Award Winning Blog - Agitator

My Choice or Yours?

When was the last time you felt good about being lightly manipulated or guilted into something? Probably never. Behavioral economics 101 emphasizes the power of defaults in steering behavior. Just check the box, circle, or highlight the option you want people to choose, and place it in the middle. These defaults are better described as […]

Learn More May 29, 2024

Memorial Day 2024

MOURN. REMEMBER.

Learn More May 27, 2024

Slow Down & Speed Up Interest

You ever watched paint dry? How about a high-speed car chase? It turns out slowing down video can make it better but only if the scene is sufficiently fast or complex. And the slowing down accentuates the affect in both directions – positive/negative videos get judged more positively/negatively. A child or animal running with joy […]

Learn More May 24, 2024

Substitute Donor For Panelist

Online survey research companies build panels of millions of consumers willing to participate in periodic survey research. They are paid to do so but research shows they also do so out of goodwill. These panel companies are analogous to charities with major acquisition costs and retention issues galore. Plus, these panel companies use email solicitations […]

Learn More May 22, 2024

We Choose Words, Our Words Reveal Us

Policymakers rely on academic economists to “follow the science” and objectively model out how X impacts Y. For gosh sakes, they use formal modeling methodologies and other quantitative analysis, all peer reviewed. In the larger political swamp surely these creatures are the more objective, non-partisan ones. Alas, no. In novel research published in the Economic […]

Learn More May 20, 2024

Everybody Wants Their Own Toothbrush

Psychologists have introduced thousands of new constructs and measures over the past few decades in their quest to understand human behavior. Check that, it seems to have nothing to do with understanding human behavior, which is, in theory, their job. Instead, it appears to be the confluence of publisher bias for novelty and everybody wanting […]

Learn More May 17, 2024