A frequent topic here has been research showing that buying things, particularly items seen as being overpriced, activates the pain centers of the brain (see The Pain of Buying, Painful Sushi and Other Pricing Blunders, and Brain Scans…

We've covered the concept of buying pain here frequently, but haven't seen much about how giving away money affects the brain. Two new studies shed some light on the neuroscience of charity and altruism. These studies indicate that the…

We recently reported on important new neuroeconomics research in Brain Scans Predict Buying Behavior. This study is the first that attempts to correlate fMRI brain scan data with actual purchasing behavior. George Loewenstein of Carnegie…

Pay-per-bite sushi pricing makes economic sense, but brain studies show it 'hurts' your customer's brain.

Marketers expend a great deal of effort making it easy to buy their products. They expand distribution channels, offer financing alternatives, and when possible ensure the customer can leave with the product at time of purchase. After…

Does your company play painful games with your customers? I'm not talking about physical pain, but brain pain. More specifically, what has been termed buying pain or the pain of paying. According to research conducted by George…

Regular cruise ship passengers almost always say that cruising is the least painful way to travel. Once you are on the ship, there's no packing or unpacking as you visit new destinations, and you are pampered 24/7. Your cabin is…

As described many times here at Neuromarketing, paying for a product activates the brain's pain center, particularly if the price seems too high to the person making the buying decision. Starbucks is the company that taught us that $5 for a…

Big companies often find great ways to aggravate their customers, and cell phone giant Sprint proves the point. John Wall of the Ronin Marketing blog posted a rant about Sprint's advertising for their Centro Palm smartphone, Screw Your…

Cyber Monday is one of those recent inventions that seems a bit suspect. Is the Monday after Thanksgiving really the biggest ecommerce sales day? It looks like Cyber Monday will have to work hard to beat Black Friday, when reports indicate…