The participating scientists at the University of Bonn and the University of Ulm invited a total of 25 participants to an experiment in a brain scanner. The subjects first listened to a 30-second clip from a piece of music. They were then to decide whether they wanted to buy the associated album or not.
In some cases the test persons were free to decide how much they wanted to pay for the album. Under this "pay-what-you-want" condition, they were able to keep the songs regardless of the amount paid, no matter what. In other cases, the scientists had set a fixed price, they amount of which was unknown to the participants. The participants could also suggest a monetary amount but did not know that they could only get the album, if their suggestion was over the price set. During the process the researchers recorded brain activity.
"In the fixed price scenario, we found activation patterns that met our expectations exactly," explains Dr. Sebastian Markett of the Department of Differential and Biological Psychology: "As soon as they listened to the music clip, the participants showed activity in certain brain structures that are part of the so-called reward system. The better they liked the piece, the stronger the activation -- and the higher then the amount they bid for the album." In this case, therefore, the music enjoyment dictated the bid. "When our participants read that they themselves could choose the price for the piece just heard, their lingual gyrus became active," says Waskow. "This activation may have caused their brain to switch to another mode: Now, in making the decision, no longer just economic and emotional considerations but also social considerations, such as the fairness concept, were considered."
Source material from ScienceDaily