Birkin Brain

Cecelia Ky-Lan Do
Jun 15
12 min read

by Andrea Mojsoska

art by Sydney Siew

Pick a beverage:

a) Pepsi

b) Coke

Are you reading this article on a product made by:

a) Apple

b) Windows

Your Pinterest outfit inspiration board is most likely to include Pins of:

a) Nike Dunks

b) Adidas Sambas

If, like me, your answers to these questions were a), b), and b), marketing algorithms might categorize you as someone who fosters a deep appreciation for simplicity, enjoys good company, and values genuinity.

Remarkably, such choices are less arbitrary than meets the eye. In the present day, brands tend to be used as a means of self-identification and lifestyle development [1]. On lazy mornings, we might opt for a Lululemon-sportswear-casual look, while downtown dinners call for Aritzia-business-casual elegance. This everyday appraisal of brand value occupies our minds constantly, and companies are starting to take notice. By extension, so are investors. Be it luxury products or stocks, market participants are faced with an abundance of choices and decisions to make about their next investment. Oftentimes, these investments serve social motivations—such as shaping our perception in social settings or reinforcing our own sense of identity. Thus, from marketing to financial decision-making, brands and the brain intersect on a regular basis.

Eyes on the Price

As coined by Ale Smidts, “neuromarketing” encompasses the sub-discipline of business that utilizes neuroimaging techniques and brain-computer interfaces to decipher how the brain responds to marketing stimuli [2]. On that note, data collection through self-reported measures—such as the survey given in the introduction—is gradually becoming old news. Instead, companies have begun toying with the prospect of using research techniques, such as eye tracking, in marketing. Because they are objective measurements, neuromarketing techniques leave no room for social desirability bias—the tendency for people to choose the most socially-acceptable option. Instead, they gather responses to marketing stimuli straight from the source: our brain. Just as I might have begun this article by placing a bottle of Coke and Pepsi in front of you, and determining which product catches your gaze for a longer time, companies are replacing questionnaires with eye-tracking technologies.

Eye-tracking technologies are behavioral measures that operate by monitoring the visual system, particularly its gaze direction, pupil dilation, and fixation points [3]. To achieve the task of visually-guided preference tracking, eye-tracking equipment uses a red-light camera that collects responses from the cornea and pupil in both eyes as individuals observe visual marketing cues: arrows, colors, and icons. In turn, eye trackers generate data that identifies pupil position and gaze vectors—everything that falls within the direction of a vector pointing from the eye at an opaque object. Eye movements thus serve as a proxy measurement for visual attention and judgment. In particular, visual processing is a function of the brain that contributes to cognitive processing and decision-making. Visual processing starts with a visual input entering the eyes and hitting an individual’s retina. As the input travels through the brain’s networks, it eventually reaches the visual cortex, where stimuli are processed into usable information. The more attention we pay to a visual stimulus, the more neurons in the visual cortex respond to and process it [3]. So, in the blink of an eye, these eye-tracking technologies provide useful proxy measurements regarding consumers’ potential interest in specific brand products.

Eye trackers are more prevalent than one might think. We’ve all been there: you catch yourself thinking of a certain product, only to find that the stealthy social media algorithm is two steps ahead of you, already recommending ads related to that Ikea bookshelf you’ve been eyeing. It turns out that eye-tracking through web cameras, as well as geospatial location tracking, are clauses that some companies may secretly slip into user agreements—most of which usually go unread by consumers. On top of this, by coupling volunteer sample data about brand preferences with AI algorithms, companies are able to make predictions about the preferences and shopping habits of large-scale consumer populations [4]. Dystopian, isn’t it? The notion of eye-tracking technologies being utilized to surveil consumers for neuromarketing purposes raises serious ethical concerns. Still, there are companies—such as RealEyes—that remain transparent about their usage of this neuroimaging technique [4]. As part of their neuromarketing trial, RealEyes measured a consenting sample’s attention and emotion levels while watching brand content on their personal devices, thus exemplifying ethical practices in consumer neuroscience research. In their assessment of a portfolio of Coca Cola ads, they found that 60% of the ads’ performance scores outdid other soft drink advertisement viewership turnout, and 25% of them surpassed the “Superbowl benchmark”—a marketing measure of a campaign’s success in comparison to the Superbowl’s viewership [5].

Predicting Preferences

When behavioral measures fail to capture brain activity, neural measures and neuroimaging techniques come into play. One neuroimaging technique that has been co-opted by the field of neuromarketing is electroencephalography (EEG). In the laboratory, EEG is utilized to measure the voltage changes of frequencies in the scalp region in response to marketing stimuli. As such, it is the most widely-applied technology in the “marketing mix” of product, price, placement, and promotion [6]. By virtue of its non-invasive nature and precise measurement with respect to time, EEG provides neuromarketing teams with real-time insights about cognitive processes. These insights are based on the EEG signal’s oscillations in various frequency ranges in units of Hertz: a measure of electrical activity in the brain [7]. For instance, the alpha frequency band—captured during awake relaxation—is constituted of oscillations between 7 and 12 Hz. Desynchronization in this band (i.e. alpha suppression, a sign that the brain is shifting from a relaxed state to a more alert state) was first found to occur in response to opening the eyes [7]. Today, alpha suppression is utilized as a measure of alertness and attention. As such, it has been found to be involved in the processing of attention-arousing stimuli such as photographs and videos depicting emotional scenarios—much like the stimuli prevalent in brand campaigns [7, 8]. Researchers hence found a positive correlation between arousal in response to advertisements and the advertisements’ notability: the more notable they found an ad, the more neural arousal was evoked in response to it [7].

