Neuroeconomics – How the Brain Decides

This course delves into the growing interdisciplinary field of neuroeconomics, the study of what happens in the brain during decision-making.

The focus will be on a hands-on exploration of neuroeconomics, an increasingly important field within market research.

We will discuss aspects of the relationship between emotional response and economic behaviour and delegates will learn the basic theory of neural reward processing, along with basic principles of interpretation of results from neuroimaging experiments.

The main part of the course will consist of reviewing a selection of leading research problems from the field’s first decade. The broad implications of neuroeconomics for market research will also be considered.

Who will benefit from this?

This course will benefit customer insight and market research agency staff, who want to better understand the burgeoning field of neuroeconomics.

Attendees will be informed of the latest thinking in the field and be able to translate this for their business needs in a practical and cost-effective manner.

Level

Specialist

Aims and objectives

• To inform delegates of the main theories and findings accounting for how humans value actions and outcomes and then use this information to make choices.
• To provide delegates with hands-on experience using EEG (electroencephalography) and GSR (galvanic skin response) equipment during live demonstrations in smaller “lab groups”.
• To show delegates how decision-making can be understood based on the neurobiological mechanisms by which these decisions are made. The focus will be on neural mechanisms of choice, neurobiology of human irrationality, effective processing and applications of this knowledge in market research.
• To demonstrate the value of customer insight using neuroeconomic data.

Learning objectives

• Understand basic principles of neuroanatomy and neuroconnectivity
• Appreciate different perspectives on decision-making
• Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of various methods used in neuroeconomics
• Learn to run basic EEG (electroencephalography) and GSR (galvanic skin response) studies
• Design and run simple experiments, compute multivariate analyses, and interpret findings
• Learn how to critically evaluate published peer-reviewed literature on neuroeconomics
• Integrate neuroeconomic methodologies with traditional research methodologies 

Testimonials

“Really insightful, good introduction into the world of Neuroeconomics.”

Holly Jordan, Neuro-Insight
25 November 2016

“A great introduction to Neuroeconomics in research.”

James Burke, Kantar Media
25 November 2016

“A science lesson with a bit of methodological techniques bolted on to the end.”

Hayley Fox, Global
12 May 2016

“I joined the course out of curiosity and in the hope of learning something new … and it certainly delivered. I really enjoyed it. I am already setting up a trial taste test for beer using a combination of these techniques just to see how it works in practice.”

Adam Riley, Descision Architects
12 May 2016

“Fascinating!”

Elina Hailwood, Define Research and Insight Ltd