3. The PFC: Home to the Executive Mind

The major goal of this book is to shine a light on the hidden influence of the habitual mind in customer behavior. However, the executive mind plays a critical role in most decision making, and marketers must understand how to work with both systems. Because the executive mind can think about only one thing at a time, it hands off routine decisions to the habitual mind. When the habitual mind encounters novelty, it engages the problem-solving abilities of the executive mind. When the executive mind becomes involved, it might take over the entire decision or make a small modification and then return control to the habitual mind.

Wendy Wood’s research shows that when habits are strongly formed, they control ...

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