The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral Economics

I’m so excited to finally talk to you about my study on behavioral economics and increasing savings rates. In my master’s program, I was required to do my own study and submit it to at least one location for publication. I already had a relationship with the Filene Research Institute, so I decided to reach out to them before choosing the focus of my project. Their top choices were helping people save money and increase loyalty. A group of researchers from Duke University did an experiment in Kenya to try and find ways to increase savings. After six months, the surprising results were that a using a gold coin to mark off weeks of savings outranked sentimental reminders and matching funds. I loved these findings and wanted to see if this could be replicated if modified for the US. My white paper is now published, and I finally get to talk about the study and share it with you. I was privileged to have a conversation with Dan Ariely which helped me narrow down my three main concepts for the study which are time discounting, reciprocity, and a physical manifestation of savings. I hope you enjoy the results. Before I begin, I also want to remind you that the Brainy Pricing Course is now live. This 10-module course will walk you through mindset, priming (and finding your scent of the cookies), framing, anchoring, and relativity for pricing as well as knowing your numbers, notes on discounts and how to raise prices. Brainy Courses are a little different because they include a workshop component. Here’s all of the info along with money saving discount codes.  Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [06:19] Publication wasn't a requirement for graduation, the study just needed to be submitted. [07:27] The study done in Kenya on savings behavior stuck with me. [08:17] The gold coin was the condition that did the best. It even did better on its own than when paired with matching funds. [08:32] Finding a way to encourage saving without matching funds is like the holy grail. [09:05] I was interested to see how this would translate in the United States. [09:20] Problem number one was replicating the gold coin in the US. [09:53] The coin was a constant reminder to save. This needed to be replicated at least in premise. [11:17] The three main concepts I wanted to focus on were time discounting, reciprocity, and a physical manifestation of saving. [12:02] We started with 240 members, who were narrowed down based on a few factors, including age, income, and time with the credit union.  [12:36] Filene requested we look at loyalty scores as well. [12:48] One item we used to narrow down the list was if they had completed a Net Promoter Score survey in the six months or so before the study began. [13:41] The 240 members were randomly assigned to one of three groups. The control group received no communication at all.  [15:05] We tracked savings until the Monday before Black Friday so we wouldn’t end up with totally skewed numbers when people went shopping after Thanksgiving. [15:29] I also had the previous year's data for comparison. [16:31] It was decided to not have the members precommit to wanting to save or sign up for a program. [17:50] Two of the groups groups received communication from the credit union talking about the importance of saving and this new information they found on helping people to save. (The other group was control.) [18:29] About a week before the planned study, the two non control groups received a letter with very similar text. One group also received a refrigerator magnet. [21:23] The magnet group’s letter also had an image of the magnet in the corner. All envelopes were the same. [21:44] After 12 weeks, the 160 individuals all received an email reminding them of the importance of saving, and letting them know it was never too late to start or pick up where they left off. [21:52] And after the 24 weeks were over, they received an email thanking them for participating, encouraging continued saving, and everyone – all 240 members – received an email with an NPS survey to see if the loyalty numbers were different after 24 weeks. [22:55] Making the future self more tangible today is important in combating time discounting. [24:15] Even though I was only using three main concepts, these others still had to be considered and incorporated for the best chances of adoption. [24:53] The hypotheses of the study were that the magnet group would save more than either of the other two groups and that the magnet group would have a higher increase in loyalty score than the other two groups. [26:14] Physical representation is the magnet itself, which was specifically designed to be a reminder of money and savings. The letter only group was encouraged to make their own note and place it somewhere to be a reminder of savings and goals. [26:37] Time discounting is represented in the verbiage on the magnet, “I care about my future self” and that same verbiage was included in the letters and emails for both groups. [26:50]  Reciprocity was in both the “gift” of the magnet, which was called out specifically in the language on the letter for that group, and the less physical gift of tips to save money and have a happier, more financially secure life. [28:22] The hypotheses were that the magnet group would save more and have a bigger change in their loyalty scores over the 24 weeks. And they did! [29:16] The control group savings went up 1.42%. The letter only group went up by 1.35%. The magnet group went up by 4.51%. [30:07] The most significant jump in loyalty score was by the magnet group. They went up to 9.2. [30:49] The main thing to learn from this study is that the magnet group went up in both categories, and while we cannot say with 100% certainty it is because of the nudges, there aren’t any other explanations that readily explain what else might have happened. