Michael Platt

Michael Platt
  • James S. Riepe University Professor
  • Professor of Marketing
  • Professor of Psychology
  • Professor of Neuroscience

Contact Information

  • office Address:

    745 Jon M. Huntsman Hall
    3730 Walnut Street
    University of Pennsylvania
    Philadelphia, PA 19104-6304

Links: Innovative Thinking: Using Neuroscience to get Out-of-the-Box Ideas

Overview

Michael Platt has been selected as the sixteenth Penn Integrates Knowledge Professor, effective July 1, 2015.
Platt, a neuroscientist whose work focuses on the brain’s decision-making processes, has appointments in the Department of Neuroscience in the Perelman School of Medicine, the Department of Psychology in the School of Arts and Sciences, and the Department of Marketing in the Wharton School.
Platt has served as Professor of Neurobiology, Director of the Duke Institute for Brain Sciences and Director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University. Organizations such as the National Foundation, the Klingenstein Foundation, the McDonnell Foundation and the Department of Defense have supported his research, and he has been recognized in the New York Times, the Washington post, the Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, A`BC, BBC and PBS.
Platt has also served as the President of the Society for Neuroeconomics. He holds a PhD in Biological Anthropology from Penn, and a BA in Biological Anthropology from Yale.
 
VIDEOS (SELECTED)
“How We Decide: The New Science of Neuroeconomics,” Penn Arts & Sciences 60-second Lectures, April 27, 2016
“Why Friendship Is One of Our Most Basic Needs,” Huffington Post, February 24, 2016
“Brain Power,” World Economic Forum, February 23, 2016
“This Is Your Brain on Decision-making,” Knowledge@Wharton, October 29, 2015
“Primates of the Caribbean,” ARTE Network, France, 2013
“The NeuroEconomics of Innovation,” California Academy of Sciences, April 25, 2013
“The Science of Friendship,” Ignite Philly, April 27, 2016
“Peacocks, Eye Tracking, and the Brains Behind Decisions,” Penn Current, March 29, 2017
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Research

  • Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael Platt, Elizabeth Johnson (2023), How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions, Psychology & Marketing, 40 (4), pp. 723-734.

    Abstract: Marketers have long used celebrity endorsement to help viewers build strong brand-product associations. Celebrity endorsements increase brand awareness and recall, but how celebrity endorsements shape the decision process remains unclear. A wealth of research indicates that people tend to follow someone else's gaze, yet its effects in advertisements have been largely unexplored. We recruited 77 participants to investigate the effect of celebrities and gaze-cueing in advertisements on both gaze behavior and binary choices. We combined computational modeling with eye-tracking and pupillometry to identify which internal components of processing are affected by celebrity endorsement. We found that gaze-cueing and celebrity endorsement influence gaze allocation and option selection. Further, results from computational modeling, eye-tracking, and pupillometry revealed that the effect of celebrity endorsement on decisions can be explained as an offset in the starting point of an evidence accumulation process as well as changes in the rate of accumulation, thereby biasing choice.

Teaching

All Courses

  • ANTH3999 - Independent Study

    A study under faculty supervision of a problem area or topic not included in the formal curriculum.

  • BE9990 - Master's Thesis

    For students working on an advanced research program leading to the completion of master's thesis requirements.

  • COGS3998 - Senior Thesis

    This course is a directed study intended for cognitive science majors who have been admitted to the cognitive science honors program. Upon admission into the program, students may register for this course under the direction of their thesis supervisor.

  • COGS3999 - Independent Study

    Departmental permission required

  • MKTG2370 - Neuroscience for Bus Decisions

    This course provides an overview of contemporary brain science and its applications to business. Students are first rapidly introduced to the basic anatomy and physiology of the brain and become familiar with important techniques for measuring and manipulating brain function. The course then surveys major findings in neuroscience with applications to business, including vision, attention and advertising; valuation and marketing; decision making; learning, innovation and creativity; social influence, team-building, and leadership; and discussion of the ethical, legal, and societal implications of applying neuroscience to business. Applications to business, education, sports, law, and policy are discussed throughout.

