Call for Papers: Special Issue on Neuroscience and behavioural economics of consumer behaviour – implications for policy makers in Behavioural Public Policy
Guest Editors: Bernd Weber (University of Bonn) & Lucia A. Reisch (Copenhagen Business School)
Our knowledge about the behaviour, but also internal decision processes, of consumers have increased profoundly over recent years. Not only have we gained important insights into “irrationalities” of consumer choices, but these insights get more and more grounded in a strong biological basis of what decision research calls “value-based” choices. While this model provides a well-founded framework to understand underlying neurobiological processes, it also helps to understand dynamic processes of choice and influences on consumers, due to external cues like brands, claims or designs. These external cues have a strong impact on the way products are perceived, valuated and consumed, a fact which has largely been ignored. This knowledge can be used to improve the efficiency of customer-directed campaigns, increase the awareness of customers to dedicated information and finally improve overall well-being.
This special issue should provide insights into the biological foundation of consumer behaviour and its implications for public policy. All papers should raise the policy implications that the research brings about. While some authors may present the state of the art of psychological and neuroscientific process-models of consumer choices, others may show how neuroscience methods can help to provide information about not individuals but market-aggregates.
Also, papers dealing with policy areas where the neuroscientific approach can be particularly helpful are welcome, such as:
- adolescence and at-risk youth
- the challenges of improving life outcomes for low-SES families/poverty
- neuroscience and law
- consumer regulation
- diet, obesity and food choices
- racial and ethnic discrimination
- aging
- financial literacy and decision making (special kind of consumer regulation)
- violence and war
- changing behaviour towards more sustainable lifestyles
- education and learning
- biological and neural basis of political attitudes
The contributions need to be written for a multidisciplinary audience (and thus need to avoid formal model jargon). Submissions (max. 6000 words) are welcome until 1st March 2017.
Discover more at: cambridge.org/BPP
View the flyer here.