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INSEAD-Sorbonne University Behavioural Lab

INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab

Pierre Chandon

The L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing - Innovation and Creativity
Director, INSEAD Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab

Our Mission

The INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab offers world-class facilities and support to conduct behavioural research. Since opening in Paris in 2002, more than 123,000 people have participated in research on topics such as individual and group decision making, perception, emotion, and consumption. More than 40 faculty members and 20 PhD candidates from Association Sorbonne Université (of which INSEAD is a member) and HEC Paris currently conduct research at the lab.

Each week, researchers carry out studies at the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab. All our studies are compensated. They are all scientific, that is, we do not conduct studies for companies. Our objectives are to publish scientific articles, contribute to PhD dissertations and generally increase scientific knowledge. Participation in studies is anonymous.

Our studies vary from simple surveys to role-playing games on a computer. The length of each study can vary...

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Pierre Chandon

The L'Oréal Chaired Professor of Marketing - Innovation and Creativity
Director, INSEAD Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab

Participate in a Study

Confidentiality

All studies conducted at the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab have been validated by INSEAD’s Ethical Committee. The goal of the ethical guidelines is to protect the individual participant, the school and the researcher. Your participation is anonymous and it is not possible to link your responses to your name. Before each study, you will receive a consent form. After each study, you will receive an explanation of the study together with our contact information.

 

Charter for students

Click here for the participants guide in French.

 

Location

Our studies take place at the lab:
Centre Multidisciplinaire des Sciences Comportementales Sorbonne Université-INSEAD
6, rue Victor Cousin (courtyard)
75005 Paris
Tel: +33 1 43 25 26 55
Metro: Odéon, Cluny La Sorbonne
RER: Luxembourg

See location map >

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For Researchers

The INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab is open to all faculty members and doctoral students at Sorbonne Universités (of which INSEAD is a founding member) and HEC. The lab assists researchers in conducting high-quality research with human participants. Access to the lab (rooms, software, and hardware) is free for researchers from l'Association Sorbonne Université and INSEAD.

Toolkit

Below are time-saving templates to help you set up your study.

Consent Form

This is a consent form, which is distributed before the experiment to all participants. All text in italics must be changed by the researcher before the experiment. The standard text has been written in cooperation with the INSEAD legal department and it is not to be altered.

Debriefing

The debriefing contains the true purpose of the experiment, written in a non-technical way. It should reveal the cover story and explain any motivations. The debriefing should also contain general information regarding the kind of research you are doing, such as the use of resources. The participant, upon reading the debriefing, should have the impression of having participated in a worthwhile experiment.

Resources

The INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab was custom designed for behavioural research. To avoid unnecessary distractions, all experimental rooms are sound-insulated, blind and decorated in neutral colours. The entrance area has a coffee corner for participants.

The following list of resources was updated in June 2023. The lab continuously updates its hardware and software to better respond to researchers’ requirements. Is there something missing for your research project? Please contact Jean-Yves Mariette.

Experimental rooms

  • 6 cubicles seating one or two participants each
  • 2 mid-size rooms seating one to four participants
  • 2 rooms seating up to twelve participants

Hardware

  • 40 computers 
  • 1 Biopac MP150 (physiological responses such as skin conductance, respiration, heart rate)
  • 4 x Bionomadix wireless amplifiers
  • 4 Tobii X3-120 Eye Trackers
  • 2 Tobii glasses
  • 4 Empatica E4 wristbands
  • 12 Optitrack motion capture cameras
  • 12 iPads
  • 9 Mac mini
  • 20 headphones DT 770 PRO

Software

  • Acqknowledge
  • Empirisoft MediaLab
  • Empirisoft DirectRT
  • E-Prime
  • Inquisit
  • MATLAB
  • Noldus FaceReader
  • Noldus Media Recorder
  • Noldus Observer XT
  • OptiTrack Motive Tracker
  • Python
  • Qualtrics
  • IBM SPSS Statistics
  • Tobii Pro Studio

Services

Access to the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab (rooms, software, and hardware) is free for researchers from affiliated schools. Researchers from affiliated schools may access the lab’s additional services (RA, participant compensation). In this case, the researcher only picks up the cost incurred for his/her study. 

The research team has advanced degrees in the behavioural sciences and well-documented experience of experimental research.The team will help you with your research project from start to finish.

Good ethical and general research conduct - We help ensure good ethical (e.g. formal ethical approval of studies, informed consent, debriefing, etc.) and general research conduct (e.g. randomization, adherence to study protocol and procedures).

Study design - We help you develop of study materials and procedures (e.g. advice on scale development or on implementing procedures within the lab setting).

Translation - We translate your experimental material into the French language and cultural context. All translations are performed by in-house, French mother-tongue social psychologists.

Programming - We can help you program your studies using our software: MediaLab, Qualtrics, E-Prime, FaceReader, MATLAB Python, Powershell, Tobii Pro Studio...

Audio-visual material - We assist with the set-up and use of audio-visual material.

