After lunch, a graduate student came back to the lab with an ice cream cone. As the staff member raised the ice cream to his mouth, the monitor suddenly went crazy and sounded off with a series of loud beeps. And yet, the monkey hadn’t moved an inch. It didn’t have any ice-cream and wasn’t holding anything at all. By simply watching the student, it was mentally enjoying a delicious gelato, including all of the physical movements needed to make that happen. 

This amazing phenomenon was what Rizzolatti and his colleagues would later identify as mirror neurons. As humans share about 99% of DNA with chimpanzees, this discovery explains how and why we “read” other people’s minds and feel empathy for them. If simply watching an action activates the same neurons as performing this same action in monkeys’ brains, Rizzolatti concluded that the same thing happens with humans. The majority of us experience this feeling of empathy every day without even recognising it. Have you ever wondered why when you’re watching a film and the characters start weeping, tears well up in your own eyes? Or why, when you’re at a football game and your favourite team scores a goal, you cheer and scream the victory? What about that Christmas excitement you feel when watching an unboxing video? Chalk it up to mirror neurons!

Mirror Neurons at Work.

The power of mirror neurons can be easily observed in everyday life and particularly in marketing.  When we watch someone do something, whether this be looking at pictures of well-shaped men and women doing workouts in the latest trendy outfit or watching a cute little boy enjoying a tasty chocolate bar, our brains react as if we were actually doing these activities ourselves.

To illustrate this, it’s worth turning to Martin Lindstrom in his book Buyology: How Everything We Believe About Why We Buy is Wrong.

“To see [mirror neurons] in action, let’s pay a quick visit to the mall,” Martin writes. “Imagine that you’re a woman passing the front window of the Gap. A shapely mannequin wearing hip-hugging, perfectly worn-in jeans, a simple summery white blouse, and a red bandanna stops you in your tracks. She looks great—slim, sexy, confident, relaxed, and appealing. Subconsciously, even though you’ve put on a few pounds, you think, I could look like that, too, if I just bought that outfit. I could be her. In those clothes, I, too, could have her freshness, her youthful nonchalance. At least that’s what your brain is telling you, whether you’re aware of it or not. Next thing you know, you march into the Gap, whip out your Visa, and stroll out fifteen minutes later with the jeans, blouse, and bandanna under your arm. It’s as though you’ve just bought an image, an attitude, or both.”

Mirror Neurons in E-Commerce.

What about the digital world? Can you trigger mirror neurons through a screen? The short answer is yes. And this can take an even more powerful dimension in e-commerce. Digital marketers and advertising experts are constantly looking for new ways to fire up our mirror neurons - whether this be through testimonials, imagery & graphics, videos or influencer marketing.

Reviews and testimonials

Displaying testimonials and quotes can increase conversions by 34% or more. Think about all the major purchases you’ve made in the past. What is the first thing you do when you are shopping for something expensive? Chances are that you check out social proofs like reviews, star ratings or testimonials. 91% of millennials trust reviews as much as recommendations from friends and family. The best testimonials are authentic, tell stories and provide good lessons to learn from. The same way we cry when we read overly emotional books, our mirror neurons fire up when we can picture ourselves using a given product or service.

Lifestyle images

Trying to sell online? Rather than using one of your product images for your facebook ads, invest in lifestyle images. Let’s imagine you’re selling electric scooters. You can use one of your product images with a white background to create your static ad, but this is quite dull and won’t really catch your audience’s attention. However, if you use a picture of a good-looking young office worker using his scooter to go to the office and avoid traffic, or a picture of a cheerful student on her scooter heading to university campus, you are likely going to get more clicks, and more sales.  Real moments matter. Capturing a genuine moment of fun can be very powerful. Your audience will feel what your model feels. Good photography allows you to set the tone and control the emotion of your audience.

Videos

Videos are another effective tool for triggering mirror neurons. They “show” (not “tell”) your audience what they want to know. Instead of listing a number of bland product benefits, videos show the benefits in action and how people feel when they use your products. If we use our example of electric scooters again, we can imagine our young office worker going through the streets with ease, folding his scooter before going to the bus, carrying it very easily (because it is light) and plugging it when he arrives at work to charge it. For those working in cities, this immediately triggers a positive mirror image of themselves as a happy worker and the feeling of peace that would come from a sustainable, healthy, stress free and fun commute.

Influencers

Influencers even take the advantage of imagery and videos one step further with the content they produce directly. The stories and posts they published often represent themselves while using the product. Their opinions are considered authentic and real by their audience. We tend to be guided by the actions of others we like. When we see our favourite influencers, our mirror neurons fire up and makes us more likely to imitate them. We would rather trust them rather than a seemingly faceless company.

Keep Mirror Neurons in ‘Mind’.

There are many ways that businesses and brands can use the power of mirror neurons to sell their products online. Whether this be lifestyle imagery, exciting video content or influencer marketing, people respond to other people. Real moments matter. This is why social media feeds are filled with lifestyle pictures, influencers posts and videos ads, showing us well shaped men and women wearing the latest fitness outfit from Gymshark, the best designer trainers from Nike, and drinking from a cute water bottle from Chilly's bottle.  

So next time you catch yourself scrolling through beautiful images and videos on your favourite social media platforms, keep those mirror neurons in mind.

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