Mindshare: Consumer Optimism Is A Lie

“We believe that the discrepancy between stated emotions and subconscious emotions often has to do with how people believe they should feel in specific situations,” explains NeuroLab Co-Lead Arafel Buzan, noting: “For example, optimism is valued as a good quality; people who are optimistic through adversity (such as a global pandemic) are seen as strong or resilient which are desirable traits. Because of this, consumers are likely to self-report high levels of optimism despite their true emotional state not reflecting this emotional reality. We did find that people have hope for the future – but that’s quite different from optimism.”