Consumer behavioral neuroscience approaches (blending neuroscience, psychology, behavioral science, and consumer science) have become increasingly important in understanding how our bodies respond emotionally and physically to experiences. These methodologies have been used (and abused) and have become a hot topic in consumer research. This is particularly true in food product research which seeks to understand consumers’ unconscious motivators and/or reactions and can also lend insights to support claims and product development. While commercial tools for leveraging these methodologies continue to get better, faster, and cheaper this field has seen its fair share of difficulties, ranging from a push of pseudoscientific claims and neuro-hype to outlandish, unrealistic costs. From EEG headsets to facial coding, consumer behavioral neuroscience has never been so accessible (or confusing). Most of the trouble in this field can be attributed to a misunderstanding of the science combined with a reliance on trusting researchers who push the limits of the tools and technologies. Further, the field is stumped with the Emotion Paradox- where people believe that they know an emotion when they see it, and consequently assume that emotions are discrete events that can be recognized with some degree of accuracy. However, scientists have yet to produce a set of clear and consistent criteria for indicating when an emotion occurs. During this talk, I will provide a brief review of behavioral science, psychology, and neuroscience and discuss how applying these tools to consumer research can be useful, along with some cautions on their use. Speaker: Michelle Niedziela, PhD