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 63. How To Set Up Your Own Experiments Episode 64. How To Make Concepts Tangible Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Can Behavioral Economics Increase Savings and Member Loyalty? PDF to the Study How to Help the Poor to Save a Bit: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Kenya Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Point West Credit Union What Is Net Promoter? Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding Episode 31. Mirror Neurons Episode 61. Color Theory Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Texas A&M Human Behavior Lab The Chicago School of Professional Psychology

The physical representation of concepts is an important tool to use in your business. Things like colors and shapes can be recalled by our brains and associated with other non related things. This topic is really an amalgamation of other concepts, but it’s still a valuable tool to understand and use when communicating about your business. This episode gives examples of making concepts tangible, and their practical applications in business.  This topic is the last main concept from my research paper that I announced last week. I also gave tips on running experiments like: keep it small, be thoughtful, and test often. I am super excited about next week, because I’ll finally be sharing my study on on increasing savings behavior and its results.  And...speaking of exciting, the Brainy Pricing Course goes live Monday, September 9! Learn all about it and save with special discount codes below: Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF  Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:59] This isn't really a topic you can easily look up. It's more of an accepted premise. The physical representation of concepts is an amalgamation of various other concepts. [05:35] The brain works on associations.  [07:47] Colors and shapes bring a physical presence that can be recalled easier than words. Your brain has been trained to recognize this physical representation of the concept of street signs (as explained here). [08:56] Logos are physical representations of the concept of a business. [09:27] The physical manifestation of the brand makes the business more real in your mind because there is a logo to relate to. [10:21] This is not exactly the same as anthropomorphism, which is when animals or objects are given human-like tendencies; it can be a similar concept because it helps you relate to the item in question. [10:52] Abstract concepts are everywhere in business, and they can easily cause miscommunication in conversations or messaging. Providing a physical reference point makes everything feel more real.  [15:16] I did not want to get rid of my DVDs during a decluttering session. The reason why was because the physical, tangible, representation – the box and the item itself – was tied to my emotional center and triggered loss aversion. [16:06] Where could you inject physical form we're only concepts exist in your business today? [16:48] How Progressive took the concept of insurance and made it tangible. [18:41] When you take something from conceptual to tangible, it makes it easier for the brain to categorize, relate, and remember. [19:19] Pictures, logos, and icons make your business and its features feel real. [19:29] Physical representation can help remind you of associations that you have made previously or that are important to you. [19:56] Physical items are a constant reminder to your brain. [21:57] You can make physical items that remind people of your business without having your name plastered all over them, that will be subtle reminders of you and your business. [22:04] A strong brand is able to live through the lack of words and evoke feelings – they leave an impression even without their name. [23:31] What could your business do to be a constant association and reminder in the brains of your customers? [25:01] I share a credit union concept where the idea of using logos on items could have gone very wrong. Keep in mind that small associations matter. [25:53] For your business, consider the emotions you want to convey – the things you want people to think when they consider your brand. Or, when they might be most likely to need your brand. What can you provide that will help them and remind them of you? [27:10] You can also create visuals around what you want to do to help achieve your goals. What you surround yourself with has a HUGE impact on your approach to life, business and your success. This is priming in action. [27:32] I want to help you surround yourself with the right physical representation of the concepts you care about to help you be successful. