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Prof.dr. M.A.S. (Maarten) Boksem

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Maarten Boksem
Professor in Neuroscience of Marketing Communication
Department of Marketing Management
Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Neuroeconomics

+31 10 4081471

mboksem@rsm.nl

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Profile

I have a broad interest in human behaviour and in how the brain orchestrates this behaviour. My current research topics range from the decoding of psychological processes from the brain, to investigating brain responses with naturalistic stimuli (movies), to the neural underpinnings of cheating and deception. I will briefly outline these research lines below.

Cheating, unfairness and deception

Dishonest behaviour, such as tax evasion, music piracy or fraud, is highly prevalent in our society and inflicts huge economic costs. Every day, we are faced with the conflict between the temptation to cheat and deceive for financial gains and maintaining a positive image of ourselves as being a ‘good person’. In this line of research, we investigate the psychological and neural underpinnings of decisions to either cheat and deceive, or to remain fair and honest. We find that particularly individual differences in the engagement of cognitive control and theory of mind drive decisions to be fair and honest (or not). For example, in one study we found that cognitive control may override an individual’s moral default, allowing honest people to cheat, whereas it enables cheaters to be honest. These insights contribute to a deeper understanding of individual differences in honesty and may aid in developing more targeted interventions aiming at reducing dishonesty.

Brains at the movies

In the past, research in neuroscience has used decontextualized stimuli and highly artificial experimental designs to study the neural substrate of cognitive processes. Although this approach has been very successful, as it allows for tightly controlled experiments and straightforward interpretation of results, it has left open the question of how the brain responds to events in more naturalistic settings. In this line of research, we address this issue by investigating how brain processes unfold during movie watching. We find that we can track emotions, engagement and preference that follow the narrative of the presented videos. In addition, we observe that we can not only predict how well individual participants will like the movie they are watching, but also how well others will like this movie. That is, we can predict, from brain activity measured during movie-watching in a small set of participants, to what extent a different set of participants will like this movie, and even estimate how well the movie will do at the box office.

Decoding psychological processes from the brain

The human psyche pretty much remains a black box: we can observe or even manipulate the input a person’s psychological system receives, but not the feelings or cognitive processes that are evoked by this input. Likewise, we can observe the decisions made by the system, but not the feelings or cognitive processes that drove these decisions. In this line of research, we decode these latent processes or states from the brain, using machine learning methods applied to distributed pattern of brain activity. For example, in two studies (one using EEG, and one using fMRI), we presented participants with video content while measuring activity from their brains. Using machine learning, we trained classifiers to accurately decode the emotional experience evoked by these videos in our participants. As another example, in every-day life we observe large differences in honesty and fairness across individuals. In a set of two studies (using fMRI), we decode idiosyncrasies in the underlying motivations for honesty and fairness. We find that particularly individual differences in the engagement of cognitive control and theory of mind drive differences in prosocial behaviour.

Publications

Highlighted (3)

  • Speer, S. P. H., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2022). Cognitive control and dishonesty. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(9), 796 - 808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.005

  • Speer, S. P., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2021). Cognitive control promotes either honesty or dishonesty, depending on one's moral default. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(42), 8815-8825. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0666-21.2021

  • Speer, S., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2020). Cognitive control increases honesty in cheaters but cheating in those who are honest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., 117(32), 19080-19091. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003480117

Academic (23)

  • Boksem, M., van Diepen, R., Eijlers, E., Boekel, W., & Smidts, A. (2024). Do EEG metrics derived from trailers predict the commercial success of movies? A systematic analysis of five independent datasets. Journal of Marketing Research, 62(4), 703-720. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437241309875

  • van Diepen, R., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2024). Reliability of EEG metrics for assessing video advertisements. Journal of Advertising. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1080/00913367.2024.2418109

  • Chan, H.-Y., Boksem, M., Venkratraman, V., Dietvorst, RC., Scholz, C., Vo, K., Falk, E. B., & Smidts, A. (2024). Neural signals of video advertisement liking: Insights into psychological processes and their temporal dynamics. Journal of Marketing Research, 61(5), 891-913. https://doi.org/10.1177/00222437231194319

  • van Brussel, L., Boksem, M., Dietvorst, RC., & Smidts, A. (2024). Brain activity of professional investors signals future stock performance. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 121(16), e2307982121. Article e2307982121. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2307982121

  • Speer, S. P. H., Keysers, C., Barrios, J. C., Teurlings, C. J. S., Smidts, A., Boksem, M. A. S., Wager, T. D., & Gazzola, V. (2023). A multivariate brain signature for reward. NeuroImage, 271, Article 119990. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.119990

  • Speer, S., Martinovici, A., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2023). The acute effects of stress on dishonesty are moderated by individual differences in moral default. Scientific Reports, 13(1), Article 3984. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-31056-2

  • Zhang, C., Beste, C., Prochazkova, L., Wang, K., Speer, S. P. H., Smidts, A., Boksem, M. A. S., & Hommel, B. (2022). Resting-state BOLD signal variability is associated with individual differences in metacontrol. Scientific Reports, 12(1), Article 18425. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-21703-5

  • Speer, S. P. H., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2022). Cognitive control and dishonesty. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 26(9), 796 - 808. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.06.005

  • Speer, S. P. H., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2022). Individual differences in (dis)honesty are represented in the brain's functional connectivity at rest. NeuroImage, 246, Article 118761. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2021.118761

  • Speer, S. P., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2021). Cognitive control promotes either honesty or dishonesty, depending on one's moral default. Journal of Neuroscience, 41(42), 8815-8825. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.0666-21.2021

