← The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral Economics
The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral Economics
504. The Hidden Influence of Mirror Neurons on Consumer Behavior
00:34:43
In this episode of The Brainy Business podcast, Melina Palmer dives into the fascinating world of mirror neurons and their profound impact on our behavior, empathy, and learning. Originally aired in January 2019, this refreshed episode explores how...
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- [00:01]
Melina Palmer
Hey there Melina here. If you've been thinking about raising your prices, maybe waiting for the right time or the perfect plan, consider this your sign. Clients expect prices to rise right now. The key is making them feel good about saying yes. And that's exactly what we do in our four week pricing sprint, aligning your strategy, story and price with behavioral science. I work directly with just 12 clients a year on this and there are only three spots left. In 2025, you'll walk away with more than just new prices. You will have a behavioral pricing framework you can confidently use again and again and again. Is now your time to raise your prices and sell more confidently? Email me at melina the brainybusiness.com and let's talk.
- [00:53]
Unknown
And of course, when you're ready, let's start the show.
- [00:56]
Melina Palmer
Welcome to episode 504 of the Brainy Business Understanding the Psychology of why People Buy. Today's episode is all about mirror neurons. Ready? Let's get started.
- [01:12]
Unknown
You are listening to the Brainy Business podcast where we dig into the psychology of why people buy and help you incorporate behavioral economics into your business, making it more brain friendly. Now, here's your host, Melina Palmer.
- [01:28]
Melina Palmer
Hello.
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Unknown
Hello everyone. My name is Melina Palmer and I.
- [01:31]
Melina Palmer
Want to welcome you to the Brainy Business Podcast. Isn't it fascinating how just seeing someone.
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Unknown
Smile can make you feel happier?
- [01:39]
Melina Palmer
Or how a simple thumbs up, even in emoji form, can mean so much without needing an explanation? That's the power of mirror neurons, and they're quietly shaping our behavior every single day. Today's refreshed episode, which originally aired way back in January 2019, is all about mirror neurons and how they influence empathy, learning and behavior. I chose to bring this one back right now because of the very interesting conversation coming up in the next episode with Bob Goodson about the history and.
- [02:12]
Unknown
Story of the like button. Yeah, that one.
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Melina Palmer
And his part in being one of its creators. While these topics aren't exactly the same, they're more connected than you might think. Consider how universally intuitive it is to give a thumbs up and how that simple act of mirroring is baked right into our wiring. A big reason that the like button took off is because people didn't have to ask how it worked, they just knew. And mirror neurons play a part in our ability to learn from others experiences. From the way we learn to tie our shoes to how we react to viral content online, mirror neurons are behind much of the social behavior we often take for granted, and their impact on consumer psychology is huge. As you Listen to the episode today. Think about a behavior your brand is trying to get people to adopt or implement. How might mirror neurons make that journey easier for people? Really quickly? Before we get into the episode, I.
- [03:08]
Unknown
Want to be sure you know that.
- [03:09]
Melina Palmer
There are links in the show, notes for my top related past episodes and books, ways to get in touch, and more. It's all within the app you're listening to and@the brainybusiness.com 504 now let's talk about those hidden drivers of empathy and learning.
