Are Celebrities Brainwashing Us: Higher-Order Conditioning in Action

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 Do you ever see an item of clothing that only looks luxurious when a celebrity is wearing it, or maybe why a certain sneaker brand only looks cool when an athlete endorses it? It’s not just about marketing, it’s all about the idea of higher-order conditioning. This occurs when a potential brand attaches a product to a certain celebrity's face that we are a fan of. Eventually, we end up liking the product or even buying it just because of this. It could be anything like makeup, watches, shoes, or even food products, but we only feel drawn to it due to who it’s associated with.

For instance, there are Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty and SKIMS by Kim Kardashian. Many might not even have an interest in any of these products, but the endorser is the one that lures them in. This has become even more heightened due to TikTok and influencers attempting to well… influence you to buy certain things. When we see a famous face or even just the face of someone we love, our brain ends up wanting to desire the product just as we desire the celebrity. Recognizing how this style of conditioning works gives us the power to really question our shopping choices. The question being: do I really want this product for what it is, or simply for whose face it’s attached to?

https://neurolaunch.com/higher-order-conditioning/

Comments

  1. Sabrina RobersonJune 16, 2025 at 4:55 PM

    This is a really interesting topic, and continues to be more and more relevant with the increase of power these influencers hold over other people who are taking in their content! This has definitely happened to me before. I have been about to click purchase, but then ask myself 'do I really want this product because it will improve my life or do I want it because everyone else has it?'. There is definitely a cognitive component to how these celebrities influence what we buy.

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