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Towards a brain-to-society systems model of individual choice

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An Erratum to this article was published on 07 November 2008

Abstract

Canonical models of rational choice fail to account for many forms of motivated adaptive behaviors, specifically in domains such as food selections. To describe behavior in such emotion- and reward-laden scenarios, researchers have proposed dual-process models that posit competition between a slower, analytic faculty and a fast, impulsive, emotional faculty. In this paper, we examine the assumptions and limitations of these approaches to modeling motivated choice. We argue that models of this form, though intuitively attractive, are biologically implausible. We describe an approach to motivated choice based on sequential sampling process models that can form a solid theoretical bridge between what is known about brain function and environmental influences upon choice. We further suggest that the complex and dynamic relationships between biology, behavior, and environment affecting choice at the individual level must inform aggregate models of consumer choice. Models using agent-based complex systems may further provide a principled way to relate individual and aggregate consumer choices to the aggregate choices made by businesses and social institutions. We coin the term “brain-to-society systems” choice model for this broad integrative approach.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University, 1001, Sherbrooke St. West, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3A 1G5

    Laurette Dubé & Ulf Böckenholt

  2. Brain and Creativity Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Antoine Bechara

  3. Columbia Business School, New York, NY, USA

    Asim Ansari

  4. The Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Alain Dagher

  5. CHUM– Centre de Recherche, Axe santé des populations, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Mark Daniel

  6. Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA

    Wayne S. DeSarbo

  7. Neurology and Neurosurgery, Montreal Neurological Institute and Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Lesley K. Fellows

  8. Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA

    Ross A. Hammond

  9. National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, Bethesda, MD, USA

    Terry T-K Huang

  10. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

    Scott Huettel

  11. Dép. Médicine Sociale and Préventive, Université de Montréal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Yan Kestens

  12. Department of Psychology, McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Bärbel Knäuper

  13. Department of Economics, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Peter Kooreman

  14. School of Kinesiology and Health Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Douglas Spencer Moore

  15. Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Ale Smidts

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  1. Laurette Dubé
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  2. Antoine Bechara
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Correspondence to Laurette Dubé.

Additional information

Authors include participants to the Brain-to-Society Systems of choice session at the Choice Symposium and members of the research team.

Contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the National Institutes of Health.

An erratum to this article can be found at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9067-9

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Dubé, L., Bechara, A., Böckenholt, U. et al. Towards a brain-to-society systems model of individual choice. Mark Lett 19, 323–336 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-008-9057-y

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