In this regard, Yadava and colleagues utilized EEG signals to predict the product preferences of consumers based on a neuromarketing framework [9]. In doing so, they carried out a controlled study wherein participants were placed under an EEG sensor and asked to assign shopping items—shoes, shirts, bracelets, and bags—into two categories: “like” and “dislike.” The collected EEG frequency data was then analyzed in both the “like” and “dislike” conditions and showed two distinct activation patterns that characterized participants’ preferences. This was followed by a testing phase in which a developed computer algorithm predicted whether participants would like or dislike a product based on their EEG signals. Products in the “shoe” category inspired the highest precision in the algorithm, with a prediction rate of 95.33% [9]. Thus, the EEG data was used to create a precise framework that can predict consumer preferences based on the participants’ collected brain activity. As concluded by Yadava and his team, this framework could be utilized to develop marketing strategies.

Pepsi or Coke?

Imagine if neuroimaging data could tell that you prefer Coca Cola over Pepsi before you even knew it yourself. Nowadays, it really can! “Subconscious” emotional reactions to advertising, price, product, and brand have successfully been unveiled through the use of neuroimaging tools, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) [6]. By measuring the flow of oxygenated blood in brain areas as a proxy for neural activity, researchers can use fMRI to directly analyze which parts of the brain are activated during consumer decision making [6]. Thus, researchers might opt for using fMRI over EEG when they wish to pinpoint the precise area of neural activity in response to a stimulus.

In fact, the very first fMRI neuromarketing investigation takes us back to the age-old debate of Coke vs. Pepsi [10]. The aim of this pioneering study was to determine whether brand knowledge affects consumers’ preferences and neural activity when it comes to culturally familiar drinks, i.e. drinks that are widely-known and recognized in popular culture. By carrying out either non-labeled or brand-cued delivery of Coke and Pepsi, McClure et al. found that brand knowledge has a drastic influence on both behavioral preferences and neural activity. During the behavioral task, participants preferred drinking out of cups with a Coca Cola label, even when non-labeled cups also contained Coca Cola. Similarly, during the fMRI task, greater brain activity was observed in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) when Coca Cola delivery was preceded by an image of the brand’s logo as opposed to an image of a circle. The DLPFC is a brain area responsible for cognitive control and implementing affective information in biased behavior. In other words, the DLPFC helps shape decisions by integrating emotions and past experiences, leading individuals to favor a brand not just based on taste, but also on prior associations and expectations. As demonstrated by the observed increase in DLPFC activity, a brand’s affective appraisal therefore influences consumers’ preference for it [10].

So, what comes to mind when you hear the slogan “taste the feeling?” If your answer includes family, community, connection, or joy, then Coca Cola has successfully carried out its identity-driven and narrative-focused marketing campaigns [11]. Indeed, by displaying visuals of communities drinking Coca Cola and accentuating the emotional experience of doing so, Coca Cola’s “taste the feeling” slogan and advertisements appeal to audiences’ pathos.

The Brain on Birkin Bags

Coca Cola is, however, a value brand; it is cost-effective and affordable. By contrast, luxury brands are ones whose demand increases in parallel with an increase in consumers’ income. Probing into this difference between value and prestigious brand appraisal, a recent fMRI study found that participants prefer products with randomly assigned luxurious brand labels—even when these labels are secretly faux and devoid of differences in the quality of the products [12].

So, what exactly drives us mad about products with perceived luxury value? In cult-classic TV show Gilmore Girls, Rory Gilmore receives a Birkin Bag from her affluent, high-born boyfriend Logan Huntzberger. Upon her clueless reaction to the Birkin, Logan apprises Rory of the bag’s status value: “It’s not just a purse, it’s a Birkin!” Whether you find Logan’s gesture endearing or exasperating, one thing is certain: luxury products and materialism are a reality that we face as citizens of the 21st century.

For many, luxury products are a long-term investment. For example, influencer Sim Kaur justifies her Birkin purchase on her social media platform, girlsthatinvest, claiming that “Birkins go up in value faster than shares” [13]. For others, such as Rory Gilmore’s beau, the motivations behind luxury purchases are purely social. Such was the finding in Zhang et al.’s investigation of consumers’ implicit motivations behind purchasing luxury brands [14]. Here, Zhang and colleagues made use of the functional theory of attitudes to explain consumer behavior. In short, the functional theory of attitudes postulates that attitudes towards products serve social functions related to self-presentation (social-adjustive function) and self-expression (value-expressive function). These attitudes then influence the motivation to purchase an item [14].

