The Anchoring Effect Read online Let's start with an experiment. Consider the following two calculations and attempt to guess the answer. Don't use a calculator, take 10 seconds, and make your guess. 1 x 2 x 3 x 4 x 5 x 6 x 7 x 8 = ? 8 x 7 x 6 x 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1 = ? What did you guess? Were your guesses different? The average guess for the first sum is 512, for the second it's 2,250 (4x higher). Many of you will have figured out that the actual answer is exactly the same. It's 40,320 for...

The Psychology Of Smell Read online I've got a shameful secret. My mouth salivates when I walk past Subway. I know the food is dire, the lettuce is plastic, and the bread is like a sponge. Yet I can't help but feel an urge to go in. After reading Consumerology¹, I think I've learnt why. The Psychology of Smell You'll smell a Subway before you see it. The yeasty, sweet, toasty smell is pumped out onto the street. And I think it's on purpose. Just looking at this image reminds me of the smell....

Losses Feel Worse Than Gains Read online Kahneman proved that "𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘢𝘴 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴". So, Nationwide don't say:❌ "We've kept our Holloway store open. So you can keep banking in-person."They say:✅ "Santander is leaving Holloway. Maybe it's time you left Santander." It's the best ad I've seen in weeks because it concretely applies behavioural science. Highlighting what a customer will lose is often more persuasive¹ than highlighting what they'll gain. Richard...