General information


Subject type: Mandatory

Coordinator: Alexandra Mason Llorente

Trimester: First term

Credits: 4

Teaching staff: 

Alexandra Mason Llorente

Academic year: 2025

Teaching course: 2

Languages ​​of instruction


  • Catalan
  • Catalan

Es podran usar fonts d'informació en català, castellà o anglès

Competencies / Learning Outcomes


Specific skills
  • E10. Analyze and evaluate the role of digital communities and social media in business.

  • E14. Apply the knowledge acquired to the management of digital communities.

  • E1. Recognize the environment in which the organization operates, the operation of the company and its functional areas and the instruments of analysis.

  • E2. Apply the basics of marketing and market research.

General competencies
  • G1. Be able to work in a team, actively participate in tasks and negotiate in the face of dissenting opinions until reaching consensus positions, thus acquiring the ability to learn together with other team members and create new knowledge.

Transversal competences
  • T5. Develop tasks applying the knowledge acquired with flexibility and creativity and adapting them to new contexts and situations.

Presentation of the subject


People make decisions constantly, and even if we are not aware of it, or do not want to admit it, today it is known that most of our decisions are not rational. When people act as consumers, this lack of rationality is clearly reflected in our purchasing decisions.


Consumer Neuroscience (CN), often assimilated to the discipline of Neuromarketing, is a multidisciplinary science that attempts to deeply understand the reasons behind consumers' non-rational responses and decisions, in particular their neurological mechanisms. CN benefits particularly from the contributions made over the last 25 years in disciplines such as cognitive psychology, behavioral economics (neuroeconomics) and neurophysiology.


The course proposes a clear, simple and understandable introduction to this interesting subject.

The classroom (physical or virtual) is a safe space, free from sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic and discriminatory attitudes, whether towards students or teachers. We trust that together we can create a safe space where we can make mistakes and learn without having to suffer the prejudices of others.

Contents


1. The Scientific Method
2. Historical background
3. The Brain
4. Toolbox: objective measurement systems
5. Senses and Perception
6. Attention and Awareness
7. Emotions and Feelings
8. Learning and Memory
9. Decision Making: desire, pleasure, decision
10. Pathological habits of consumption
11. Neurosegmentation. The gender effect
12. Experimental work models

Activities and evaluation system


The relationship between evaluable activities and weighted score percentage is specified under the following formula:

  • SE4. Final Exam: 30%
  • SE2. Group coursework: 20%
  • SE1 + SE2 Individual and group work seminars: 50%

Requirements to pass:

  • an average equal to or greater than 5 in the overall calculation of the subject
  • a grade equal to or higher than 3 in the individual active participation block
  • a grade equal to or higher than 5 in the final exam. Important: only the final exam can be recovered

Any form of academic fraud will be sanctioned in accordance with the center's assessment regulations. If signs of fraud are detected, including the improper use of generative artificial intelligence tools, the subject's teaching staff may call the student for an individual interview with the aim of verifying their authorship.

Bibliography


Basic

Ariely, Dan. The traps of desire .: How to control the irrational impulses that lead us to error. Ariel, 2008. ISBN: 978-84-344-5367-8.

Eagleman, David. the brain Anagram, 2017

Eagleman, David. Incognito. The secret lives of the brain. Anagram, 2011. ISBN: 978-84-339-6351-2

Kahneman, Daniel. Think fast, think slow. Debate, 2015 (Thinking fast and slow, Penguin books).

Ramsøy, Thomas Z. Introduction to Neuromarketing and Consumer Neuroscience. Kindle Edition (Amazon), 2014

Sigman, Mariano. The secret life of the mind. Debate, 2015

Thaler, Richard H. Misbehaving. Great Britain: Penguin Random House UK, 2015. ISBN 978-1-846133035.
(version in Spanish titled "Everything I've Learned with Economic Psychology")