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 62. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Game Theory Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Pricing Course Workshop Bundle Save $100 with code BRAINY100OFF Pricing Course Only Save $50 with code BRAINY50OFF Master Your Mindset Free Course Getting to the Top of Mind: How Reminders Increase Saving 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Progressive TV Commercial For Name Your Price Tool Progressive TV Commercial 'The Box' Jogger Commercial | Allstate Mayhem Episode 12. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Relativity The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Twitter The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube Episode 61. Color Theory Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming

Testing and experimenting is one of the best ways to find what works best for your business. This week we are talking about the benefit of experiments and some of my tips for how to do this on your own in your business, as not every experiment requires hiring a consultant to come in and run a big study. If you have been listening to the podcast for a while you probably remember me mentioning a few times that I have a research paper coming “soon” based on a project I did on behalf of the Filene Research Institute and a credit union in Portland, Oregon. I am so excited that I have approved the (potentially) final draft and that should be published any day now!  There will be a dedicated episode talking about the research in two weeks, but I wanted to give some tips about experimenting first, because it truly is so important for every organization to test things. Next week is an episode on the physical representation of concepts, which is the only main concept in the study I have not yet covered on the podcast. Then on September 13th, I’ll share all the details and findings of my research study. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:08] Experimenting is important for any organization. You have probably done experiments and not even realized it. [05:30] Good experiments need to be narrow and focused, because if you test too many things at once you won't know what contributed to the result. [07:09] I share a story about how I needed to continue to narrow down a research paper topic.  [08:16] The study found that advertisements for low cognition products were twice as likely to be standardized as high cognition products. Ads using pictures were more than twice as likely to be standardized as those using text. [09:08] There were so many variables and items cross referenced just for a study that looked at one month of magazine ads. [09:59] The study I ended up with, which felt incredibly small to me at the time, was actually a huge undertaking - it was a true experiment. [10:16] When there is a lot weighing on the outcome of the experiment, it's a good idea to bring in experts. There are also tests you can do on your own fairly easily, which can still have a great impact on your business. [10:41] You can be more agile and adapt quickly with small tests. [10:56] The three things to keep in mind when setting up experiments are to be thoughtful, keep it small, and test as often as you can. [11:14] Keeping it small allows you to do the test on your own and understand what contributed to the results you are seeing. [11:55] To determine what is best, separate everything into multiple mini-tests. [12:53] Make one small change and track what the results are, so you'll be learning every step of the way. [14:44] One of the studies I share the most often is the one with the end cap displays for Snickers bars. This used anchoring and adjustment and found when they said “buy 18 for your freezer” there was a 38% increase in sales. [15:36] Behavioral economics shows us that hunches about what customers will do are often wrong, because they are based on logic, not the rules of the subconscious brain. This is why everything needs to be tracked. [16:01] Some other things you could test would be how your ads (or emails or direct mailers or website pages) do when you change a number frame. You can also do tests on blog post headers, or copy on social media posts, and images you use on ads. [17:04] The second important way to focus your attention is to be thoughtful. Being thoughtful means looking outside of what you always do or what you “know” to be true. [17:45] Behavioral economics teaches that humans do not always act “rationally” or with much forethought. Take the time to plan before you jump into a test, or start testing absolutely everything. [18:45] Instead of testing everything, just test the right things. Know the problem you are trying to solve and narrow your focus. [19:15] Anything can be worth testing, but everything can be a waste of time if you don’t have a clear focus and goal. [19:36] If your company is about driving value, then all your tests should be about