  • Speer, S., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2021). Different neural mechanisms underlie non-habitual honesty and non-habitual cheating. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.610429

  • Speer, S., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2020). Cognitive control increases honesty in cheaters but cheating in those who are honest. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S.A., 117(32), 19080-19091. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2003480117

  • Eijlers, E., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2020). Measuring neural arousal for advertisements and its relationship with advertising success. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14(736). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00736

  • Couwenberg, L., Boksem, M., Sanfey, AG., & Smidts, A. (2020). Neural mechanisms of choice diversification. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 14, 502. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2020.00502

  • Chan, H., Smidts, A., Schoots, V., Sanfey, AG., & Boksem, M. (2020). Decoding dynamic affective responses to naturalistic videos with shared neural patterns. NeuroImage, 216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116618

  • Speer, S., & Boksem, M. (2019). Decoding fairness motivations from multivariate brainactivity patterns. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 14(11), 1197–1207. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsz097

  • Eijlers, E., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2019). Implicit measurement of emotional experience and its dynamics. PLoS One (online), 14(2), Article e0211496. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0211496

  • Chan, H., Smidts, A., Schoots, V., Dietvorst, RC., & Boksem, M. (2019). Neural similarity at temporal pole and cerebellum predicts out-of-sample preference and recall for video stimuli. NeuroImage, 197, 391-401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2019.04.076

  • Chan, H., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2018). Neural profiling of brands: Mapping brand image in consumers' brains with visual templates. Journal of Marketing Research, 55(4), 600-615. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.17.0019

  • Couwenberg, L., Boksem, M., Dietvorst, RC., Worm, L., Verbeke, W., & Smidts, A. (2017). Neural Responses to Functional and Experiential Ad Appeals: Explaining Ad Effectiveness. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 34(2), 355-366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.10.005

  • Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2015). Brain responses to movietrailers predict individual preferences for movies and their population-wide commercial success. Journal of Marketing Research, 52(4), 482-492. https://doi.org/10.1509/jmr.13.0572

  • Smidts, A., Hsu, M., Sanfey, AG., Boksem, M., Ebstein, RB., Huettel, SA., Kable, JW., Karmarkar, UM., Kitayama, S., Liberzon, I., Knutson, B., Lohrenz, T., Stallen, M., & Yoon, C. (2014). Advancing Consumer Neuroscience. Marketing Letters, 25(3), 257-267. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9306-1

  • Boksem, M., Mehta, PH., Van den Bergh, B., van Son, V., Trautmann, ST., Roelofs, K., Smidts, A., & Sanfey, AG. (2013). Testosterone Inhibits Trust but Promotes Reciprocity. Psychological Science, 24(11), 2306-2314. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797613495063

Professional (1)

  • Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2016). Voorspelt EEG filmsucces? Psychologische processen in het brein. Tijdschrift voor Marketing, (Maart), 44-47.

Academic (1)
Professional (4)

  • Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. A. S. (2021). Neuromarketing: Wat is het en wat kunnen we ermee? In Y. M. Van Everdingen (Ed.), Tools for capturing information to improve business insights: MOA Topic of the Year 2021 (pp. 12-22). MOA, Expertise Center voor Marketing-insights, Onderzoek & Analytics.

  • Eijlers, E., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2020). Implicit measurement of emotional experience and its dynamics. In Neuromarketing Yearbook 2020 NMSBA.

  • Chan, H., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2019). Neural profiling of brands: Mapping brand image in consumers' brains with visual templates. In Neuromarketing Yearbook 2019 NMSBA.

  • Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2015). Your brain on movie trailers – How brain responses to movie trailers predict individual preferences for movies and their population-wide commercial success. In Neuromarketing Yearbook 2015 NMSBA.

Academic (1)

  • Speer, S., & Boksem, M. (2020). Decoding fairness motivations from multivariate brain activity patterns. In Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsz097

Professional (7)

  • Speer, S., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2020). Why honest people cheat. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

  • Speer, S., & Boksem, M. (2020). How brain measures can help to understand fairness. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

  • Chan, H., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2019). All in the mind? How neuroscience can help measure the emotional impact of brand image and video engagement. Web publication/site

  • Chan, H., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2019). Brain scans reveal engagement levels of videos. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

  • Eijlers, E., Smidts, A., & Boksem, M. (2019). Tracking emotions real time in the brain. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

  • Chan, H., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2018). Identifying strong brands in the brain. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

  • Couwenberg, L., Boksem, M., & Smidts, A. (2017). Brain scans reveal what makes a TV advert effective. Web publication/site, RSM Discovery.

Award

  • Fellowship - ERIM early career talent programme (2010)

Courses

Neuroeconomics

  • Study year: 2025/2026, 2024/2025, 2023/2024
  • Code: B3MIN1018

Neuromarketing

  • Study year: 2024/2025, 2023/2024
  • Code: BMME057

Past courses

Topics in Marketing Research B

  • Study year: 2025/2026
  • Code: BERMASC055

Consumer Behavior

  • Study year: 2023/2024
  • Code: BERMASC039

Featured in the media

Featured on RSM Discovery

Friday, 28 June 2024

RSM study finds brain activity of professional investors predicts future stock performance, highlighting neuroforecasting potential.

Read more on RSM Discovery

Professional investors’ brain activity signals stock market success

Professional investors’ brain activity signals stock market success

Contact information

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Campus by Summer

Visiting address

Office: Mandeville Building T10-09
Burgemeester Oudlaan 50
3062 PA Rotterdam
Netherlands

Postal address

Postbus 1738
3000 DR Rotterdam
Netherlands

+31 10 4081471

mboksem@rsm.nl