Most business strategy relies on flawless logic, which is why it fails in a world governed by delightfully irrational human behaviour. Brand Genetics’ The Human Code is the antidote to spreadsheet-think – revealing the hidden motivations that drive brand growth.
For our ninth edition, we decode the DNA of ‘The Dopamine Hunt’ and why Black Friday has become a game.
For decades, Q4 promotional strategy assumed commercial success was simply a function of price: slash margins, shout louder, and race to the bottom of the discount ladder.
Today, over 70% of consumers plan a Black Friday ‘bargain hunt’, and 62% admit to buying items they neither planned for nor needed simply because the deal felt like a win. Yet, many marketers are still relying on blunt, sitewide markdowns to capture this demand.
Underneath the frenzied checkout queues lies a fundamentally different psychological dynamic. Where a traditional sale is rooted in rational saving, Black Friday is powered by the neurochemical thrill of the chase, where the discount becomes proof that the shopper outsmarted the system and won.
Brands treating Black Friday as a pure price event risk training shoppers to devalue them. Sustainable commercial growth requires moving beyond the discount to design offers that sell the thrill of the win.
Read Issue 9 below to explore the full breakdown.
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The Dopamine Hunt: Why Black Friday is a Game vs a Sale
November 2026
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The DNA of Growth: Play the Game!
For most brands, the Q4 promotional playbook is an exercise in slashing margins, shouting louder, and racing to the bottom of the discount ladder
However, we know that strategy is commercially suicidal
Black Friday has never been a rational shopping event, but it’s still managed to evolve far beyond how it was initially conceived. Today, it is a live-action, high-stakes game that people can’t stop playing
Neuroscience reveals that the brain’s reward pathway hyperactivates during the anticipation of the chase. The discount has moved beyond the simple idea of saving money towards a hugely motivating metric that proves the consumer “won”
When brands offer blunt, sitewide 40% markdowns, they strip the consumer of the game. There is no skill, no scarcity, and no victory; only commoditisation
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How We Research ‘Emotional Utility’ For Your Brand
To decode how consumers use your category to calibrate mental states and regulate emotion, we deploy a hybrid behavioural methodology:
If you want to turn your holiday promotions into a high-margin game of customer acquisition, get in touch with us at hello@brandgenetics.com
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We decode the DNA of human behaviour to unlock transformative growth. Our evidence-based model reveals the hidden forces behind consumer choices by diagnosing their Drivers (hidden motivations), eNablers (environmental context), and Abilities (knowledge and associations) to translate deep insight into concrete brand action
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