Newsletter - November 2018

Behavioral Grooves continues to celebrate our one-year anniversary! Thank you everyone who has made this possible!

November Meetup: Kurt & Tim

Kurt and Tim travelled to San Francisco and New York City in October to attend two behavioral science conferences: The Behavioral Science and Marketing Summit and Behavioral Summit 2018. The November meetup will feature Kurt & Tim’s highlights reel from the two conferences. We met with the best-selling author of Influence, Robert Cialdini, PhD, renowned researcher and founder of the UK Behavioral Insights Team, Michael Hallsworth, PhD among many others. We also sat down for a podcast interview with Bloomberg TV personality, Barry Ritholtz. So much to share and so little time! Come for a meaningful discussion on the latest trends in behavioral sciences!

Kurt’s Reading Recommendation

We just did our top 10 Behavioral Science Books podcast (https://bit.ly/2P7Gh44) that reviews our top 10 books plus a few more. I’m going to not pull from there – but recommend a book by David Eagleman, called The Brain: the story of you. David is a world-renowned neuroscientist and the book overviews some of the new findings of brain research and how the brain works. This is fascinating for anyone who wants to understand human behavior better because he explains in an easy to understand manner the way in which our brain processes information, how synapses work, how the brain senses and interprets the outside world, how we decide and who is in control.

Tim’s Reading Recommendation

I’ve been burning through books as preparation for our podcast interviews. Kurt mentioned Annie Duke’s Thinking in Bets last month, and I want to reiterate what a great read it is. Also, Francesca Gino, PhD provides a very authentic and personal narrative in her book, Rebel Talent. It’s choked full of solid science and great stories from her own life on how behavioral science is virtually everywhere. Lastly, Caroline Webb’s best seller, How to Have a Good Day is a solid read with actionable tips on how to make your life happier on many levels.

Kurt’s Music

I have to admit; my music listening has been down the last month. First, I left my SleepPhones in NY (SleepPhones are what I listen to music with when I go to sleep). Second, I’ve been busy, and busy usually means that I forgo some of my pleasures in life (like listening to music)…anyway, I’ve been remiss. However, I will state that I was in a mood a few weeks ago and I needed some heavy, hard driving music to match the mood. I flipped on my Ministry and Nine Inch Nails stations on Pandora (sorry, Tim – I use Pandora). I rocked out and realized that no matter what was going on in my life, it couldn’t be nearly as bad as what these guys were going through!

Tim’s Music

I’ve been revisiting my comfort zone in the recent weeks. I grew up on Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young and their respective solo and other-band careers. Lately, I’ve been digging into the September 1974 concert at Wembley Stadium in London. At that time, stadium tours were just beginning. The logistics of sound reinforcement and travel were being pioneered at the time and even more remarkable was the remote recording technologies used during this concert. The CSNY tour ended in Minneapolis with a surprise backstage visit by Bob Dylan, who was about to record Blood on the Tracks at Sound 80 in Minneapolis that week. It was an epic time for great music and the Wembley Stadium concert was off the charts.

Podcasts

Available at iTunes and podbean, where we launch our podcasts from, are several new podcasts (please subscribe to the podcast to ensure you don’t miss any of them – we have a several more to be released in the upcoming weeks).

Caroline Webb, author of How to Have a Good Day: https://behavioralgrooves.podbean.com/e/caroline-webb-having-a-good-day/

Do you want to learn some behavioral science hacks that will help you have a better day? We did, so we interviewed Caroline whose book was an eye opener to understanding how simple mind shifts can vastly improve your life.

Kurt & Tim on the Top 10 best reads for behavioral science: https://behavioralgrooves.podbean.com/e/grooving-on-books-recommended-reading-for- behavioral-science-enthusiasts/

Want to read up on behavioral science but don’t know where to start? Listen to this podcast to get our thoughts on the classics, our current top 10 and a few others thrown in for good measure.

We hope you enjoy them!

Behavioral Science Principles for November

Anthropomorphism or personification

The tendency to characterize animals, objects, and abstract concepts as possessing human-like traits, emotions, and intentions. Like, “I see a face in the clouds.” However, we never say, “I see clouds in your face.”

Choice overload

Also referred to as ‘overchoice’, the phenomenon of choice overload occurs as a result of too many choices being available to consumers. Choice overload may refer to either choice attributes or alternatives. The greater the number or complexity of choices offered, the more likely a consumer will apply heuristics. Overchoice has been associated with unhappiness (Schwartz, 2004), decision fatigue, going with the default option, as well as choice deferral—avoiding making a decision altogether, such as not buying a product (Iyengar & Lepper, 2000).

Fading affect bias

A bias in which the emotion associated with unpleasant memories fades more quickly than the emotion associated with positive events.