Tag Archives: marketing

Spoiler Alert — Vanity Sizing: How what you don’t, err, didn’t know is making you happy

Posted on November 18, 2012 by Kerry

I can say without hesitation (but with considerable vanity) that I wear the same size clothes now as I did 20 years ago. I’ve always fit quite well into jeans with a 31” waist. It was that way in college … Continue reading →

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The self-enhancement bias: Or, how I ended up with the Slap Chop

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Kerry

Recently, a friend of mine was asked how tall he was. He quickly replied, Do you mean in person or online? He was joking of course, but the joke is funny because we all know that people tend to, well… … Continue reading →

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She’s not looking at you: What really inspires a woman to go shopping

Posted on September 14, 2012 by Kerry

Recently, I have discussed research demonstrating that when men engage in conspicuous consumption, such as buying an expensive sports car, they are often doing so in order to signal to potential mates that they are good mate bait. Not only … Continue reading →

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Do Chick-magnets really work? Corvettes, Testosterone & Peahens

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Kerry

We all know the cliché of the middle-aged man who responds to a “mid-life crisis” by buying a Corvette. Other cultures and times have their own versions of the Corvette, but the principle appears to be universal: when men feel … Continue reading →

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On the Lego, err… IKEA Effect, or: Mom, Dad. Look What I did!

Posted on August 19, 2012 by Kerry

I don’t know about you, but as a kid I loved playing with Legos. I never distinguished myself as a budding architect, and in those days, the suite of Lego building solutions wasn’t nearly as extensive as it is today. … Continue reading →

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Commas and Cents: Why $1,999.00 is More Than $1999

Posted on August 12, 2012 by Kerry

Try this at home… read the following numbers aloud: 1900 1,900 Notice anything funny? If you are like most people, you read the comma-less 1900 as “nineteen-hundred” and the comma’d 1,900 as “one thousand nine-hundred.” Also, notice that the first (1900) … Continue reading →

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En Fuego: How “Clumpy” Fruit Influences Sports (and Stock Market) Gambling

Posted on July 22, 2012 by Kerry

Evolution favored a tendency to expect “clumps” of resources. The cave man who stumbled upon a small bush with berries in it, then scoured the area nearby for more such bushes, would have fared better than his neighbor who saw the bush, ate what it offered, then moved on without looking for more of the same. As a result, we see hot streaks and perceive momentum where there are really just random occurrences of one outcome or another — like flipping a coin 1,000 times and getting occasional long “streaks” of either heads or tails. Continue reading →

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Why A Bird in My Hand is Worth Two Anywhere Else

Posted on July 13, 2012 by Kerry

Our natural inclination is to value what we already have more highly than others would. When considering whether it is worth hanging on to that stock, or whether we should accept a price for our used car, try to step back and consider the thing more objectively. Ask yourself how you would establish the value of that item if you encountered it for the first time. You might make a better decision. Continue reading →

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It’s a boy! On The Developmental Biology of Your… Car?

Posted on July 4, 2012 by Kerry

One of Volkswagen’s promotional billboards for the latest version of their popular Beetle proclaimed, “It’s a boy!” in reference to the new styling the car sported for 2012. That would seem to suggest that perhaps the model prior to 2012 … Continue reading →

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Persuasion

Posted on July 1, 2012 by Kerry

Last week’s blog entry described a series of studies conducted by Professor Robert Cialdini and colleagues, which demonstrated one of the means by which we are persuaded. Professor Cialdini’s work also illuminated a variety of other means by which we … Continue reading →

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