What would your friends want?
Weird brain scans and predictions, brought to you by a university in China.
What if I could scan your brain while you watch an advertisement, and use that data to predict with startling accuracy what your friends will buy?
Researchers from Shanghai International Studies University say they can do it.
In a study published in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists demonstrated that close friendships create powerful neural synchronization—so much so that brain scans of one person can actually predict the purchasing behavior of their friends.
The research team, led by Jia Jin, conducted two studies with 222 participants to understand how friendship influences consumer behavior at the neural level.
In the first study, 175 participants evaluated products over time while researchers tracked their real-world social networks. Friends rated products far more similarly than non-friends did. As friendships grew closer, product evaluations became even more aligned. When friendships weakened, the similarity decreased.
The second study put 47 participants into fMRI brain scanners and showed them advertisements. When friends viewed the same ads, their brains synchronized in specific regions linked to object perception, attention, memory, social judgment, and reward processing.
Their brains were literally firing in sync.
The most interesting findings came when researchers used machine learning to analyze the brain scan data.
A person’s neural activity patterns could predict not only their own purchasing intentions, but also the purchasing intentions of their friends, doing so with significantly greater accuracy than they could predict the behavior of strangers.
So, if marketers could scan your brain while you watch an ad, they wouldn’t just learn about you and one friend; they could potentially predict the buying behavior of everyone in your social network.
Maybe it could be nefarious and sneaky, but perhaps marketers would be willing to pay you for the privilege, giving you a new (and highly controversial, I’m sure) way to monetize your relationships with just about everyone.
Of course, friends already influence each other’s choices. Your buddy recommends a restaurant, you try it. Your colleague raves about a new gadget, suddenly you’re interested too.
This research suggests the influence runs much deeper than conscious recommendations. In fact, friendship may shape the fundamental cognitive processes we use to evaluate choices in the first place.
The research also tracked friendships over time. As people became closer friends, their neural patterns became more synchronized. As friendships faded, the synchronization weakened.
The neural connection between friends appears dynamic, constantly adjusting based on how close the relationship is at any given moment.
The study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China. But, I think it also has significant implications for Western culture, and maybe even political movements.
Imagine a future where companies don’t just target you based on your own browsing history, but instead target you based on the neural patterns of people in your social network.
The whole idea of “high-value” consumers might change: their personal purchasing power, sure, but perhaps more importantly, how influential their neural patterns are across their entire friend network.
We’re not there yet. Brain scanning technology isn’t cheap or scalable for mass consumer research.
But the fundamental insight remains: We like to think of ourselves as independent decision-makers, carefully weighing options and making rational choices based on our unique preferences.
Our purchasing decisions are possibly far more interconnected with our friends’ decisions than we realize.
Somewhere, a marketing executive just got very, very excited. Probably his or her friends, too.
7 other things
Tehran may have to be evacuated as Iran faces its worst drought in decades. The forecast looks bleak across the country, with no rainfall expected over the next 10 days. (The Independent)
The Justice Department on Wednesday admitted that the operative indictment against former FBI Director James Comey was never presented to the full grand jury — a procedural error defense attorneys say should bar the prosecution. (The Hill)
A Gustav Klimt painting sold for a historic $236.4 million Tuesday night at Sotheby’s, making it the world’s most expensive modern artwork at auction and the second-priciest work of art ever auctioned overall. “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” is Klimt’s 1914-1916 painting of a woman standing in a shimmering white gown against a periwinkle backdrop. (WSJ)
A Canadian former Olympic snowboarder, Ryan James Wedding, who officials say runs one of the most violent drug-trafficking organizations in the world and who allegedly “placed a bounty” on the head of a witness “in the erroneous belief that the victim’s death would result in the dismissal of criminal charges against him, is facing charges. The witness was fatally shot at a restaurant before he could testify. (NBC News)
NASA discovered rock on Mars that shouldn’t be there — and scientists think it’s a visitor from outer space. (NY Post)
When was the first kiss? Over 17 million years ago, a study suggests. (The Washington Post)
A Brooklyn woman accused of repeatedly posing as a food influencer to scam upscale New York City restaurants has been arrested. Pei Chung, 34, allegedly flaunted designer labels like Prada, Louis Vuitton, Hermès while documenting her restaurant visits online and then refusing to pay, claiming instead that exposure to her 13,000 Instagram followers should cover her bill. (Fox NY)
Thanks for reading. Photo by Vitaly Gariev on Unsplash. I wrote about some of this Inc.com. See you in the comments!
This informs the brain and 1:1 relationships, I don't think that 1 to many has any connection here. Perhaps the real news, since we know close friends influence us is that we can detect similar brain patterns, proposing that not only our opinions but our perceptions are influenced. A larger study that considered sex and age would be interesting: with age plasticity might limit this, and whether generally more empathetic women were more aligned than men, etc.
A practical application might be with close friends or family members talking to brain injured patients (injury, stroke patients). See if they can get brain activation jumpstarted in patient.