- [03:26]
Unknown
Mirror Neurons Mirror neurons are the key to empathy and our ability to learn from observing others instead of only by doing things ourselves. Scientists have of course known we had the ability to learn and behave this way, but they didn't really know why until mirror neurons were discovered in the early 1990s. Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time, on a particularly hot day, there was a monkey in a lab at the University of Parma in Italy. It had some electrodes in its brain to test motor control and what areas in the brain would light up when when the monkey would grab a cup or a peanut and then drink water or eat the peanut. This would allow the scientists to understand how the brain lights up for various motor control actions and if it was different when a monkey grabbed a cup versus a block versus a peanut and things like that. On this fateful day, one of the researchers reportedly came in eating an ice cream cone. The monkey did not move, and from the outside all that someone might have noticed would be its eyes getting a little bigger with interest. But the brain told a different story. The monkey's brain lit up as if it were eating ice cream itself. Further studies found that when a person grabbed a peanut to hand it to the monkey, its brain would light up as if it were grasping the peanut itself. And if a researcher put a peanut in their mouth, the monkey's brain would light up as if it was putting a peanut in its mouth as well. Even when no visible movement occurs, the brain experiences tasks along with others as if it were experiencing these same things itself. This allowed the team to accidentally discover mirror neurons, which were first published in 1994. Interesting side note, I actually visited the University of Parma when I lived in Italy in college. It's a beautiful campus and it was founded in the year 962. Notice that's not 1962, but over a thousand years ago in the year 962. It's one of the oldest universities in the world. I would love to make it back someday now that I Know how important it is in this prominence for behavioral economics and get to know more about the great work they're doing in the neurosciences and be so really beautiful campus to check out again someday. Okay, we know monkeys have mirror neurons, but what about humans? The short answer is yes, we humans have mirror neurons as well, and they greatly impact our lives every day. Mirror neurons have done some amazing things for all of humanity. First of which is our ability to learn by observation. And second is our ability to empathize. Let me tell you a little more about each one. We humans tend to take for granted how quickly and easily we learn things simply by watching others. That's not something every species can do. One way we're able to do this is through our mirror neurons. For example, a child watching an adult open a jar can learn how to open a jar when presented with one. A ballerina being taught the proper way to turn out their toes or lift their arm can do so by watching someone else either in front of them or on a video. An aspiring public speaker can watch others give presentations and get tips for what to do and not to do themselves. All this can be done without talking to anyone or physically performing the acts, which is really astonishing when you think about it. And without mirror neurons, life as we know it would not exist. The first human to discover fire presumably did so by accident. I highly doubt that they had a process of trial and error working toward achieving this goal of heat and fire. So how did all the other humans learn quickly to replicate and do this same thing themselves? That's right, mirror neurons. This is also how the species learn to hunt, gather, farm, build homes, and all the skills we use every day. The collective intelligence of the species grows very quickly as one person learns to do something, because others can watch and have their brain behave as if it has already done it once before. These learnings spread like wildfire. Pun very much intended. Let's revisit how the mirror neurons work. We each have approximately 100 billion neurons in our brains, and each of those has 1 to 10,000 contacts with other neurons forming associations. These are the associations I'm talking about when I give the example of saying the word apple. And it being connected to all sorts of concepts. Colors, flavors, smells, computers, phones, music. I'm guessing this is one that has developed closer to 10,000 associations. You may have heard this before, but it said that these combinations and permutations of brain activity in a single brain exceed the number of elementary particles in the entire universe. Crazy complex and interesting. To be sure, mirror neurons Are actually found in one spot in the brain, in the frontal lobes. The front of the brain is also home to our ordinary motor control neurons, which is why they discovered this while testing motor control functionality for that monkey. These neurons fire when a person performs a specific action. So when I grab a cup or a phone, kick a ball, things like that. Taking this a step further, you might ask a question about intention. Does that matter or make a difference? For example, if you're reaching to pick up a teacup and take a sip versus clearing a table, does it make a difference for mirror neurons? Studies have shown that it does. Participants were shown a hand picking up a teacup in three different scenarios. One, where there was a plate of cookies and a pot of tea nearby. Two, to