An Interdisciplinary Lens on Consciousness: The Consciousness Continuum and How to (Not) Study It in the Brain and the Gut, A Commentary on Williams and Poehlman

Journal of Consumer Research · 2017 · Volume 44 · Issue 2

Abstract

We welcome Williams and Poehlman’s (this issue) effort to better conceptualize consciousness in consumer research. In this comment, our goal is to complement their ideas based on models and methods from cognitive and consumer neuroscience. We extend their suggestions in two important ways. First, we offer an extended framework based on a taxonomy of consciousness from visual neuroscience that suggests a continuum rather than a dichotomy between unconscious and conscious processes. This continuum is determined by the role of perception and attention and the communication between different functional systems in the brain. We then clarify and make suggestions about how different methods from the neurobiology toolbox can be used (or not) as measures of mediating and moderating variables underlying consciousness in consumer behavior.

Keywords

visual consciousness, attention, neuroscience, brain imaging, gut bacteria, functional, structural brain connectivity

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