New research from the California Institute of Technology indicates brand loyalty may not have much to do with the quality of the product.

An experiment by a group of Caltech neuroscience researchers indicates brand choices have more to do with emotion than logical analysis of the product’s value, according to the LA Times.

Subjects of the experiment were shown images of different brands while undergoing a brain scan. The images cause a reaction in an area of the brain tied to social image and identity.

Michelle Nelson, who is a University of Wisconsin assistant professor of journalism and mass communication, said the use of brain scans in the field of market research, or neuro-marketing, confirms how important brand images are to consumer behavior.

“This work actually shows the power of brand perceptions,” Nelson said.

According to Monika Wingate, director of the A.C. Nielsen Center for Marketing Research in the UW School of Business, these techniques are not common in most market research.

“My observation has been that marketing researchers tend to rely more on either attitudinal questions or observation of behavior to determine consumers’ preferences,” Wingate said.

However, at least one group believes the use of neuro-marketing is a dangerous practice that should be stopped.

Commercial Alert, a group that works to oppose the “corporate takeover of our culture,” asked the U.S. Senate to investigate the practice of neuro-marketing in July.

The group said this market research practice could lead to effects ranging from more children smoking to a dangerous increase in effectiveness of political propaganda.

Nelson also said brands could likely mean more to consumers than how much they actually enjoy the actual features of a product.

“The brand name conveys quality, trust and perhaps equally as important lifestyle, image or status,” Nelson said. “People are searching for meaning in their lives … and in some ways, brands can help offer them meaning or identity.”

Nelson added young adults might be even more prone to attach brand to self-image because they are still forming their identities.

Cynthia Jasper, UW professor of consumer science, said college-age people are seen as a particularly valuable market that needs to be captured early in life.

“When young people leave home to go to college or work, they begin to purchase products for their own household and develop their own consumer habits,” Jasper said. “If you start buying a brand of toothpaste when you are young, you will probably use it for the rest of your life.”

Wingate added another reason for brand loyalty could simply be a difficulty deciding on one product in a culture with so many choices.

“Think about a trip to the grocery store that used to have 20,000 items and
now has closer to 100,000 items,” Wingate said. “The sheer number of decisions you have to make has grown. Brands are one way of coping with that.”