  • MKTG3990 - Independent Study

  • MKTG7370 - Neuroscience for Bus Decisions

    This course provides an overview of contemporary brain science and its applications to business. Students are first rapidly introduced to the basic anatomy and physiology of the brain and become familiar with important techniques for measuring and manipulating brain function. The course then surveys major findings in neuroscience with applications to business, including vision, attention and advertising; valuation and marketing; decision making; learning, innovation and creativity; social influence, team-building, and leadership; and discussion of the ethical, legal, and societal implications of applying neuroscience to business. Applications to business, education, sports, law, and policy are discussed throughout.

  • MKTG8990 - Independent Study

    A student contemplating an independent study project must first find a faculty member who agrees to supervise and approve the student's written proposal as an independent study (MKTG 899). If a student wishes the proposed work to be used to meet the ASP requirement, he/she should then submit the approved proposal to the MBA adviser who will determine if it is an appropriate substitute. Such substitutions will only be approved prior to the beginning of the semester.

  • NGG9950 - Dissertation

    Ph.D. students enroll in this course after passing their candidacy exam. They work on their dissertation full-time under the guidance of their dissertation supervisor and other members of their dissertation committee.

  • NRSC3999 - Independent Research

    Individual research of an experimental nature with a member of the standing faculty leading to a written paper. The grade is based primarily on a serious term paper describing original research carried out by the student. Students must submit a proposal prior to registering. During the semester, students must attend two seminars to discuss planning and independent research project, ethical concerns in research and writing a scientific paper. Attendance at the meetings is mandatory. Students doing more than one credit of independent study will be required to present a poster at the annual Student Research Symposium.

  • NRSC4999 - Adv Independent Research

    Continuation of NRSC 3999 research. Students will be required to attend weekly Honors Seminar meetings and give an oral presentation of their research at the annual Student Research Symposium.

  • PPE3999 - Independent Study

    Student arranges with a faculty member to pursue a research project on a suitable topic. For more information about research and setting up independent studies, visit: https://ppe.sas.upenn.edu/study/curriculum/independent-studies

  • PSYC3100 - Being Human

    This course will examine the biological basis of human behavior and culture as an emergent product of the brain and its interactions with the physical and social environment. As we explore this topic, we will emphasize human brain function at the level of neural systems and the neural networks they supply, how these systems may have evolved, how they change depending on experience, and what dysfunction of these circuits as occurs in neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopment disorders reveals about human thought and behavior. We will focus on key features of human nature, including language, mathematics, creativity and innovation, empathy, strategic thinking, cooperation, deception, economic behavior, and technology, amongst others.

  • PSYC4998 - Mentored Research

    Mentored research involving data collection. Students do independent empirical work under the supervision of a faculty member, leading to a written paper. Normally taken in the junior or senior year.

  • PSYC4999 - Honors Mentored Research

    The Honors Program has been developed to recognize excellence in psychology among Penn undergraduates and to enhance skills related to psychological research. The 4998 credit signifies an Honors Independent Study, completed as part of the Honors Program. The honors program involves: (a) completing a year-long empirical research project in your senior year under the supervision of a faculty member (for a letter grade). This earns 2 cu's. (b) completing a second term of statistics (for a letter grade) before graduation. (c) participating in the year-long Senior Honors seminar (for a letter grade). This seminar is designed especially for Psychology Honors majors; this receives a total of 1 cu. (d) participating in the Undergraduate Psychology Research Fair in the Spring semester, at which honors students present a poster and give a 15-minute talk about their research. (e) a total of 15 cu's in psychology is required. Students will be selected to be part of the Honors Program in the Spring of their junior year (see application process online)

  • PSYC6999 - Indiv Res for 1st Yr Grd

    Individual Research for First-Year Graduate Students

  • PSYC9999 - Independent Study

    Individual Study and Research

  • VISR6990 - Independent Study

    This course enables student to undertake a self-directed study on a topic in Veterinary Medicine, under the supervision of a faculty member. Students are required to submit an Independent Study & Research (ISR) application to the Registrar Manager in the Office for Students. Credit may vary.

In the News

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Activity

Latest Research

Simone D'Ambrogio, Noah Werksman, Michael Platt, Elizabeth Johnson (2023), How Celebrity Status and Gaze Direction in Ads Drive Visual Attention to Shape Consumer Decisions, Psychology & Marketing, 40 (4), pp. 723-734.
All Research

In the News

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