creating more value for your customers. [20:16] Focus on items that are driving revenue and value to your company. [21:01] The results of one test will not necessarily hold true in every situation or for every business. This is called generalizability or being generalizable - while it matters in most academic studies, it isn’t as important if you are testing for your own business (because if the results don’t apply to your competitor...who cares?) [22:05] It's also important to know whether the data you are collecting is qualitative or quantitative. Conversations with people are qualitative, number of clicks are quantitative. [24:00] If you know you will want to dig into demographics and other details, you probably need to build that into your data pull up front. Think and talk through what you actually want to know. [24:35] My final tip is to test early and often. [25:24] Small tests let you act quickly, so the more you test, the more you learn. No results still tells you something important. [26:25] Findings tell you what attracts attention or what matters to your customers, but non-findings tell you what they don’t pay attention to or care about. Remember to keep it small, be thoughtful, and test often. Remember - The Brainy Business now offers courses! Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Filene The CUInsight Experience podcast: Melina Palmer – Seeking answers (#34) Episode 4. Questions or Answers Behavioral Economics and Business 048 How Applying Behavioral Economics Can Benefit Your Business, With Melina Palmer of Brainy Business Podcast Bam Success Summit Conference Your Sales Maven Association for Consumer Research Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment 1 Word That Increased Sales by 38% Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Qualitative vs Quantitative

If you’ve been listening to the podcast for a while, you already know that humans aren’t rational (and, honestly, you probably know that just from being a human person too). And the base of economic theory would often incorrectly predict behavior because it assumes logical people making rational choices.  Because humans do not behave this way in practice, new theories needed to be developed which accounted for these irrational choices. And in game theory, it is exactly the same. We humans don’t always make choices that are fully rational. We try to game the system or play the odds. This episode is all about game theory and how it can help your business. We will dig into three basic games: the dictator game, the ultimatum game and the prisoner’s dilemma.  And if you haven’t checked out last week's episode, it was all about color theory and what really matters when using colors in your business and your brand.  CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [03:21] If you're wondering, Game Theory actually has a lot to do with business. [03:41] Humans aren't rational. Basic economic theory would predict behavior incorrectly, because it would assume logical people are making rational decisions. [03:45] Since humans aren't rational, new theories needed to be developed. [05:06] Downton Abbey and Survivor are great examples of game theory in action. [05:22] In behavioral game theory, we need to consider how revenge, fairness and personal gain all play into the outcomes. Three main games that are often used in game theory are the ultimatum game, the prisoner’s dilemma, and the dictator game. [05:38] We start with the dictator game. What it is and how different scenarios can impact your behavior or decision.  [08:38] The ultimatum game is similar, but the second person has an option to respond to the offer. If they reject, both get nothing. [10:18] History has a lot to play in the actions people take, and existing relationships help determine actions. [11:04] The human component – knowing you are playing against a person who is profiting from your situation – has a big impact on the way people respond. [11:57] Think about how the anchor shifts when you have power versus when you don’t. [12:33] It's important to understand who has what power in each situation when you determine what to offer and think about how they might react. [13:11] Even when money is not changing hands, the process of buying and selling is exactly the same. Other items of value can be bartered. The way people react changes based on the power or belief they have. [13:22] This is worth considering as you put offers out to people and are wondering how they may respond or act. Are you putting power in their hands that makes a generous offer seem stingy? [14:02] In your business, you aren’t limited to the lab style test – your clients know who you are and what you are offering them. [15:29] If you give something, people want to give back (reciprocity). [16:10] The last game is the prisoner's dilemma.  [17:41] The shifting anchor impacts the position someone takes. Saying something may feel like a win win (even though it often isn’t).  [19:57] The best overall strategy for the extended prisoner's dilemma is a tit-for-tat strategy in which you cooperate until someone defects then you respond in kind. [21:41] Most of us would likely plan to play fair. Do you expect the same kindness and fairness in others? How does the story you tell yourself about what they think influence your actions? How would your strategy be influenced by the look of the person?  [22:48] Game theory applies in all sorts of business situations. Obviously, this applies in negotiations with potential partners. [23:37] Humans are emotional, and it is not just in the after-the-fact stuff...the thoughts and “what ifs” before a negotiation starts can always influence actions much more than we may think. [23:57] Always have written contracts and agreements. [24:19] Negotiating terms in a cold state is so much better than not doing your due diligence. [24:38] Another example of how this impacts business is in advertising. [26:21] There are countless examples of game theory – it is truly all around us all the time. Pretty much any time you interact with another person or business or entity, game theory comes into play. [27:21] Buying in at the bottom of a recession is game theory in action. It’s all based on what you expect other people will do and how you choose to react to it – before and after the fact. [29:47] The YouTube example of United Breaks Guitars which is the ultimate customer revenge.  [32:15] When emotions take hold, it can cause people to make bad decisions that they may regret in the long run, so try and get some distance and perspective before acting…especially if you feel really betrayed and angry. [32:49] Perspective lets you look at the game in a whole different way and play by the real rules. [33:15] The last point I want to make is this: when it comes to games, many people are playing not to lose, instead of playing to win. [33:47] When you play to win – in games, life or business – you know it is a long game and have a calmer approach. You understand the rules backward and forward. This is much more effective than playing not to lose. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 61. Color Theory Take a Peek into Your Buyer's Behavior with Melina Palmer of The Brainy Business The Prisoner's Dilemma Behavioral Game Theory The Ultimatum Game- Are people rational? The Dictator Game The Psychology of Revenge (and Vengeful People) An Experimental Analysis of Ultimatum Bargaining Behavioral Game Theory: Plausible Formal Models That Predict Accurately (Behavioral) Game theory Episode 11. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Anchoring and Adjustment Episode 7. Change Management (It’s Still Not About The Cookie) Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 8. What is Value? Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Episode 23. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Reciprocity The Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma and The Evolution of Cooperation Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories Episode 46. Biases Toward Others – Including Groups Toms Warby Parker United Breaks Guitars

Last week we talked about how to surprise and delight customers, as well as the difference between satisfaction and delight and its impact on loyalty and profits. I also wrote an article that went live on Inc.com this week titled “Want to build brand loyalty? Surprise your customers—literally.”  ALSO: The presale for the Brainy Course on pricing is now live. Lock in your discount.  You’ve probably heard the basics of color theory before – that certain colors link to certain feelings or emotions in people, and so some colors are better than others for brands. There are tons of color charts out there. I’ve even linked to a few. I’ll give you the general associations in this episode, but I’m also going to explain what really matters when it comes to using colors in your branding – the common mistakes and the most important things to keep in mind. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:01] GENERAL COLOR MEANINGS [05:03] Red: is full of excitement and said to be youthful and bold. It is also said to make people hungry or angry, and is associated with stopping. [05:45] Orange: is said to be cheerful and have confidence. It is also fun, whimsical, childlike, friendly, spontaneous, glowing, hot, and persuasive. [06:16] Yellow: has optimism, clarity and warmth. It is also joyful, illuminating, nourishing, sunny, sweet, stimulating, innovative, energetic, hot, surprising, or can bring awareness. [06:50] Green: is said to be peaceful and associated with growth and health. It can also be calm, quiet, fresh, lush, soothing, renewal, balance, life, and fertility. [07:43] Blue: is associated with trust, dependability and strength. Some other words (again, depending on the shade) can be calm, quiet, water, clean, peaceful, reassuring, serene, transcendent, open, sophisticated, confident, tasteful, cool, credible, authoritative, classic, traditional, nautical, or professional. [08:42] Purple: is associated with creativity, imagination and wisdom. It can also be romantic, thoughtful, nostalgic, thrilling, dramatic, regal, intuitive, mysterious or visionary. [09:19] Pink: ranges from vibrant, flirtatious, attention-getting and high energy to soft, subtle, romantic, compassionate, delicate, innocent, fragile or youthful. [10:08] Grey and other