This Is Your Brain on Shopping

An fMRI study determines where the brain appraises products and evaluates prices
Vase shopping

Just like in bodybuilding, the bruising world of shopping operates by the same maxim: no pain, no gain. The "must-have" painting, the washer and dryer or the CD we stand to gain, will always come with the pain of reaching into our wallets and bidding farewell to a few bucks.


According to Knutson, he and his colleagues set out to determine whether "thinking about potential good and bad outcomes actually influences behavior." By scanning subjects' brains using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researcher found that, in fact, weighing possible outcomes does influence decision making. "This is the first study to show that you can use brain activation alone to predict purchasing on a trial-by-trial basis," proclaims Knutson.


The YES and NO boxes randomly switched positions during each of the 80 trials, so that there would be no rehearsed movements once a subject saw an item. Most trials were virtual, but two randomly selected sales were real, allowing volunteers, who received $20 at the outset of the experiment, to actually obtain those items.



Knutson says this network of reactions can help neuroeconomists better understand what happens to shoppers when they use credit cards, a behavior many economists characterize as disadvantageous (not to mention, risky) because it encourages overspending and under-saving.

"[This] provides the tools for making hypotheses," Knutson remarks. "Maybe [a shopper's] insula isn't engaged when they're using credit cards." Or rather, he adds, maybe the mesial prefrontal cortex is more activated when a person encounters a "for sale" sign.

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