Title: How Emotions Influence What We Buy | Psychology Today
Headings: How Emotions Influence What We Buy
Peter Noel Murray Ph.D.
How Emotions Influence What We Buy
The emotional core of consumer decision-making

Content: How Emotions Influence What We Buy | Psychology Today
Peter Noel Murray Ph.D.
Inside the Consumer Mind
How Emotions Influence What We Buy
The emotional core of consumer decision-making
Posted Feb 26, 2013
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Most people believe that the choices they make result from a rational analysis of available alternatives. In reality, however, emotions greatly influence and, in many cases, even determine our decisions. In his book, Descartes' Error, Antonio Damasio, professor of neuroscience at the University of Southern California, argues that emotion is a necessary ingredient to almost all decisions. When we are confronted with a decision, emotions from previous, related experiences affix values to the options we are considering. These emotions create preferences, which lead to our decision. Damasio’s view is based on his studies of people whose connections between the “thinking” and “emotional” areas of the brain had been damaged. They were capable of rationally processing information about alternative choices, but were unable to make decisions, because they lacked any sense of how they felt about the options. The influential role of emotion in consumer behavior is well documented: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) shows that when evaluating brands, consumers primarily use emotions (personal feelings and experiences), rather than information (brand attributes, features, and facts).