neutrals: are bringing balance and calm. It is also classic, corporate, timeless, quiet, logical, reserved, basic, modest, efficient, accountable, staunch, professional, sleek, classy, mature, sophisticated, and methodical. [10:50] Brown: is earthy, rugged, outdoor, rustic and woodsy, but as you change the shade to chocolate it could be delicious, rich, robust or appetizing. [11:28] Black: is powerful, empowering, elegant, sophisticated, mysterious, bold, classic, strong, expensive, nighttime, stylish, or prestigious. [12:12] White: is positive, pure, clean, innocent, simple, airy, bright, pristine, or bridal, but it can also be seen as sterile, cold and clinical. [13:09] COMMON MISTAKES [13:11] Colors have tons of associations and meanings, and often opposite associations depending on the shade or context. [14:02] GENDER PREFERENCES [14:13] Gender does have different impacts on preference for colors, which can be important for brands. [16:06] Blue and green are universally predominant favorite colors. Orange and brown are least favorite for both genders. Purple is gender polarizing.  [16:27] BEYOND GENDER In some cultures, white is bridal, pure and innocent, but it is a funeral color for others. Black can be sophisticated or menacing. Red can be aggressive or mean luck. [19:33] THINK ABOUT BRAIN ASSOCIATIONS The associations absolutely do matter, and studies have found that appropriateness of the color to the brand persona matter quite a bit. [20:18] Think about how all the context triggers come together to support or contradict the color used in your brand, logo or other aspects of your marketing. [20:41] When people are not already familiar with a brand, the common emotions tied with the color of the logo make a big difference in the way they interpret the brand. [21:13] When starting your brand be aware of the associations with color and the emotions those colors bring up. Knowing the color associations can also help you go against the traditional theory if that is your strategy.  [23:00] When it comes to the way a designer or someone working with colors would explain the type of color, there are three important items: hue, value, and chroma. [23:51] The hue is the color itself. Purple, red, and green are all hues. [24:14] Value shows us how light or dark a color is – the level of brightness. [24:18] Chroma is the saturation of color or its vividness. [26:00] Google tested to find the perfect blue for its links.  [27:13] There are ways to use color in your business, beyond brand associations and color choice. [28:28] The thing that is most important when it comes to calls to action is to have a lot of contrast. This is known as the isolation effect or the Von Restorff effect. [29:39] You want to pick your colors based on congruency to your message and the personality, as well as the market you are targeting. [30:03] Go with contrast when picking secondary or tertiary buttons and links, so they stand out. [30:22] Know what your competitors use so you can stand out.  [31:26] Fight the urge of your herding brain and be different from the competition. [32:05] Trendy colors generally aren’t good for brands, but they can be great for for special editions etc.  [32:56] For physical items, keep in mind what your competitors are using and find colors that help you stand out on the shelf. [35:31] Color is incredibly important for brands to understand and consider when creating their materials. With a little bit of thought and consideration, you can absolutely use color to your business’ advantage. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 60. Surprise and Delight Want to Build Brand Loyalty? Surprise Your Customers--Literally The Psychology of Color The Psychology and Meaning of Colors Color Psychology: How Color Meanings Affect Your Brand When Did Girls Start Wearing Pink? The Psychology of Color in Marketing and Branding Colour Assignment There's Evidence Humans Didn't Actually See Blue Until Modern Times Exciting Red and Competent Blue: The Importance of Color in Marketing Current Research Development Impact of Color on Marketing The Interactive Effects of Colors and Products on Perceptions of Brand Logo Appropriateness Color Psychology Why Google Has 200m Reasons to Put Engineers Over Designers Which Button Color Converts the Best? 10 Proven Ways to Build a Website that Customers Will Love Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

First off – welcome to episode 60! How exciting – I love hitting milestones and I am excited to celebrate this one with a fun episode on surprising and delighting customers and how that differs from satisfaction. Last week we talked about the pain of paying and how it can impact the way people spend with you. It is quite possibly one of my favorite episodes to date – I really enjoyed digging through the research on that one, and I think the most telling study for you was the AOL example.  