“I want what she has!” Mirror neurons and buying behaviour
“I want what she has”
Mirror neurons and buying behaviour within fashion
1992, Parma, Italy , scientist Giacomo Rizzolatti is studying the brains of monkeys, when one hot summer afternoon he notices that the macaque is starring longingly at a student holding an ice-cream. As the student raised the cone to his mouth taking a tentative lick, the electronic monitor that was hooked up to the macaque’s Pre-motor area (known by neuroscientists as F5) fired up.
The pre-motor area registers activities when monkeys carry out certain gestures
This means, that by simply observing the student, the monkey had mentally imitated the very same gesture.
This phenomenon was then coined “mirror neurons” at work - neurons that fire when the action is being performed and the same action is being observed.
In humans, mirror neurons take action too, things we observe or read about someone else doing, we do aswell, in our minds. Seeing someone trip and fall, mirror neurons would fire up and you would know precisely how that person felt. Mirror neurons would send signals to the lymbic system aka the brains emotional region so that we can experience what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes
So mirror neurons thus seem to be responsible for human empathy, but what do mirror neurons have to do with buying behaviour and fashion?
Mirror neurons make us mimic other people’s buying behaviours,
Mirror neurons and consumer behaviour
2022, London, United Kingdom, “I could look like that, if I just bought that dress” The very thought my brain was making as I scrolled through my Instagram feed, looking at Tamara Kalinic’s post. She looks relaxed, confident, fashionable and successful. Next thing I knew I was adding to basket and typing my 16 digit Visa number.
Mirror neurons can override rational thinking, leading you to unconsciously imitate and purchase what is right in front of you, a clothing item, an image an attitude & lifestyle.
Mirror neurons, don’t work alone , there’s something else that comes into play too, DOPAMINE…
Read the next post to find out about addictive purchasing behaviours