The economics of happiness
Until recently, happiness was a subjective emotion. But now researchers have found ways to determine what really makes consumers happy.
Market researchers place consumers into magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines to study their brains. By peeking into their heads, they are able to determine what really makes consumers happy. Feelings are measured—with far-reaching consequences for both the economy and science.
The quest for happiness is not for those suffering from claustrophobia. The path to contentment leads into a tube just wide enough to accommodate the human body, with a bit of space on either side. The atmosphere is sterile, and a steady rumble vibrates the skull while a magnetic field many tens of thousands of times stronger than that of Earth is created. Brand logos, images of sports cars, conventionally attractive human faces as well as human faces not so conventionally attractive—all are projected for the test subjects to see. Their brains process them and send out signals such as “Oh, yeah, I like that one.” The three-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine used by the company Life & Brain, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, scans regions of the brain to the millimeter looking for the slightest impulses denoting happiness.
Market researchers place consumers into magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machines to study their brains. By peeking into their heads, they are able to determine what really makes consumers happy. Feelings are measured—with far-reaching consequences for both the economy and science.
The quest for happiness is not for those suffering from claustrophobia. The path to contentment leads into a tube just wide enough to accommodate the human body, with a bit of space on either side. The atmosphere is sterile, and a steady rumble vibrates the skull while a magnetic field many tens of thousands of times stronger than that of Earth is created. Brand logos, images of sports cars, conventionally attractive human faces as well as human faces not so conventionally attractive—all are projected for the test subjects to see. Their brains process them and send out signals such as “Oh, yeah, I like that one.” The three-tesla magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine used by the company Life & Brain, headquartered in Bonn, Germany, scans regions of the brain to the millimeter looking for the slightest impulses denoting happiness.
These are then displayed three-dimensionally in bright colors. The resulting image represents the biochemistry of happiness. Magnetic resonance imaging is a process for scanning the human body without X-rays. It uses strong magnetic fields that cause the hydrogen atoms in a material to align themselves. This allows neuronal activity in the brain to be localized precisely. The left frontal hemisphere of the brain reacts more strongly to positive feelings; the right hemisphere reacts more strongly to negative ones. The difference between the activity in both hemispheres becomes a measurement of the feeling of happiness. This testing method is now being used in the sciences as well. Interdisciplinary research teams at Berkeley, Columbia, Harvard and Princeton were the first to understand the potential of this method.
“Neuro-economy” is a new branch of research that has the potential of turning old certainties on their heads. The goal: to explain economic activity with scientific precision. The hunch: Emotions determine our economic behavior to a much greater extent than does reason. The most important emotion: happiness. The seductive and compelling image of “Homo economicus,” who makes purchasing decisions according to rational criteria, is coming under greater critical scrutiny than ever before. Empirical economics researchers, such as Colin Camerer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, have been complaining for some time that traditional economics has spent far too little time delving into the emotions of consumers.
Research using brain scans confirms that strong brands switch off our reason
Neuro-economics refutes the image of decision- making guided by reason, doing so using scientifically valid data, something that classical market research was never able to accomplish with any consistency. “Brain scans are more objective than traditional methods of querying test subjects, because there is no opportunity to question ulterior motives,” says neuro-economist Christian Poppe of Life & Brain. Marketers in particular are paying attention to the new market research methods because—according to the first postulate of neuro-economics—strong brands apparently switch off our ability to reason completely. Brain scan tests of advertising effectiveness have demonstrated that the regions of the brain responsible for cognition relax when presented with strong brands, while the emotional regions are stimulated.
The best-known example is the Pepsi test. Why, asked economist Read Montague, does Pepsi consistently taste better in blind tests, even though the tasters swear by Coke? To answer this question, Montague, a professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, placed his test subjects in an MRI machine. As expected, when given Pepsi, the reward centers lit up more strongly. But when the researchers disclosed the brand, brain activity switched like lightning in favor of Coke. Montague’s conclusion: “Apparently Coca- Cola is linked with positive associations and feelings of self-esteem. These feelings and associations— not the taste—are the real value of the brand. ”Market strength as measurable emotion—that is a big help in marketing. It gives market planning an entirely new basis in scientific data.
“Neuro-economy” is a new branch of research that has the potential of turning old certainties on their heads. The goal: to explain economic activity with scientific precision. The hunch: Emotions determine our economic behavior to a much greater extent than does reason. The most important emotion: happiness. The seductive and compelling image of “Homo economicus,” who makes purchasing decisions according to rational criteria, is coming under greater critical scrutiny than ever before. Empirical economics researchers, such as Colin Camerer at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, have been complaining for some time that traditional economics has spent far too little time delving into the emotions of consumers.
Research using brain scans confirms that strong brands switch off our reason
Neuro-economics refutes the image of decision- making guided by reason, doing so using scientifically valid data, something that classical market research was never able to accomplish with any consistency. “Brain scans are more objective than traditional methods of querying test subjects, because there is no opportunity to question ulterior motives,” says neuro-economist Christian Poppe of Life & Brain. Marketers in particular are paying attention to the new market research methods because—according to the first postulate of neuro-economics—strong brands apparently switch off our ability to reason completely. Brain scan tests of advertising effectiveness have demonstrated that the regions of the brain responsible for cognition relax when presented with strong brands, while the emotional regions are stimulated.
The best-known example is the Pepsi test. Why, asked economist Read Montague, does Pepsi consistently taste better in blind tests, even though the tasters swear by Coke? To answer this question, Montague, a professor of neuroscience at Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, placed his test subjects in an MRI machine. As expected, when given Pepsi, the reward centers lit up more strongly. But when the researchers disclosed the brand, brain activity switched like lightning in favor of Coke. Montague’s conclusion: “Apparently Coca- Cola is linked with positive associations and feelings of self-esteem. These feelings and associations— not the taste—are the real value of the brand. ”Market strength as measurable emotion—that is a big help in marketing. It gives market planning an entirely new basis in scientific data.
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Brain scans for cooler cars?
Several large companies such as Ford, General Motors and the British lottery company Camelot are already placing their bets on neuro-economy. DaimlerChrysler, too, has tested which regions of the male brain are stimulated by images of racy sports cars and which regions respond to more serious four-door sedans.
Another result of the Daimler- Chrysler research: Automobiles activate the same region of the male brain that reacts to human faces. Automakers might do well to style the fronts of their cars to look like beautiful models, perhaps something like a “Heidi Klum grille.” Based on the reactions to CAD designs, activity in the left hemisphere will determine whether the shape of the roof will look more like that of a coupé, whether the headlights will be designed to look aggressive or whether the star in the radiator grille will be larger. DaimlerChrysler now wants to patent this “method for optimizing and determining product attractiveness or product acceptance.” With this application, happiness research has long since left the area of pure marketing.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us:
Several large companies such as Ford, General Motors and the British lottery company Camelot are already placing their bets on neuro-economy. DaimlerChrysler, too, has tested which regions of the male brain are stimulated by images of racy sports cars and which regions respond to more serious four-door sedans.
Another result of the Daimler- Chrysler research: Automobiles activate the same region of the male brain that reacts to human faces. Automakers might do well to style the fronts of their cars to look like beautiful models, perhaps something like a “Heidi Klum grille.” Based on the reactions to CAD designs, activity in the left hemisphere will determine whether the shape of the roof will look more like that of a coupé, whether the headlights will be designed to look aggressive or whether the star in the radiator grille will be larger. DaimlerChrysler now wants to patent this “method for optimizing and determining product attractiveness or product acceptance.” With this application, happiness research has long since left the area of pure marketing.
If you have questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us:
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