Instilling fear is a common marketing strategy because it quites the prefontal cortex and encourages impusivity
Fear has been a primary driver of consumption since the inception of marketing. It started with car dealers and high-pressure sales tactics. Since then, virtually everything from mouthwashes to dishwashers to Hummers to Smith & Wessons are sold out of fearāeither āfear of failureā or āfear of the unknown.ā Overstock.com and Groupon are examples of driving sales through the fear that you might miss out. Marketing makes sure that fear remains front and center. Because fear means stress, and stress means cortisol, and prefrontal cortex be damned (Stress causes the amygdala and HPA axis to quite the prefrontal cortex by flooding it with dopamine and cortisol), itās time for the chocolate cake.
References
- Lustig, H., Robert. (2017). The Hacking of the American Mind Chapter 14. Are You āLovinā Itā? Or āLiking Itā? (Location 2626). New York, NY: Penguin Random House.
Metadata
Type:š“ Tags: Biology / Neuroscience / Psychology / Neuropsychology / Economics / Marketing Status:āļø