Nielsen Launches Behavioral Sciences Institute

Nielsen has launched a Behavioral Sciences Institute, with the aim of educating leaders across industries on 'the power of conscious and nonconscious decision making'. The Institute will sit within, and tap the data library of the company's Consumer Neuroscience division.

The library includes data from 13,000+ projects in more than 40 countries, and the Institute will be led by more than twenty 'highly credentialed' Ph.D./M.D. neuroscientists and offer seminars and workshops designed for various levels of expertise. The company boasts sixteen neuroscience labs around the world, as well as 'the largest patent portfolio in the neurotechnology industry', with nearly 200 awarded and pending patents worldwide.

Programs on offer will be grouped into three tiers: Foundational sessions, providing introductory knowledge around neurosciencem consumer-related behavioral sciences and economics; Specialized sessions focused on deep learning in areas including how brands can create new habits in their customers and how the brain processes and organizes elements of design; and Custom sessions tailored to address specific questions sought by brands.

Joe Willke (pictured), President of Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience, comments: 'As companies increasingly understand that behavioral sciences can have a significant, far-reaching impact on their businesses - from the products they sell to the ways they sell them - they are seeking expert guidance they can trust. Our Behavioral Sciences Institute will help brands harness the power of true behavioral science and its related fields, and incorporate that knowledge into their day-to-day processes'. According to Jessica Southard, Senior Manager of Consumer Market Insights at Mars, Inc., 'Nielsen has been instrumental in making the applied behavioral sciences and neurosciences a Mars way of working. Their academic credentials provide tremendous credibility. They're also able to blend science and academia with real world, touch and feel examples, which ultimately has helped our team grasp concepts in a way that's clear and obvious in the business applications'.

Nielsen acquired neuroscience pioneer NeuroFocus in 2011, some years after first partnering with the firm.

The new institute can be found online at www.nielsen.com/behavioralsciences .