3 brain hacks to control your Amazon addiction (from a neuroscientist) | Your Brain on Money
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- Опубликовано: 23 авг 2021
- 3 brain hacks to control your Amazon addiction
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“From the evolutionary perspective, the human brain evolved to feel first and think later,” says neuroscientist and marketing consultant Terry Wu. The part of our brain that controls emotions (the limbic system) and the part that deals with rational thought (the frontal cortex) can send conflicting signals, which leads to bad decision-making.
Stress, easy access to online shopping platforms, and other factors cause the limbic system to overtake the frontal cortex as we seek instant gratification. Retailers cater to our emotional brain so that we shop more, but there are ways to resist the manipulation.
“The important thing is to create some barriers between our desire to shop and shopping,“ says Wu, who suggests establishing designating shopping days, using physical activity to lower stress, and seeking support from friends.
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TRANSCRIPT:
TERRY WU: The human brain is not a thinking machine that feels, it's a feeling machine that thinks. Humans have this innate desire to seek a sense of control. Driven by our strong emotions, we stop making rational decisions when it comes to buying. We buy products simply because we want to gain a sense of control. At the same time, our innate desire to seek instant gratification drives us to buy more and more.
NARRATOR: How can we resist being manipulated into spending?
WU: With neuromarketing, we can understand how our emotions, feelings, and intuition shape our buying decisions. Money can bring joy, security, excitement, and satisfaction. At the same time, money can bring worry, jealousy, resentment, and anxiety.
NARRATOR: And what really drives our need to shop? This is Your Brain on Money. This is Terry Wu. He's a neuroscientist and a marketing consultant, and he wants people to understand the irrational forces driving their spending habits.
WU: From the evolutionary perspective, the human brain evolved to feel first and think later. The emotional brain is called the limbic system. It's responsible for all our emotions like joy, happiness, anger, fear, and anxiety. The rational brain is called the frontal cortex; it is heavily involved in reason and logic. Sometimes these two systems conflict with each other, and our decisions are the results of a complex interaction.
NARRATOR: At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans stockpiled toilet paper, but not because it had anything to do with keeping them safe.
WU: Buying toilet paper was a simple coping mechanism for people to deal with their stress. While under stress, the frontal cortex stops functioning at full capacity. Our emotional brain kicks into a higher gear; it overpowers our rational thinking, we feel like we're losing a sense of control. We have difficulty in controlling our impulses and delay our gratification. We stop making rational decisions when it comes to buying.
NARRATOR: The miracle of modern abundance means more human beings have near-instant access to affordable products than in any other time in the history of the world.
WU: With online shopping available 24/7, it's very tempting to shop online all the time, and to seek that instant gratification and to seek that instant reward. We think Amazon is in the retail business, but in reality Amazon is in the instant gratification business. The human brain was not evolved to interact with a computer screen, the human brain was evolved to interact with other humans.
NARRATOR: Shopping is often easy and cheap. It makes sense that human neuropsychology might not be prepared to effectively navigate the constant deluge of social media shopping ads and one-click purchase buttons.
WU: Many companies subtly use crowd influence to nudge us to buy products.Imagine you try to buy a microphone for your computer. Amazon helps you make that decision by showing you the best sellers, the Amazon's choice, and those products that have the highest ratings. So Amazon pretty much has made that decision for you before you even went to Amazon.
NARRATOR: We often use credit cards when shopping online, which means there's a disconnect between our present self that gets to enjoy the new item and our future self who has to deal with the consequences.
WU: Credit card companies and loan companies know this very well. They intentionally disconnect the present self and the future self. When we spend money with cash, we can feel that money is leaving us. This is why spending money with a credit card we tend to spend more simply because we don't feel the pain of paying. Companies...
To read the full transcript, please visit bigthink.com/singleton/spending-habits
How do you control your spending habits?
The question assumes we do. ;)
Never buy anything the first time you see it. Put it in your cart then chose save for later. Wait a few days and read some reviews that don't love the item. Get the negative perspective. Look around and see what alternatives are available. There is fun in the challenge of finding the very best option at your price point. Even imagine yourself using the item when you would. Be sure you have a place picked out to store it when not in use. Upgrading things with multiple uses that you use often is almost always better than getting yet another purpose specific thing. For instance, in the kitchen, a great quality basic set of 3 knives you know how to use and sharpen is worth many drawers worth of fragile plastic widgets.
