Module description
What is the module about?
The brain is the seat of consciousness – what we feel, think, and behave. In this module, we will approach consumer psychology and behaviour from a neuroscientific perspective. Students will learn the fundamentals of brain anatomy and their functions in the context of marketing and management. This module also covers cutting-edge marketing research that uses biometric techniques such as eye tracking, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and electroencephalography (EEG), and students will gain hands-on experience with some of these techniques and analysis of biometric data. After this module, students should be able to apply insights from neuroscience not only in marketing and management, but also in their everyday life.
Who should do this module?
Students who are curious about the brain and interested in applying neuroscientific knowledge in the business setting are most welcome. It is preferable to have a basic understanding of consumer psychology, although it is not a prerequisite. Students doing this module should expect to absorb and apply new information critically in a fast-paced learning environment.
Provisional Lecture Outline
Lecture 1: Introduction to consumer neuroscience and brain anatomy
Lecture 2: Methods in neuroscience
Lecture 3: Attention and memory
Lecture 4: Emotion and social cognition
Lecture 5: Reward and choice
Lecture 6: Branding and advertising
Lecture 7: Persuasion and information sharing
Lecture 8: Morality and neuroforecasting
Lecture 9: Neuroscience in the marketplace
Lecture 10: Ethics in neuromarketing
Assessment details
50% Exam
50% Group Project
Teaching pattern
Weekly lectures
Fortnightly tutorials
Suggested reading list
Key text or background reading
Compulsory
Ward, J. (2017). The student’s guide to social neuroscience (Second edition). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315694306
Ariely, D., & Berns, G. S. (2010). Neuromarketing: the hope and hype of neuroimaging in business. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 11(4), 284–292. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrn2795
Harrell, E. (2019, January 23). Neuromarketing: What you need to know. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2019/01/neuromarketing-what-you-need-to-know
Supplementary
Plassmann, H., Venkatraman, V., Huettel, S., & Yoon, C. (2015). Consumer Neuroscience: Applications, Challenges, and Possible Solutions. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(4), 427–435. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.14.0048
Plassmann, H., Ramsøy, T. Z., & Milosavljevic, M. (2012). Branding the brain: A critical review and outlook. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22(1), 18–36. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2011.11.010
Smidts, A., Hsu, M., Sanfey, A., Boksem, M., Ebstein, R., Huettel, S., Kable, J., Karmarkar, U., Kitayama, S., Liberzon, I., Knutson, B., Lohrenz, T., Stallen, M., & Yoon, C. (2014). Advancing consumer neuroscience. Marketing Letters, 25(3), 257–267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9306-1