Clik here to view.
If You’re Given Three Wishes, Don’t Forget About Happiness
Money, power, and fame don’t make us happy, yet we spend much of our lives chasing after them. Success first, then happiness, we tell ourselves. But perhaps we’ve got it backwards. In his new book If...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Other People Influence You and Why That’s Ok
It’s Election Day and you weren’t planning to vote, but everyone at work is wearing an “I voted” sticker, so you decide to leave the office early to cast your ballot. On another occasion, you’re at...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gambling on the Dark Side of Nudges
If the maxim of nudges is “Keep it simple,” it has a counterpart for self-interested choice architects: Make it complex. Credit cards with low introductory rates and high late fees are marketed to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
It Isn’t a Replication Crisis. It’s a Replication Opportunity
Let me briefly explain what business and behavioral science have in common. They both do experiments. Apart from that, everything is slightly different. Business does not always perform experiments...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What’s in a Name? The Role of Expectations, and Reality, in Our Judgements
When Juliet muses that “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” she’s refusing to allow a name and its baggage to overrule her better judgment. What could be more romantic than refusing to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The False Promises of Green Materialism
Recently, I’ve been thinking about buying a new pair of shoes. I don’t need new shoes—the pairs I have don’t hurt my feet, aren’t broken, and are sturdy enough to last through Virginia’s comparatively...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Sight—Not Taste, Smell, or Touch—Became the Sense of the Supermarket
As I walked through the night market in Taipei, the smell of spices and grilled pork filled my nose. The colorful array of pineapples and mangoes caught my eye. It was loud, but not too loud. A...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Too Much of a Good Thing—Overly Positive Online Ratings—Makes for Difficult...
My girlfriend, Klára, considers herself something of a movie buff. For the most part this is a good thing. I have a trusted and reliable source for what to watch when it’s time to kick back. But there...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Customer Segmentation Needs a Behaviorally Informed Upgrade
In the 1970s, the clothing company Laura Ashley was the pinnacle of women’s fashion. Known for their instantly recognizable and classic feminine floral-print aesthetic, the retail giant had more than...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Magic of Knowing When to Use Concrete vs. Abstract Language
A few years ago, I was on the way to the airport when I got the text every traveler dreads: my flight had been canceled. I’d been on the road for a couple days, and was looking forward to getting...
View Article