In Zhang et al.’s investigation, 22 female students were divided into four groups of luxury handbag-browsing and prospective purchasing based on two conditions: brand authenticity (genuine versus counterfeit) and prominence (the presence of a brand logo versus no logo). After observing the handbags, participants were asked to declare how likely they were to purchase a bag on a scale ranging from strongly likely to strongly dislikely. Throughout the experiment, Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) were recorded using EEG. ERPs are fluctuations in the brain’s electrical field prompted by neural activity, and, as such, they correlate with cognitive processing, attitudes, and motivation. Specifically, researchers measured three Event-Related Potentials (ERPs) throughout the study: N200 and N400— negative waves reflecting cognitive and emotional conflict that peak 200 and 400 milliseconds after stimulus exposure, respectively—and late positive potentials (LPP), positive potentials corresponding to motivated emotional arousal [14].

Zhang et al. found that counterfeit handbags with no logo prompted a larger amplitude of N200 and N400, and a lower amplitude of LPP. Cognitively, these signals translate to greater emotion conflict and anticipation conflict, as well as lower motivational arousal. By contrast, such effects were not prominent in the authentic, no-logo luxury handbag condition. This led Zhang and colleagues to conclude that participants anticipated a noticeable logo on the counterfeit handbags to fulfill the social-adjustive function, i.e. self-presentation [14]. Simply, adding a noticeable logo on a Chanel handbag signals one’s social status to observers and enhances their external perception rather than internal expression. Conversely, opting for an authentic Moynat handbag without a logo correlates more with personal preference than external perception, fulfilling the function of self-expression instead of self-presentation. Thus, the team concluded that social motivations are the driving factors behind luxury item purchases. By contrast, Logan’s motivations for the Birkin purchase fulfilled his goal of wooing Rory through his social status. And yet, he still failed to impress her…

Gilmore Girls and Birkins aside, long-term investments also manifest through the stock market. Instead of placing bets on specific branded items, one might choose to invest in the very source of such products: brand stocks.

White Matter of Wall Street

As it turns out, neuromarketing companies were not the first to utilize neural data when making predictions about behavior and dynamics. The real trendsetter here was the brain itself. As unveiled by Van Brussel et al., professional investors’ brain activity might foreshadow future fluctuations in the stock market [15]. Van Brussel and his team probed into the correlation between neural activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain area responsible for anticipated reward—and the overperformance or underperformance of stocks. In the experiment, professional investors evaluated the investment portfolios of anonymous, real-world companies while being observed under an fMRI machine. Throughout the task, they were asked to assess whether the company’s stocks would overperform and underperform one year in the future. Before reaching a decision, each participant got to examine the company’s profile, price graph, four-year stock performance, relative valuation in comparison to its peer companies, and a news item from the Bloomberg Terminal. Indeed, professional investors failed to predict the stocks’ future market performance. However, upon a logistic regression analysis of the fMRI data, it was found that increased activity in the nucleus accumbens was positively correlated with a stock’s overperformance one year into the future. That is, when evaluating a stock that would overperform, investors displayed higher activity in the nucleus accumbens—a brain area associated with anticipated reward—regardless of whether they accurately predicted the stock’s future performance or not. This finding implies that neural activity may serve as a predictor of stock performance. Van Brussel et al., however, merely detected a correlational relationship, and more research is needed to infer cause-and-effect. Still, this finding is remarkable, as it challenges traditional finance theory that deems investors as entirely incapable of predicting market behavior. Their study is thus a step in the direction of developing a more exhaustive understanding of the brain’s prowess and its involvement in the financial investment process [15].

Brands and Better Choices

So far, we have seen the vast applications of neural activity data in the fields of neuromarketing, luxury brand investing, and stock investing. How can we use this knowledge to make better financial decisions and ensure that brand names do not trick us into impulsive purchases?

For one, learning how to manage our central nervous system can improve the quality of our financial decisions [16]. Extremes of either risk-taking or risk-avoidant behavior can lead to impulsive financial decisions. As participants in consumer markets, we should strive towards balance and raise our awareness of the impact of emotions, brand appraisal, marketing, and self-presentation on financial decision-making [16]. One recently-trending way of achieving this is by deliberately estimating an item’s price, and only purchasing it if its price is lower than your estimation. Alternatively, in times when our DLPFC fails to stop us from buying that second pair of shoes or investing in promising brand startups, having “accountability buddies” allows us to count on other people’s dorsolateral prefrontal cortex to prevent us from impulsive financial decisions [17]. So, before you impulsively decide to buy that new gym membership, share a spreadsheet with your friends and track your monthly budgets to keep each other accountable and spend within your means today for a stable financial future tomorrow.

The brain is involved in all facets of our financial system, from neuromarketing, to investing in luxury products, to choosing between the many brand options presented to consumers. An understanding of neuroscience is therefore crucial to obtaining financial literacy and developing reasonable consumer habits—and, of course, finally coming to terms with the fact that Pepsi is better than Coke.

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