.
Influencer culture primarily relies on ad revenue and brand deals for their “influence” to spread to a wider audience. Without the need to rely only on commercials and websites, companies leverage their time and resources onto influencers to market their products for them. Influencers already hold a tight grasp on younger individuals since they look up to them. To market products to these individuals from a “trustworthy” influencer provides greater value to that product.
Hence how neuroeconomics — studies the neurobiological and computational basis of value-based decision making — was born.
Neuromarketing
Neuromarketing — The OG business model — involves aspects of neuroeconomics beginning in the 1970s to understand consumer habits.
Neuromarketing has been established as a primary business model when marketing to potential customers. Whether it applies to optimal marketing strategies for creating new products, companies understand the visual appeal of the product such as thumbnails on YouTube videos, short clips of influencers feigning products for brand deals, and ads in-between posts on social media.
Through our evolution, our prefrontal cortex strategically developed to solve problems — at least in certain contexts. It creates a world in which we can take advantage of in the future. So, we occupy a world in which different parts of our brain are adapted to different types of circumstances, but we don’t have access to a control structure to identify which choices are best for us; we’re not optimized in that way. And yet we have to make such choices all the time.
Wharton Barbara Kahn — a visual marketing teacher — has established neuroeconomics as an imperative to doing business in the world of sales.
However, one aspect that proliferates addictive behavior is the collection of data from users on these platforms. Analyzing user trends allows companies to understand the viewing and buying habits to push certain curated ads on their feed from sponsorships.
“They use a biological understanding of the human visual system to deconstruct all the frames of any given show so the thumbnails might be the most visually eye-catching. And then they take personal data on your preferences. If you like romances or sci-fi, you’re more likely to be presented with a thumbnail that is both very visible to you, but also aligns well with your preferences.” — Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, Executive Director of Wharton Neuroscience at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Neuroscience, indeed, holds a pivotal role in shaping the future of business as it delves into the very core of human decision-making. Our inherent tendency towards irrational decisions is mitigated by understanding the neurological underpinnings of our choices. This insight is invaluable to consumer-focused companies striving for profitability to understand consumer preferences.
However, as we tread this path, the ethical implications are not taken into consideration. Oh, they are understood greatly by these companies, but to illicit ethical compliance would equate to a loss in profits and a decrease in outreach.
Although such a motive seems rather innocent at first glance, it is crucial to separate the boundaries between influence and manipulation.
One would be naive otherwise.
There are serious complexities provided by these companies:
- The privacy of consumer and their rights to forgo personal data
- Abusing algorithms to produce the most profitable product
- Encouraging addictive behavior to stay on platforms as long as possible.
- Bombardment of notifications and flashy visuals so we feel insecure about not keeping up with society
- The inability to freely choose what we wish to view
It seems nearly impossible to escape this over-consumerism ideology.
Tinder provides ads on a dating website, influencers flaunt products on Instagram, YouTubers share the same 5 ads in sponsorships, and TikTok has incorporated “Tik-Tok Shop” to buy the products their favorite creators use. What scares me further is this could be the tip of the iceberg.
Not Accepted
It’s interesting to note that, usually with more choice, the variety and individuality of those consuming would be on a spectrum. But it doesn’t seem to be the case.
In my own life, I like to wear pretty basic clothing. Sometimes I’ll discover new shorts from Dicks and a tank top I like to wear to the gym to look sexy. I buy shoes from clearance most of the time and I enjoy at least a little variety from local shops.
But, what fascinates me is how almost everyone I know who are my friends or fellow gym mates has the same GymShark clothing:
- Shorts
- T-shirts
- Tank tops
- Socks
- Bags
Sometimes I feel like an outcast or that I’m “missing out” on a cool, flashy trend that will also make me look good. But what concerns me is that I don’t care what type of clothes I wear. What I started to become aware of is how often I fantasized about these clothes since my friends were hopping on the GymShark train.
The more I spent time with my friends, the more I fell victim to researching these types of clothes. I imagined myself looking cool and trendy rather than feeling comfortable and unique. I was later bombarded with GymShark ads on YouTube and received countless emails from the company which I did not sign up for.
I became trapped in my impulsive behavior when in reality, I didn’t care. My friend always points out how I “am behind the times” but that is not true. I simply want to branch out and try different clothing to see what works and what doesn’t. I am not so vain as to buy GymShark clothing for the sole purpose of posting myself in this gear.
I am not a “rational machine”.
My aesthetic helps guide my exploration of products which allows for individual personality exposure and purchase flair. Because of my irrationality, my purchases are unlike anyone else’s in my friend group, which I would rather have than a cookie-cutter world of cookie-cutter humans making cookie-cutter purchases. But my choice of clothing is profitable.
Dicks and Tommy Hilfiger will always have a customer.
But this doesn’t just stop with clothing. YouTube trends and videos have become cookie-cutter templates because of the mass increase in users wanting to “make it big”. Instagram pictures have the same filters with the same captions with the same poses. Trends are not trends anymore because they are fun. It’s because they are profitable.
We have sacrificed unique authenticity for generic, cheap versions of ourselves. We inhibited our growth to appease the crowd.
The field of neuroscience allows us to look at our decisions from different perspectives. Yet, we as a society, converge when met with unlimited choice. We are overwhelmed by so many choices we don’t want to pick the “wrong one”. So, we find comfort in conforming to what everyone else is doing to fit in.
We manipulate our perception of action (obviously), but even when we ask impartial observers to judge our decisions, we will not obtain the perfect outcome we seek. The imperfection of the human brain binds every potential impartial observer. Every little improvement in society’s decision-making has the potential to prevent disaster.
I might be exaggerating, but one need only observe the 2008 financial crisis to understand the cause and effect of human greed even when there were no “rational” ways to gauge it.
Our society is one of addicts. Accepted addicts.
Our phones are latched into our pockets, the impulse to browse online is paramount, and FOMO is one of the biggest driving forces when it comes to consumerism.
Thanks to neuroeconomics and neuromarketing, our decisions are becoming hijacked by corporations who understand the risk it takes to stay profitable.
“Let’s not fall into the trap of conventions and habits and convince ourselves that the way we are consuming now is next to impossible to alter because of regulated options, economic limitations, cultural norms, accessibility, or whichever excuse we come up with. Let’s remember that just as it is momentarily the norm to mindlessly shop and consume, it could easily become the new norm not to; to radically reduce one’s consumption and to focus on the usage and aesthetic nourishment of the objects one owns and invests in. Something being the norm doesn’t mean that it is carved in stone. Norms are changeable. Not easily changeable, but nevertheless changeable. Cherishing, mending, and repairing one’s belongings could become the new normal.” ― Kristine H. Harper, Anti-trend, Resilient Design and the Art of Sustainable Living
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