Pre-testing - We pre-test your study materials and procedures, including participant interviews to probe general understanding, suspicion and effectiveness of manipulations and measures.

Management of research team - We handle the recruitment, training and supervision of research assistants, confederates.

Management of participants - We recruit participants for research studies according to the study specifications (e.g. demographic criteria, pre-study survey responses, prior participation in related projects) and management of study restrictions.

Data collection - Collecting data at the lab is easy, informal and quick, simply send your material to us. All studies are dealt with in order of arrival; there are no reservations.

Participant payment management - We handle the compensation of your participants (management of cash advances, participation receipts).

Data management - We manage data merging, data entry, codebook creation and coding, according to your instructions. Please note that the data collection remain the priority of the lab.

Institutional Review Board

The INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab offers world-class facilities and support to conduct behavioural research. The INSEAD Institutional Review Board (IRB) provides formal validation of all research with human participants at INSEAD. The IRB protects the rights and welfare of individuals who volunteer to participate in the research conducted at the lab. The purpose of the IRB is to protect not only the rights of human participants but also the school and its researchers.

Applications to the IRB are valid for a specific research project. Please contact the lab team at [email protected] to get the link to the application survey and further information.

Most applications to the IRB are treated within a 2-week period.

For more information, please contact the IRB at [email protected]

FAQs

How can the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab help faculty and PhD students publish more papers? 

Every year the lab conducts a range of studies, including computer-based studies, group interaction studies, interview studies, ‘pen-and-paper’ surveys, studies on food consumption and negotiation studies. More than 180 peer-reviewed articles have been published in A-list journals since the lab was opened in 2002. The lab offers assistance at every phase of your research project – you concentrate on the research while we take care of the logistics.

My research project requires that my participants have no distractions or interactions. Can you help me?

The lab is custom-made for behavioural research. To avoid environmental distractions, all experimental rooms are sound-insulated and decorated in neutral colours.

I would like to conduct a study with real people and real stimuli, is this possible?

Since opening in 2002, more than 150,000 people have participated in lab studies involving real stimuli (and real behaviour). We have a pool of more than 7000 people willing to participate in research on very short notice. The lab recruits and manages the participant pool courtesy of the lab. The average hourly rate for participant time is €12. We typically fill up the timeslots for your study within 48 hours. It is also possible to use the pool for online studies and obtain data swiftly at minimum cost (around €150 for a short study). The standard population consists of students at Parisian universities. The lab will recruit participants specifically for your study if you require a special profile.

I can’t come to the lab personally. Can I still use it?

The lab’s research team will conduct the study, according to your instructions. You will not have to hire an RA or worry about contracts, training, etc.

How much does it cost to conduct a study at the lab?

Faculty members have free access to our premises, software, hardware, ethical validation and databases. Researchers affiliated with INSEAD can benefit from the help of an RA (unless you have your own RA or are working with a PhD student). Your costs are only those incurred by your study, such as participant compensation. HEC-affiliated researchers must settle costs incurred by their study (compensation, translation, coding, and an RA if necessary).We encourage PhD and post-doctoral students to carry out their own studies. Thus, you pay only the costs related to the recruitment of participants (compensation). For more information, please contact Hoai Huong NGO.

My study is in English and it is adapted to a North-American/Asian/Scandinavian context, can it be translated into a French context?

The lab in-house translators are native French speakers and have advanced degrees in Social Psychology. The team is multilingual and can adapt your stimuli to a French context. The team has successfully translated and adapted materials for more than 400 studies since 2002.

Results

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14,323

volunteers for behavioural experiments

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44

researchers

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23

PhD students

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115

research projects

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34

peer-reviewed Publications

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12

disciplines

Since the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab opened in 2002, more than 150 peer-reviewed articles have been published based on lab research in periodicals such as the Journal of Marketing, Psychological Science, the Journal of Marketing Research, and the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Selected Publications

Sorbonne Université

Arias, P., Belin, P., & Aucouturier, J. J. (2018). Auditory smiles trigger unconscious facial imitation. Current Biology, 28(14), R782-R783

Baptista, A., Jacquet, P. O., Sidarus, N., Cohen, D., & Chambon, V. (2022). Susceptibility of agency judgments to social influenceCognition226, 105173. 

Benchekroun, M., Velmovitsky, P. E., Istrate, D., Zalc, V., Morita, P. P., & Lenne, D. (2023). Cross Dataset Analysis for Generalizability of HRV-Based Stress Detection ModelsSensors23(4), 1807.

Botta, F., Arévalo, E. M., Bartolomeo, P., & Lupiáñez, J. (2023). Attentional distraction affects maintenance of information in visual sensory memoryConsciousness and Cognition107, 103453.

Bouvier, B., Susini, P., Marquis-Favre, C., & Misdariis, N. (2023). Revealing the stimulus-driven component of attention through modulations of auditory salience by timbre attributesScientific Reports13(1), 6842.

Burred J.J., Ponsot E., Goupil L., Liuni M., Aucouturier, J.J., (2019). CLEESE: An open-source audio-transformation toolbox for data-driven experiments in speech and music cognitionPLOS ONE, 14(4), e0205943.