simulate your picking up the cup to take a sip. Another was placed amidst crumbs and a messy table to simulate cleaning up. And a final video with no context. Simply picking up a teacup against a blank background. Their study found that the mirror neurons were more active when the context was included, Meaning both intentions and actions matter and relate to mirror neurons. And mirror neurons will not respond to random, meaningless gestures. It's been found they are specially connected to respond to actions with clear goals. We know seeing someone take an action will fire up our mirror neurons. But what about hearing things? These, of course, work too. If I say the word kick, your mirror neurons light up as if you're kicking as well. And what about our other senses? This is why hearing or reading the word cinnamon or seeing an image of a cinnamon stick can make it so we start to smell cinnamon. This is why the mirror neurons episode came after the series on the senses. As I said, on each of those five episodes, they are 24 through 28 if you want to check them out. The processing of the senses actually happens in the brain because our brains bring context, interpretation, and analysis to everything we experience. It turns out they don't really know the difference between what is physically in front of us versus on TV or a print ad spoken into our ears or read in text. An apple is an apple in all those contexts, and your brain interprets it pretty much the same way, and it does so instantaneously. Let me give you an example. I want you to imagine this for me. Your best friend walks up to the fridge in your house and opens the door. They find a container of milk and start to open the bottle with a little bit of angst or concern on their face. As they open the bottle, they hold it up to their nose and instantly their nose wrinkles up. They stick their tongue out, sort of shake their head, and say, blech. Then they take a big swig of the milk. Now, as I told that story, could you hear your brain screaming, no, don't drink that. You may have even gasped a little aloud. Without being able to control yourself, did you make a similar face as the person in the story? Could you feel your nose sort of crinkling up? You now know that mirror neurons allowed you to experience the milk as if you were sniffing it yourself. Sorry about that, by the way, but I really want you to think about what happened there. I said a bunch of words to you, and your brain reacted as if you smelled spoiled milk. I didn't have to show you anything. You could simply hear what happened and experience it yourself. Disgust is an incredibly powerful emotion and facial expression for humans to recognize, but this works with all sorts of other emotions as well. While seeing things really is the best way to trigger mirror neurons, as you can see, all the other senses are impacted by this as well. Getting back to sight and recognizing facial expressions in others. When someone smiles at you, your brain reacts as if you're smiling too, even if you do not change your facial expression. Have you ever watched a movie or other video that made you cry? Even animated movies like the first few minutes of up or the end of Toy Story 3, which I know got me teary eyed. This is all because of mirror neurons. The key here is you don't have to be consciously aware of what is happening. You don't have to say, oh, they look happy. I wonder if I should be happy too, or, or that person's crying, I should be crying too. You just do it. And whether you know it or not, when your brain saw that person do something or interact with an item, it registered as if you did it too. So that time you were walking down the street and saw the person in front of you get smacked by a wayward tennis ball and felt yourself dodge a little. Or when you were at work and saw your coworker recoil from a paper cut and you grabbed your arm own finger in fear. Or when you saw someone trip on an uneven spot in the sidewalk and felt yourself get a little off balance as well. You get the idea. These are all mirror neurons at work. These extreme examples can help you understand how intense, quick, and automatic the response is. But even mundane actions are triggering your mirror neurons all day long. In effect, mirror neurons may well be at the core of how we understand the actions of others and empathize with them. Without mirror neurons, we would probably not have any awareness of the actions, intentions and emotions of others. And it turns out our capacity for empathy and interpreting others situations extends beyond them taking an action like picking up a fork, for example. When you see someone else being touched on the right forearm, either by another person or an object, like a feather duster, your brain reacts as if you are being touched on your right forearm in the same way. So why don't you actually feel it? Why doesn't your brain get confused? As you know from the episodes on the senses, your brain takes impulses or stimuli from the outside world, and it's interpreted in some of your brain's hundred billion neurons. The pain and touch receptors in your skin. Send a notification to the brain that says, hey, don't worry, we're not being touched. We're just empathizing with that person over there. I've linked to a great TED talk on this, and I love the way Dr. Ramachandran explains it. He says there's a feedback signal that vetoes the signal of the mirror neuron, preventing you from consciously experiencing that touch. So what happens if your arm is numb? Say you received an