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THIS IS YOUR BRAIN ON DOPAMINE: THE RISE OF
NEUROMARKETING
When dopamine is released by one promise of reward, it also makes you more susceptible to any
other kind of temptation. For example, erotic images make men more likely to take financial risks, and
fantasizing about winning the lottery leads people to overeat—two ways daydreaming about
unattainable rewards can get you into trouble. High levels of dopamine amplify the lure of immediate
gratification, while making you less concerned about long-term consequences.
Do you know who has figured this out? People who want your money. Many aspects of our retail
environment have been designed to keep us always wanting more, from big food companies packing
their recipes with just the right combination of sugar, salt, and fat to drive your dopamine neurons
crazy to lotto commercials that encourage you to imagine what you would do with a million dollars if
you hit the jackpot.
Grocery stores are no fools, either. They want you shopping under the influence of maximum
dopamine, so they put their most tempting merchandise front and center. When I walk into my
neighborhood store, the very first thing I’m hit with is the free samples in the bakery section. This is
no accident. Marketing researchers at Stanford University have shown that food and drink samples
make shoppers hungrier and thirstier, and put shoppers in a reward-seeking state of mind. Why?
Because samples combine two of the biggest promises of reward:
Free
and
Food
. (If there’s an
attractive spokesperson handing out the samples, you can throw in a third
F
, and then you’re really in
trouble.) In one study, participants who sampled something sweet were more likely to purchase
indulgent foods such as a steak or cake, as well as items that were on sale. The food and drink
samples amplified the appeal of products that would typically activate the reward system. (Nothing
triggers a budget-minded mom’s promise of reward more than the opportunity to save money!) There
was no effect, however, on utilitarian items like oatmeal and dishwasher liquid, demonstrating that
even a hit of dopamine cannot make toilet paper irresistible to the average consumer (sorry,
Charmin).
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But take a bite of the store’s new cinnamon strudel, and you may find yourself with a few
more items in your cart than you planned. And even if you resist the temptation of the sample, your
brain—hopped up on dopamine—will be looking for something to satisfy the promise of reward.
The Stanford researchers who ran this study asked twenty-one food and nutrition experts to predict
the results, and shockingly, 81 percent believed that the opposite would be true—that samples would
decrease a shopper’s hunger and thirst, and satiate their reward seeking. This just goes to show how
unaware most of us—experts included—are of the many environmental factors that influence our
inner desires and behavior. For example, most people also believe that they are immune to
advertisements, despite ample evidence that TV ads for snack foods make you more likely to hit the
fridge—especially if you’re a dieter trying to cut back on snacks.
The reward system of the brain also responds to novelty and variety. Your dopamine neurons
eventually become less responsive to familiar rewards, even ones you really enjoy, whether it’s a
daily mocha latte or the same old lunch special. It’s not a coincidence that places like Starbucks and
Jack in the Box are constantly introducing new variations of the standard fare, and clothing retailers
roll out new color choices for their wardrobe basics. Regular cup of joe? Been there, done that. Ah,
but what’s this on the menu—a white chocolate latte? The thrill is back! Cable-knit sweater in your
favorite clothing catalog? Boring. But wait, it’s now available in salted-caramel brown and melted-
butter yellow? Dopamine days are here again!
Then there are the price tricks guaranteed to make the primitive part of your brain want to hoard
scarce resources. Anything that makes you feel like you’re getting a bargain is going to open the
dopamine floodgates, from “Buy 1 Get 1 Free!” deals to signs that shout “60 Percent Off!” Especially
potent are the price tags at discount retailers that list some ridiculously high “suggested retail price”
next to the retailer’s lower price. As
Amazon.com
knows and ruthlessly exploits, your brain quickly
calculates the savings and (illogically) treats the difference as money earned. $999 marked down to
$44.99? What a steal! I don’t even know what it’s for, but add to cart immediately! Throw in any kind
of time pressure or scarcity cue (door-busters savings that end at noon, one-day sales, the ominous-
sounding “while supplies last”), and you’ll be hunting and gathering like you’ve found the last
dwindling food supply on the savannah.
Businesses also use smells to manufacture desire where none existed. An appetizing odor is one of
the fastest ways to trigger the promise of reward, and as soon as the scented molecules land on your
olfactory receptors, the brain will begin searching for the source. The next time you walk by a fast-
food restaurant and are tempted by the smell of french fries and burgers, it’s a safe bet you’re not
smelling the food inside, but a carefully manufactured Eau de Eat More being piped onto the sidewalk
through special vents. The website of Scent Air, a leader in the field of scent marketing,
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brags about
how it lured visitors into an ice cream parlor on the lower level of a hotel. With a strategically
placed aroma-delivery system, they released the scent of sugar cookies to the top of the stairs and
waffle cones to the bottom. The average passerby will think she is inhaling the authentic smell of the
sweet treats. Instead, she is breathing in enhanced chemicals designed to maximize the firing of her
dopamine neurons and lead her—and her wallet—straight down the stairs.
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For Bloomingdale’s, the
company varied the scents by department: Baby Powder to trigger warm and fuzzy feelings in the
maternity department, Coconut in the swimsuit department to inspire fantasies of cocktails on the
beach, and the “soothing scent of Lilac” for the intimate apparel department, presumably to calm
down women standing naked under fluorescent lighting in front of a three-way dressing-room mirror.
You may not even consciously notice these scents, but they can influence your brain and your shopping
all the same.
Of course, science can be used for good as well as profit, and to be fair, the field of scent
marketing has done more for the world than sell ice cream cones and bikinis. A Florida hospital’s
MRI department reduced its last-minute appointment-cancellation rates by introducing Coconut Beach
and Ocean fragrances into the waiting areas. A little promise of reward can be a powerful antidote to
anxiety, and help people approach things they would rather avoid. Other industries and service
providers might benefit from a similar strategy—perhaps dentists could infuse their offices with the
scent of Halloween Candy, and tax advisers might choose Stiff Martini.
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