I don't buy. After a time u ll realize u actually don't need 90 percent of things u think u need. Even most of the food you eating.
i only purchase goods priced accurately by value added, instead of perceived value. you'll find that very few products fit this description.
All cash when possible. I rarely shop online. I bought my car for 15,000 USD cash.
1. create a barrier, designate a day to shop (once a week on Saturdays, or once a month on the 20th)
2. physical activity
3. social support (talk to other humans)
Touché.
Because of the pandemic, and the isolation that comes with it, I've been online shopping more to relieve boredom. It's weird that if I go to a physical store, I'm better able to hold back on purchases...maybe it's because the stores don't always have the EXACT thing I'm looking for, whereas everything can be found on Amazon. Also, it's easier to "envision" if a product is worth it when you see it for real.
Great points. It probably also helps that in a physical store, rather than relieving boredom, you eventually get bored.
This got straight to the point about Amazon and social media buy buttons. Since childhood, I loved looking at a sheet of book selections then having the teacher open the box and hand out the books later. That gratification is still in me and social media shopping makes it too easy almost like gambling.
Excellent informative video. I loved the logical vs emotional brain behavior and loved the coping mechanism suggestions. Though I am the opposite of a person who is addicted to shopping, I really liked the stress management explanation part.
Beginning at home and then from pre-K to K to 6th grade, children must be taught these:
*_1_* Question *_everything,_* including religious, philosophical, and scientific beliefs and authorities-who? what? where? when? how? why?
*_2_* Stand alone, think for themselves, and not fear bullying and hazing.
*_3_* Stay away from fast food, junk food, and all drugs (including coffee, tobacco, and alcohol).
*_4_* Be good, happy, loving human beings-the happier you are the less social media you use and the less things you buy. Emptiness makes you buy unnecessary things.
💕 ☮ 🌎 🌌
1. question everything, especially religious beliefs 2. instead of standing alone, learn from everyone and every experience, even if the lesson is to not follow that particular path 3.some drugs can lead to enlightenment but be careful 4. can't argue with you on this one
Wow, loads of thoughts to process here. Thanks Terry for such great insights.
Peter, You are so kind! I truly appreciate your generous support!
This video was very helpful. I can relate! Thank you!
3:50 because of my childhood playing games were my "money" in game were just numbers and not actually cash in paper I see my money as numbers in the bank and as paper as the same thing. But I do understand that this is not the case for everyone.
Excellent content as usual Terry - a great follow up to your TED talk and a reminder of how we as a society lost much of our rational thinking with Covid (we really put the panic in pandemic)
Galia, Thank you very much for your kind words. I am very glad you found this content insightful! Stay well and healthy!
This was surprisingly convincing, great job!
woow, it's an actual valuable information. Thank Big Think for posting this wonderful video. Best Regards!
Glad you liked it, thanks for watching!
Great info!
There's no such thing as buying 'too many books' :) But exercise is good, too.
Unless...you don't read them.
@@peggyharris3815 Nah. I still like books. Someday I might read them! He he
@@peggyharris3815 Right? I've been buying books for years now, and I haven't even read half of them.
Thats the problem I wish I had, geez lol
Good video. I start thinking that the rational behaviour of men is habits not thinking and imitation. The rational is activated very few times a day unless your work with it. Good work i love this channel is so inspiring.
A very helpful video!
It cracked me up at "temper his desire to buy too many books", hahaha I had that too and ended up having too many books. It felt chaotic and inconsistent with my identity of being "organized", so I sold most of them to secondhand stores and was left with the ones that I'm sure I will read. Because my attention was less scattered, I actually read those ones that I kept.
Me who shops in physical retail stores and uses amazon for only for prime video and buying books.-what he says makes sense.
This guy was very helpful, brain should understand the consequences of brain's own actions & impulses
Brrraaaaaiiiinnnnssss!
Why are we not teaching this to our children?
Very interesting, I have a very critical mind when it comes to buying, but I noticed that I feel the need to treat myself with something to look forward to when I am sad or stressed. I can resist that urge really easy though. This never happens when I am happy. I think about how neuroscientists share their knowledge as marketing consultants and how much power companies can gain, not only through money but also manipulation in a very advanced scientific way. It scares me a bit. People who already have problems may be more vulnerable if they think and feel like I do.
