When
Martin Reimann
Associate Professor, Marketing
McClelland Fellow
Director, Arizona Think Tank for
Behavioral Decision Making
External Faculty Affiliate, Stanford Institute for Research in the Social Sciences
Hippocampal Blood Oxygenation Predicts Choice About Everyday Consumer Experiences: A Deep-Learning Approach
Abstract: What is going on in the brain when people make decisions, particularly when it comes to everyday experiences such as choosing between different songs to listen to? This study investigates the role of the hippocampus, a key memory region, in predicting choices involving such everyday experiences. Using deep-learning models that integrate natural-language-processing approaches and neuroimaging data, we identify a neurophysiological mechanism linked to people’s experiential risk-taking behavior— hippocampal activity—and compare this finding to the established literature on people’s monetary risk-taking behavior.