Month: November 2025

How emotions influence our decisions?

In the joint research project SCORES – Sustainable Choices in Online and Real-world Economic Stress, researchers investigate how emotions influence everyday purchasing decisions. By combining experience sampling with physiological measurement the project provides new insights into emotional regulation in sustainable consumption.

Background / Challenge

Sustainability doesn’t end with the product – it begins in the mind. But how do people make sustainable decisions when they are emotionally strained, for example during stressful online shopping situations? Until now, research has faced the challenge of capturing real-life decision-making with ecological validity, real-life decision-making with ecological validity,

The Joint Project SCORES

Title: Sustainable Choices in Online and Real-world Economic Stress: Enhancing Emotional Regulation
Duration: January 2025 – December 2026
Project Leads:
• Philipps University of Marburg – Prof. Dr. Dr. Martin Peper
• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – PD Dr. Dipl.-Psych. Simone Nadine Löffler
Funding:Federal Ministry of Justice and Consumer Protection (BMJV)

The project investigates the emotional and physiological mechanisms that influence sustainable consumption decisions. It examines stress, emotion regulation, and self-reflection in real-life everyday contexts.
SCORES project information

Solution / Technology Used

To record emotions, self-reports, contextual factors, and behavior in everyday situations simultaneously, the research team uses:
• the experience sampling platform movisensXS,
• combined with EcgMove 4 sensors for measuring heart rate (ECG) and movement.
A key component is the Additional Heart Rate Trigger Algorithm (AHR), which runs on the movisensXS app. The sensor continuously transmits preprocessed heart rate and movement data via Bluetooth to the app. The algorithm analyzes whether an increase in heart rate is due to mental or emotionale strain and triggers targeted experience-sampling prompts in real time.
Sensor-triggering with movisensXS

Methodology / Implementation Details

The project combines laboratory and field approaches: • In the lab, emotional reactions to consumer situations are recorded under standardized conditions.
• In everyday life, movisensXS and EcgMove 4 provide continuous data on heart rate, movement, and mood.
• When the AHR algorithm detects emotional activation, a situational self-assessment prompt is triggered in the app.
The result: high-resolution, ecologically valid data on the interplay between emotion, behavior, and physiological response.

Technical Background: Additional Heart Rate Trigger Algorithm (AHR)

The AHR algorithm detects when an increase in heart rate is not caused by physical activity but by mental or emotional strain – the so-called non-metabolic or additional heart rate component.
The movisensXS app continuously analyzes heart rate and movement intensity. If heart rate rises more than can be explained by movement, the app triggers an AHR-event and automatically starts an experience sampling prompt.
The algorithm builds on the work of Myrtek et al. (1988; 2001) on detecting emotional ECG changes and has been optimized for mobile applications. Combined with the EcgMove 4 sensors and the movisensXS platform, it enables precise linkage between physiological data and subjective experience in daily life.
AHR-Trigger-Algorithmus

Results and Significance

Using the AHR trigger, the research team can identify emotional reactions with precise timing and record them directly in real-world contexts. For the first time, emotional strain, stress, and decision-making behavior can be linked in real time – creating a foundation for evidence-based recommendations in consumer protection and sustainable consumption.

Conclusion & Outlook

The SCORES project demonstrates how mobile sensing and experience sampling can elevate everyday research to a new level: scientifically precise, ecologically valid, and practically applicable. By employing the AHR algorithm, researchers can explore emotional processes in sustainable decision-making.
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