That's exactly how it works! They try to make the real world look as bleak and cold as possible. Everyone's out to get you. Then offer you a warm fuzzy fantasy world full of happiness. Except the happiness wears off quickly and you're left with reality and an empty bank account, and fat.
Thank you!!!!!
Terry has amazing insight on human behavior.
Thank you so much for your kind words! I have learned a lot of from you!
Thank you.
The Holy Dopamine Ghost takes on many forms.
I have a simple trick. I don't buy from any company that advertises. You'd be surprised how many things ends up on your "do-not-buy" list.
Awesome content by the great @TerryWuPhD
Dan, Thank you so much for your kind words and generous support!
There is a mild disconnect between using a card & cash and since they are trying to get rid of paper currency, the disconnect may be amplified.
Most paper currency has gone already. 90% of all the money in the world only exists as digital currency in a database.
Digital money will actually help people keep track of their spending and get immediate balance feedback. but sure is it could also
cause more spending
This video is damn beautiful.
So glad you liked it!
2:17 now that was a great catch
This episode is missing from the website
I feel the stock market boom is also just as much this as QE
Lots of love
Marketing people and business people are frantically taking notes. "How to improve my business." :P
@terrywu you r the best
Virginia, Thank you so much for your kind words! Hope you are doing great!
if more people researched about themselves, they would be happier. Begin to strengthen your needs by learning what you need less. of in your life.
Watching Last Week Tonight is an instant cure for Amazonitis. I refuse to support corporate slavery.
You know you're living in a consumerism dystopia when the world is burning and there are videos teaching you how to cope with buying shit 24/7. Good message but damn, this is wild.
I can say with confidence that I am a responsible and aware individual but even i have episodes of impulse buying. What helps is to download a wardrobe tracking app so you know what you own and wont buy more. But this is not a definite science.
I see… I want…. I buy…..
Good video !
Are you all channel are from same umbrella?
Big think, Freethink, challenger, Million stories media, etc.
Big Think and Freethink have merged.
Challengers is a Freethink series that we've now put on its own RUclips channel.
Million Stories Media is part of the nonprofit Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship; we're partnering with them to create videos like this one that, well, help people with financial literacy and entrepreneurship!
Why is there barely any comments but so many views? Weird
There something my brain, I don’t want things…. I want concepts…
Oh shit the toilet paper zombies, I remember that lmao
Its fine to stop online/amazon, but there are people who are addicted to it like those addicted to drugs, alcohol, and gambling and its not pretty.
For the algo!
I get money deposited in my account every week since covid. What else am I supposed to do with that money?
Whatever the best thing is that you can think of making this world a better place.
invest in yourself, if you dont know how to invest in other thing
Invest in yourself and invest in the stock market
Put it to work
@@KushAidMan if you're not a politician or an insider, trading on the stock market is a fools errand. the stock market is the capitalists casino and the average joe is just their dupe.
How to stop shopping ? > Easy , send me your money !
I don't buy stuff for I don't have money, and when I have, I don't buy a lot.
My only hack is not having money.
*_Is this a covert advert?_*
Great frontal cortex question! ;-)
... there is no such thing as too many books...
I'm more of a Flipkart addict
Being American sure is tough
Plot twist. Human kind doesn't have control over anything
Live a minimalistic lifestyle. Problem solve!
93 billion tax free dollars is reason enough for me.
👍👍👍👌👌👌✌✌✌
Amazon: I hope everyone is okay with one company winning capitalism.
The what? People are addicted to amazon shopping? The stuff I get there is of varying quality than from retail stores. (except books) I'd understand a Target addiction more than this.
Why make feel guilty about everything? Sick😂
Quickest answer: people are weak-willed, hehe.
just let the men purchase it
I'm not. K, thx, bye
this isnt how to tell a axolotls gender-
Why stupid people with simple minds easy to control and manipulate are addicted to shopping....
I don't agree. People were stockpiling toilet paper because of rational reasons : hygiene. No? Well, try and live without it for a week. Then we can talk.
Great point, our generation hates going the old fashion way and using old news papers
Really? Nobody is forcing you to do anything. I don't buy on emotion, don't use social media, I am not influenced by any of these "structures new to our brain" because my brain is not used to them, they are too new for my brain to adapt.
I suppose i have to say thanks to my communist family and my religious background because at least i am not a chimp wasting money to keep up with the jonesys
Never trust a chinese. Because he would never talk about Alibaba or Temu like this.