Learning and Deciding Under Low Levels of Awareness: Representation Issues and Memory Processes

人类的决策常常是次优的，而且可能受到我们只是模糊意识到的因素的影响。有时，这种次优性会产生巨大的社会、经济和健康成本。我们解决在低意识水平下做出的决定，包括那些通常受广告和其他营销活动影响的决定，例如将品牌与有吸引力的人的形象相结合。我们研究了这种配对所调用的认知过程，以确定它如何与事实信息的提供竞争。我们的目标是改善食品选择和消费者理解等领域的决策，并提供知识基础，以支持规范营销传播的政策。

Human decision making is frequently sub-optimal and can be influenced by factors of which we are only dimly aware. At times, this sub-optimality produces large social, economic, and health costs. We address decisions made under low levels of awareness including those typically influenced by advertising and other marketing activities, such as pairing brands with images of attractive people. We examine the cognitive processes invoked by this pairing in order to determine how it competes with the provision of factual information. We aim to improve decision making in areas such as food choice and consumer understanding, as well as provide the knowledge base to support policy for regulating marketing communications.