Special Announcement: The first online course from The Brainy Business is going live on September 9, and there is a one week presale starting this coming Monday, August 12! A lot of businesses are competing for your ideal customer. Plus, those same customers are becoming more selective and are more aware than ever of the many options they have. These days, it’s not enough to just get the job done or to do an ok job. If you really want to build true customer loyalty and customer engagement, you’ll need to surprise and delight your customers. This is how your business can build a loyal following and increase profits. In this episode I talk about how to do exactly that. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [06:26] Many people assume there is a linear relationship between dissatisfaction, satisfaction and delight, but it doesn’t really work that way. Satisfaction is not the opposite of dissatisfaction, and vice a versa. [07:08] The scale of customer experience actually goes from outrage, to dissatisfaction to satisfaction to delight. [07:29] When you have a surprising positive experience, it results in delight. An unexpected, surprising negative experience? That is when outrage comes into play. [08:25] In a business, you have to be aware of these all the time, including your overall experience for everyone as well as for each individual customer. Ideally, you are living in “satisfied” territory most of the time, with a few “delights” popping up here and there. [08:57] Delight is much more likely to drive loyalty than mere satisfaction, and there is a lot of research that shows loyalty is positively linked to profits and stock market price. [09:45] Once a customer becomes satisfied, they have achieved pretty much whatever level of loyalty they are going to have, but the loyalty score shoots up when delight is introduced. [12:27] Delightful experiences are much more likely to hit the emotional center of the brain and be much more likely to be remembered. This also holds true for the mirror of delight which is outrage. [13:23] One heavily cited study estimates that a 5% increase in loyalty from customers can increase profit anywhere from 25% to 85%! [14:13] Delighted and loyal customers can have a lifetime value equal to 11 “regular” customers. [14:31] Loyalty can also result in lower costs in advertising, branding and acquisition, as well as higher revenues per transaction or per customer, lower defection rates, plus an increase in brand equity. [15:22] There's no standard scale for measuring delight.  [17:08] Satisfaction is more of a cognitive process. Delight and outrage are more emotional. [20:25] The reason the Ed Sheeran Edchup promotion works is because fans know that it's authentic. Consumers can’t be expected to let you know what will delight them, because at its core they can’t be expecting them. [22:33] It's important to know your numbers, so you'll know in advance if the cost of delighting is worth it. [23:06] The next pitfall is the peril of ever-changing expectations. If the delights become standard, customers will expect them. The key to delight is surprise. [24:23] The last pitfall to be aware of is assuming that everyone has the same expectations. [26:41] Often, simply being courteous, showing empathy, and making an effort to understand the needs of the customer are enough to create a delightful experience. [29:41] Employee empowerment is still crucial in any business if you want to surprise and delight. [33:08] You can also provide unanticipated value. You can also provide novelty and entertainment – think of Disneyland or Disney World. [35:52] Reposition the business to focus on delivering solutions instead of products and services. [39:18] Seven organizational changes from the Berman paper to consider so you can better deliver delight: be aware of the need for organizational change to establish delight objectives; link customer delight to bottom-line benefits; look at world-class customer satisfaction criteria; listen to customers to ascertain what's important; empower employees so that they can go "the extra mile"; make measurement of customer delight and loyalty a priority; and link raises and bonuses to customer satisfaction scores. [41:30] Delight is not something you do one-off and hope for the best. It requires time and strategy. [43:13] If you are sending gifts to your clients and customers, don't do it in November or December, because people are expecting gifts at that time. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Melina@thebrainybusiness.com The Brainy Biz on Facebook @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Business w/Melina on Instagram Episode 59. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Pain of Paying How to Delight Your Customers Customer Delight: Foundations, Findings, and Managerial Insight Delight by Design: The Role of Hedonic versus Utilitarian Benefits Episode 48. An Overview of Memory Biases Ed Sheeran Launches Own Heinz Tomato ‘Edchup’ Ed Sheeran Edchup on Instagram Ed Sheeran on Instagram @teddysphotos Episode 42. Apple Card: A Behavioral Economics Analysis The Good, the Bad and the Beautiful of Employee Empowerment Turkey Talk Line Episode 19. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Herding

