I-Corps: Using Neuroscience to Predict Consumer Preference

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The proposed activity under this award will investigate the neural representation of affective valence during visual object perception. The objects used in these experiments will be consumer products that are currently under development by the companies that the team will be working with during this award. The experiments the team plans to conduct will rely on a combination of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and behavioral psychophysics designed to develop strategies and analysis tools to most effectively predict, as well as understand why, which object-based products are most preferred by consumers. In doing so, the team will form a more neuropsychologically-based model of how specific subcomponents of the visual system interact with both affective processing, and with the choice and decision-making systems.By applying neuro-scientific methods to consumer testing and product development, the team will be introducing well-grounded, cutting-edge science and technology to commercial sectors that have not typically employed such methods. Beyond specific product evaluation and assessment, in an effort to provide the best possible service, clients will be instructed regarding the general principles of the approach. Thus, the team plans to conduct workshops for any of their customers that wish to learn more about the brain and how it functions. This will allow customers to be more involved in the process and ultimately get the most out of the service. The team's innovations have the potential to create a significant commercial impact by increasing the number of products produced that are more human centered, preferred, and which better meet human needs. This has the potential to rapidly decrease the physical and financial waste surrounding products that are not preferred and are therefore not consumed.