injection of an anesthetic in your arm and it's completely numb, no feeling at all. Then you watch someone else being touched on their forearm. You actually feel it in your arm. What is that crazy? That means all that separates us from other people and experiencing the same things they're experiencing at every moment they're within our proximity is our skin. We need the skin to block that signal and trigger the brain to say, don't worry, we're just empathizing. Without it, our brain would really have no idea. This is why people with phantom limb syndrome can be helped by watching someone else get a massage. Did you know that if someone had their leg amputated and was experiencing phantom limb syndrome, they might feel pain in the leg that's no longer there. How would you suggest or attempt to help someone experiencing that? You might say, and maybe doctors from a long time ago had said something like stop, that you don't have a leg to feel pain in. But that wouldn't help at all. And I can't even imagine how frustrating it would be for the individual. What researchers have found is if that person experiencing the phantom pain in their leg watches someone else have their leg massaged, their pain can subside. Amazing but true. And it's all thanks to mirror neurons. Similarly, I've linked to another incredibly moving TED talk. It's less than 10 minutes, and it's delivered by a couple whose son Was discovered to have had a stroke when he was just 10 days old. They didn't know if it happened during the pregnancy or after, but basically the entire right side of his brain was impacted and essentially gone after the stroke. It meant he had no ability to control the left side of his body and wouldn't be able to for the rest of his life. No matter how much he would want to, he would not be able to make the connections and move the left side of his body because there was no connection to the proper areas in his brain. In the past, people might have just lived with this condition and told patients to do their best to deal with their new symptoms. But the parents who gave this TED talk were able to sign their son Mario up for a pilot program with mirror neuron therapy. They spent countless hours reaching out with their own hands to grasp an object, over and over and over. After doing this for some time, they realized that their facial expressions might be impacting the success Mario was having in the program. They were pretty down about the situation and seeing the problem he was dealing with instead of the solution and what he might be able to accomplish and achieve in his life. And then they made a change. They saw all the benefits and abilities available for Mario and started to have smiles on their faces when grasping at objects with their left hands. And they took him on trips to experience the world. And as the talk wraps up, they show a video of Mario today, at two and a half years old, A boy who should have no ability to control the entire left side of his body, Walking by himself along the grass in a park. He's a little wobbly, of course, but he can actually walk, which is truly a miracle. And then they have him walk out onto the stage. Mom goes back and brings him out. It's a video that will really test your mirror neurons for emotion and empathy. I dare you not to tear up when you watch it. And honestly, I got a little bit teary just explaining it to you now. It's an amazing video. So if mirror neurons can allow us to learn from others, feel what they feel, cure phantom limb pain, and use parts of our bodies that should not work, what can these amazing neurons do for your business? The answer, of course, is all sorts of things, and in reality, you're using them every day, Whether you realize it or not. There are countless ways to use mirror neurons in your business, But I'm going to go through a fairly rapid fire list with you now. So you have a bunch of diverse examples which will hopefully get your brain working for your own business first. Know that video is effective. When you can show someone in a video taking the action you want your customers to take, it makes it easier for them to follow suit. Remember, the human brain likes familiarity and mirror neurons will make it so your brain thinks it has already completed that task once. Things are easier the second time around. I'm sure many of us think it's dumb when a video shows a big mouse over clicking on a subscribe button at the end of a video. But it can be effective because of mirror neurons. Or if you have any apps with ads, you have probably seen countless advertisements for games where they show a big finger simulating what happens when you tap the screen or pointing here, here, here over and over again for 30 seconds trying to get you to click. Your conscious brain says dumb, but subconscious is warming up to taking that action in the future. Next, I talked about this extensively in the series on the five Senses, but anytime you can get someone to see another person experiencing your product in a positive way, of course it's good. However, you need to be very, very careful of the facial expressions and all the slightest nuances of the person in the video. Any old person will not do. You need to make sure they're talented enough as an actor or actress to truly experience the product, smile, and help the viewer to do the same. Think of commercials where someone is opening a bag of coffee and it's roasting and they're smelling it and you can see their face reacting. This is allowing the viewer to have their mirror neurons triggered as if