Dopamine is the chemical which fires a pleasurable feeling in the brain.

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘retail therapy’, and know that shoppers feel elated after purchasing. That’s the dopamine neurons being released in the brain.

Wolfram Schultz, a neuroscientist at Cambridge University, conducted a series of studies with monkeys.

He measured the release of dopamine neurons in their brain after giving them juice (the reward). Naturally it went high.

He then presented them with a loud noise, just before giving them the juice.

Over time, because of the association of the loud noise and being given juice, the monkeys began releasing dopamine whenever they heard the noise. Simply because they associated it with getting juice.

Online fashion retailers always receive an upsurge in traffic and sales when they send out an email newsletter, particularly to those who have purchased before.

Perhaps the email newsletter is the loud noise, which shoppers associate with finding that perfect item (the reward).

The brain releases the neurons way before the shopper has even clicked through.