Douven, I., Elqayam, S., & Mirabile, P. (2022). Inference strength predicts the probability of conditionals better than conditional probability doesJournal of Memory and Language123, 104302. 

Golvet, A., Goupil, L., Saint-Germier, P., Matuszewski, B., Assayag, G., Nika, J., & Canonne, C. (2021). With, against, or without? Familiarity and copresence increase interactional dissensus and relational plasticity in freely improvising duosPsychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts

Mikalonytė, E. S., & Canonne, C. (2023). Does the Phineas Gage effect extend to aesthetic value?. Philosophical Psychology, 1-27.

Rachman, L., Dubal, S., & Aucouturier, J. J. (2019). Happy you, happy me: Expressive changes on a stranger’s voice recruit faster implicit processes than self-produced expressions. Social Cognitive and Affective neuroscience, 14(5), 559-568.

Recht, S., & Grynszpan, O. (2019). The sense of social agency in gaze leading. Journal on Multimodal User Interfaces, 13(1), 19-30.

Tatarian, K., Stower, R., Rudaz, D., Chamoux, M., Kappas, A., & Chetouani, M. (2022). How does modality matter? investigating the synthesis and effects of multi-modal robot behavior on social intelligenceInternational Journal of Social Robotics14(4), 893-911.

HEC

Boulongne, R., Durand, R., Flammer, C. (2023). Impact investing in disadvantaged urban areas. Strategic Management Journal. doi:10.1002/smj.3544. (Online first)

Laurent, G., & Vanhuele, M. (2023). How Do Consumers Read and Encode a PriceJournal of Consumer Research, ucad005.

Mecit, A., Lowrey, T. M., & Shrum, L. J. (2022). Grammatical gender and anthropomorphism:“It” depends on the languageJournal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Somasundaram, J., & Eli, V. (2022). Risk and time preferences interaction: An experimental measurementJournal of Risk and Uncertainty65(2), 215-238.

Zwebner, Y., Sellier, A. L., Rosenfeld, N., Goldenberg, J., & Mayo, R. (2017). We look like our names: The manifestation of name stereotypes in facial appearanceJournal of personality and social psychology, 112(4), 527.

INSEAD

Cadario, Romain and Pierre Chandon (2019), Effectiveness or Consumer Acceptance? Tradeoffs in Selecting Healthy Eating Nudges, Food Policy, 85, 1-6.

Chick, S. E., Hawkins, S. A., & Soberman, D. (2023). Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise optionsFrontiers in Psychology14, 1257031.

Cornil, Y., Plassmann, H., Aron‐Wisnewsky, J., Poitou‐Bernert, C., Clément, K., Chabert, M., & Chandon, P. (2022). Obesity and responsiveness to food marketing before and after bariatric surgeryJournal of Consumer Psychology32(1), 57-68. 

Kim, J. C., Park, B., & Dubois, D. (2018). How consumers’ political ideology and status-maintenance goals interact to shape their desire for luxury goods. Journal of Marketing, 82(6), 132-149.

Pitesa, M., & Thau, S. (2018). Resource scarcity, effort, and performance in physically demanding jobs: An evolutionary explanation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 103(3), 237.

Rogers, B. A., Sezer, O., & Klein, N. (2023). Too naïve to lead: When leaders fall for flatteryJournal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Schmidt, L., Tusche, A., Manoharan, N., Hutcherson, C., Hare, T., & Plassmann, H. (2018). Neuroanatomy of the vmPFC and dlPFC predicts individual differences in cognitive regulation during dietary self-control across regulation strategies. Journal of Neuroscience, 38(25), 5799-5806.

Walters, D. J., & Fernbach, P. M. (2021). Investor memory of past performance is positively biased and predicts overconfidenceProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences118(36), e2026680118.

 

Research projects at the lab are covered regularly in media outlets all over the world.

Future of Packaging, Pierre Chandon

Les métamorphoses de la voix, Jean-Julien Aucouturier

L'exactitude des messages ne suffit pas, Pierre Chandon

The food you buy really is shrinking, Pierre Chandon

L'anatomie de notre cerveau prédit nos choix alimentaires, Hilke Plassmann

Notre visage est marqué socialement par notre prénom, Anne-Laure Sellier

 

activity

The INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab brings together behavioural scientists in the multidisciplinary research of human behaviour. The lab is a shared asset for INSEAD, Sorbonne Université and HEC faculty members who run experimental research.

Download Activity Report 2021-2023

 

 

activty

 

 

Do you have any questions regarding the INSEAD-Sorbonne Université Behavioural Lab or the studies that are conducted? Are you wondering how to participate? Please feel free to consult our brochure for more information.

Download our information leaflet

 

Contact

Centre Multidisciplinaire des Sciences Comportementales
Sorbonne Université-INSEAD
6, rue Victor Cousin
75005 Paris
Tel: +33 1 43 25 26 55
Email: [email protected]

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