Non-linear correlates of preference in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex during economical decision making

Purpose: Our objective was to examine the influence of implicit brand information on individual buying decisions. Methods: Two separate cohorts (12 m, 10 f) had to make decisions between pairs of sensory similar consumer goods (m: 20 beer, f: 15 coffee brands) during fMRI (3T). The respective market leader was selected as a target brand (T), the others as diverse brands (D). We alternated blocks with 80% and 20% TD-decisions. Two weeks later individual brand preference was assessed by a questionnaire. Data analysis (SPM, general linear model) consisted of a fixed effects (FX), a random effects (RX), and a linear…