they are smelling coffee themselves, getting them excited, wanting that cup of coffee. If you aren't able to do this and really trigger those positively in the right way, you can could inadvertently be doing more harm than good. Maybe someone's nose is wrinkled a little bit and you aren't attuned to paying attention to that and it actually triggers disgust in the mirror neurons of the viewer. You really, really need to be cautious with these things. And of course, if we're talking about facial expressions, I can't forget about Mr. Yuk, the brilliant greenish yellow sticker making a disgusted face with a tongue sticking out to Gohan to keep young children from inadvertently eating chemicals under the sink. It had a significant impact without any words because babies can see that face and the yucky color and know to step away. How can you use strong visuals like this, even without words, to trigger mirror neurons? And remember, if the subconscious can fill in the gaps when presented with a few simple images, that's important for mirror neuron use. As well, think of a diagram with instructions of how to knit or fold origami or properly do a yoga pose. Our mirror neurons allow us to relate to what is being displayed in the pictures and we fill in the gaps to make sense of what we are supposed to do. How you get from point A to point B As a business, we often feel compelled to really spell things out for people and give them every teeny tiny detail just in case. But a well produced story with all the right details is better than a drawn out verbose explanation any day. And speaking of stories, hopefully this episode has helped you to understand why stories are so powerful and why great storytellers can hold conversations and attention very well. Our brains allow us to experience the words in a story as if we're participating ourselves. When you can include action words and partner them with matching gestures to help the audience come along with you. And this is whether you're on a stage or if you are talking into a microphone or you're having a one on one conversation with someone, it isn't necessary to turn yourself into a slap chapstick comic. But well timed and executed stories with proper gestures can capture interest in a way that's much stronger than simply stating the facts. And remember, when you can activate mirror neurons, you're helping the individual to familiarize themselves with your brand, story, product or process, making it easier for them to do it themselves in the future. Pretty powerful stuff. And this extends to relationships you have with anyone. So when networking or anytime you're around others, in meetings or at conferences, be aware of your actions and facial expressions, even when you're not speaking. Yes, you've heard people say this before, but now you really know why it matters and just how easy it is to influence other people's mirror neurons and impression of you. People have been said to judge others within microseconds of meeting them. And now you know why. Smile genuinely when you're in a room with people. Be interested and show it on your face whenever you can be inviting. Know that the subconscious can pick up on inconsistencies. So if you're saying all the right things but your body language is saying something else, the consequences can be significant. And people can label you subconsciously as shadow, shifty or ingenuine. And that's not something that you want in business. This applies of course to customer relationships as well. If you want to attract happy customers who are willing to be reasonable even when there are issues, you need to look inward. How are you and the other representatives of the business presenting yourselves to the world. If everyone around you has positive interactions and it feels like you always get the worst customers, it may be time to look at shifting yourself. Facebook did a study in 2013 where nearly 700,000 users were either grouped into an algorithm of positive or negative feeds. The individuals who were in the negative group soon spiraled and became more and more negative. Those who only saw positive content, they became more and more positive. So know that the word choice, brand Persona and attitudes of your staff all matter in the way your company is perceived and how others interact with you. Even if they don't realize it and can't articulate it on a survey, it's impacting their interpretation of you and your business. If you have any sort of aspect to your business where you have to trust your customers or employees to be honest and they have a tendency tendency to take advantage, or it's possible that they might consider the power of the eyes. Let me tell you what I mean. Have you ever heard of an honesty box or had one at a place you worked? These are those cardboard boxes full of snacks and gum and whatnot and everyone can take the snacks as they see fit and there's a little slot to deposit money to pay for each item. What typically happens is when the company comes around to restock and collect, there's a deficit, meaning some people took more than they paid for and someone, usually the manager or business owner, has to pick up the slack. Is there any way to encourage people to pay more without having to completely get rid of this altogether or instilling significant punishments? A team in the UK ran a study to find out in a break room where the honesty box had been for years and years so no one would suspect it was part of a study. The team decided to run a test over several weeks. They swapped out the price list each