Neural correlates of product attachment to cosmetics

The neurobiological basis of brand and product attachment has received much attention in consumer neuroscience research, although it remains unclear. In this study, we conducted functional MRI experiments involving female users of famous luxury brand cosmetics as participants, based on the regions of interest involved in human attachment and object attachment. The results showed that the left ventral pallidum (VP), which is involved in positive reward, and the right posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), which is involved in self-concept, a key concept in object attachment, are the core regions in cosmetic attachment. Moreover, the performed psychophysiological interaction analyses showed that VP-temporoparietal junction connectivity positively correlated with activity in the dorsal raphe nucleus, and PCC–anterior hippocampus (aHC) connectivity positively correlated with subjective evaluation of attachment. The former suggests that object attachment is a human-like attachment and a stronger tendency of anthropomorphism is associated with stronger feelings of security. The latter suggests that the individual’s concept of attachment as well as the relationships with the attached cosmetics are represented in the aHC, and the PCC–aHC associations produce subjective awareness of the attachment relationships. These associations between memory and reward systems have been shown to play critical roles in cosmetic attachment.