• Fast Company, Thursday, June 24, 2010 1:24 PM

What impact does social networking have on a company's public image? Well, without getting too technical, "neuroeconomist" Paul Zak, aka "Dr. Love," has discovered that social media triggers the release of the generosity-trust chemical oxytocin in our brains. If you buy that, then it's not too much farther of a stretch to believe that a company's social efforts engender trust among consumers.

Neuroeconomics, if you're not aware, is an emerging field that combines economics with biology, neuroscience, and psychology. "While best-selling behavioral economists such as Dan Ariely (Predictably Irrational) and Steven D. Levitt (half of the Freakonomics duo) ponder how we make economic decisions, Zak wants to figure out why we do what we do," Adam Penenberg explains in a Fast Company profile exploring the connection between Zak's research and social media. What Peneberg wants to know is: "What explains the need of our BlackBerry-bearing, Twitter-tweeting Facebook friends for constant connectivity?"

Read the whole story at Fast Company »