• To become able to read and understand contemporary readings in the borderland between marketing and neurology
• Have a critical view on the claim made for specific marketing tools
• To work in a modern marketing organization with emphasize on communication problems
• Be able to discuss the assumptions that underlie the study of consumer behavior , including the role of the brain in determining emotional responses; and the relative roles of emotions and cognitive processes, including reasoning, in decision making
• Be able to reflect on the implication of the modern view of the brain on marketing/advertising
• Be able to discuss how optimal advertising pre-testing and be integrated in agency-client relationsship and in the creative process
• To reflect on the utility of brand tracking research, brand building research, and the research process applicable at different stages in the brand strategy formulation and execution
• Be able to analyse communication problems in the light of the different theories introduced
• Be able to identify relevant theories and models (from brain science and/or marketing) to describe and solve a specific case
• Be able to structure and analyse data by using adapted theories and models
• Be able to draw conclusions from this analysis and discuss their implications for marketing/advertising strategies

Covers tradtional communication, neuromarketing and relevant aspects of neuroscience. The course looks at contemporary neuromarketing approaches to communication an consumer behavior departing in traditional advertising and communication practices. It deals with communication effects, advertising budgeting and control. It gives an integrated presention of attitude and behavior theory of consumer behavior focusing on the roles of emotions and with emphasize on contemporary neurological contributions.

Course literature

• Chaudhuri “Emotion and Reason in Consumer Behaviour”. Elsevier Inc
• Printed compendium (see indicative literature)

Indicative literature:

Bagozzi, R.P., M. Gopinath & P.U.Nyer (1999): The role of emotions in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 27. No. 2, pp. 184-206.

Bechara, A. & A.R. Damasio (2005): The Somatic Marker Hypothesis: A Neural Theory of Economic Decision Making. Games and Economic Behaviour. Vol. 52. Issue 2 August, pp. 336-372

Hubert, Mirja & Peter Kenning (2008): A current overview of consumer neuroscience. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Vol. 7, Issue no. 4-5, pp. 272-292

Kirk, U., Skov, M., Hulme, O., Christensen, M. S., & Zeki, S. (2009). Modulation of aesthetic value by semantic context: An fmri study. Neuroimage, 44(3), 1125-32.

Knutson, B., Wimmer, G. E., Rick, S., Hollon, N. G., Prelec, D., & Loewenstein, G. (2008). Neural antecedents of the endowment effect. Neuron, 58(5), 814-22.

Knutson, B., Rick, S., Wimmer, G. E., Prelec, D., & Loewenstein, G. (2007). Neural predictors of purchases. Neuron, 53(1), 147-56.

McClure, S. M., Li, J., Tomlin, D., Cypert, K. S., Montague, L. M., & Montague, P. R. (2004). Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron, 44(2), 379-87.

Pieters, R. & L. Warlop (1999): Visual attention during brand choice: The impact of time pressure and task motivation .International Journal of Research in Marketing, 16, pp. 1-16

Pieters, R. & Wedel, M. (2004), "Attention Capture and Transfer in Advertising: Brand, Pictorial, and Text-Size Effects", Journal of Marketing, vol. 68, no. 2, pp. 36-50.

Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(3), 1050-4.

Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., & Rangel, A. (2007). Orbitofrontal cortex encodes willingness to pay in everyday economic transactions. The Journal of Neuroscience : The Official Journal of the Society for Neuroscience, 27(37), 9984-8.

Rangel, A., Camerer, C., & Montague, P. R. (2008). A framework for studying the neurobiology of value-based decision making. Nat Rev Neurosci, 9(7), 545-556.

Walter, H., Abler, B., Ciaramidaro, A., & Erk, S. (2005). Motivating forces of human actions. Neuroimaging reward and social interaction. Brain Research Bulletin, 67(5), 368-81.

Zajonc, R.B. & H. Markus (1985): Must all affect be mediated by cognition? Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 12, No. 3, December 1985