week so it had a different header image from one week to the next. It alternated between eyes looking at you and flowers. Yes, this is weird and when you hear it explained, it seems impossible that people would not notice. But as with most if not all of the studies I talk about here, no one noticed on a conscious level that the images were changing even though the eyes are super creepy. I'm sharing this on social media where you can find me as the brainy biz if you want to check them out and see what they looked like. So what happened? Did the eyes have a different impact than the flowers? You bet they did. People put almost three times as much in the honesty box on eye weeks than they did on flower weeks even though, again, they did not register on a conscious level, the feeling of eyes looking at you or being watched will impact behavior. This could be applied in a convenience store in areas that are harder to monitor, or in a classroom during a test to see if it limits those who may be prone to cheating. Wherever you choose to implement this, it should of course be balanced within brand standards and Personas. You don't want to be over the top and make people feel uncomfortable, but it's interesting to know the impact some well placed eyes can have. And remember, while visuals are the most powerful, the other senses are triggered by mirror neurons as well. The sound of someone biting into a crunchy chip or pickle has an impact, or the bubbles on the top of a soda or at a spa. Showing someone getting a massage and looking relaxed is truly impactful on the viewer and can drive more interest than ads that don't. Again, showing your potential customer someone using the product in the same way you want them to is a great way to activate Mirror Neurons because it combines an action with an intention. A runner lacing up shoes and sprinting their fastest time. A person swiping their card facing the right way. Please don't we all hate when a commercial shows the user swiping the card upside down so the logo's facing the right way. Have you ever seen that and instantly thought fake? I'm going to call Mirror Neurons on this one, you see the person swiping their card in a way you know will not work, and you instantly know it's a ruse which makes you think negatively about the brand that put out the commercial. Please to any of my bank and credit union folks listening, don't do this anymore. I think we may all be saved by chip and PIN cards being inserted instead of swiped. But just in case, know that these nuances can reflect badly on you. And if you have another product or service, anything else, consider the actions and intentions to use Mirror Neurons to the best of your ability and in a way that's actually relatable. That won't allow the customer to claim that that's fake. That's not a real experience. Their mirror neurons will pick up on any inconsistencies very quickly. How can you use mirror neurons in your business? The possibilities are endless. Check out the freebie worksheet that accompanies this episode to help you brainstorm. At the end of the day, you want to help the customer experience the product or service, be it with words, sounds, images, or something else. What do you want them to feel? And ask yourself how can I show this visually? How would I describe it with only words? What would it sound like? And then build your messaging from there.
- [33:45]
Melina Palmer
So what got your brain buzzing as you learned about Mirror Neurons today? For me, it's always incredible to think about how these hidden systems in our brains allow us to learn, connect and feel so much just by watching others. It's no wonder things like emojis like buttons and reaction videos work so well. Our brains are wired to feel and respond as if we're in the experience too. That kind of instant, unspoken understanding is at the heart of so much of our behavior, especially in today's social media world. So here's a question to reflect on. When is the last time you caught yourself feeling something just by watching someone else? A movie scene, a viral video, or a reaction shot? How might your own brand or messaging leverage that same power in your next piece of content? Come share it with me on social media. You'll find me as the brainy biz pretty much everywhere and as Melina Palmer on LinkedIn. There are links in the show notes.
- [34:41]
Unknown
To make it easy as well as.
- [34:42]
Melina Palmer
Links to my top related past episodes and books, ways to get in touch, and more. It's all waiting for you in the app you're listening to and@the brainybusiness.com 504.
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Unknown
And just like that, episode 504 on.
- [34:58]
Melina Palmer
Mirror neurons is done.
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Unknown
Join me Friday for a brand new.
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Melina Palmer
Episode with Bob Goodson to discuss his new book, like the Button that Changed the World.
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Unknown
It's going to be a lot of fun.
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Melina Palmer
You don't want to miss it. Until then, thanks again for listening and learning with me.
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Unknown
And remember to be thoughtful.
- [35:21]
Thank you for listening to the Brainy Business Podcast. Molina offers virtual strategy sessions, workshops and other services to help businesses be more brain friendly. For more free resources, visit thebrainybusiness.com.