Buying things isn’t all fun and games – and the process of paying for things can actually cause pain for many people. In fact, neuroeconomics has found that when scanning subjects’ brains in an fMRI machine while they are going through the process of buying things, there is activity in the insula, which is a pain center in the brain. In many ways, it is just like physical pain, and the emotional pain can be very real. It doesn’t impact everyone on every single purchase, and there are some times when it is more impactful, and some people it is more impactful for. In many cases in business, you want to do what you can to reduce the pain of a payment so people are more likely to go through with a purchase, but there are times when it is important to keep those pains in place…I will give examples of these and what to do when the pain can’t be reduced.  In this episode, I will let you know how this concept works including twelve different conditions where it is most likely to occur, some unexpected mechanisms that can cause pain when you wouldn’t even realize it, and (of course) tips for how to use this concept to your benefit in any type of business.​ CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [04:08] The process of paying for things can actually cause pain for many people. [06:16] Context is incredibly important when it comes to the pain felt by making a payment.  [10:06] Paying and consuming have sort of a reciprocal relationship…because making a payment reduces the joy of consumption, but consumption reduces the pain of paying. [11:48] The way you talk about the price impacts the pain felt in paying more than the amount. Everything that comes before the price matters much more than the price itself. [12:42] The more a transaction is perceived as: fair, an investment, immediate, for the sake of another person, under one’s own control and has payment before consumption…the WEAKER the pain of paying. [13:45] When the pain of paying is too much – so that people do not buy things that they need or want because it is too difficult to give up money…they are called tightwads. Those who spend too much, too easily and do not feel an appropriate amount of pain before or during the spending process…we call them spendthrifts. [16:43] Tightwads and spendthrifts don't change their ways even when their income fluctuates. [19:45] Tightwads are most sensitive to framing adjustments, so that is where you can make a difference. Adding the word “small” before a fee, or framing the purchase as an investment made it so tightwads were more likely to buy and feel less pain in paying. [22:25] When people feel good about themselves (as when purchasing a virtuous product) there is less pain felt and associated with the payment across the board. [23:35] One of the big issues for spendthrifts is they do not account for or intuitively understand the opportunity cost in the moment when they are getting ready to buy or wanting to buy things. [25:38] Everyone will feel some sort of pain when paying. It is your job to figure out what the buyer needs, what would benefit them the most, and then present it to them in a way that will have the least pain felt. [27:27] Think about how people interpret what they are getting. Did they choose the circumstance or was it thrust upon them? If it was not their choice, are there some other areas where you can help them feel like they did make a choice? [31:14] When the pain of paying isn’t felt as much, it doesn’t impact the experience. [33:29] Loss aversion is a big contributing factor to having the meter running and the pain of paying. [36:30] Sometimes, people are willing to pay money to reduce the pain of lost time and they enjoy the experience more because it was their choice. [37:15] Consumption can reduce the pain felt by paying, but paying can reduce the joy felt during consumption. This is a concept called coupling. [39:56] Think about yourself as a consumer and how you would feel if you got the bill for your product or service after the fact. [40:43] Are there any points in your business where you could use coupons or tokens or chips or beads instead of cash? [41:28] The biggest thing is to make sure that people feel they are really gaining something when they spend money, and that it is not just being thrown away.  [43:11] Classifying your product or service as a gift really helps overcome the pain. [44:34] Reminder: the more a transaction is perceived as: fair, an investment, immediate, for the sake of another person, under one’s own control and has payment before consumption…the WEAKER the pain of paying. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting Episode 58. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Partitioning Abaneeta Chakraborty on Twitter Tightwads and Spendthrifts: An Interdisciplinary Review Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories The Pain of Paying Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 17. Unlocking the Power of Numbers The Pain of Paying by Dan Ariely The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt

Last week was the tribute to NASA in honor of the 50 year anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. In that episode I told you about the space race, the Cold War, and how that all boiled down into five tips your business can learn and implement from the success NASA saw during the 1960s. If you haven’t listened to it yet, give it a shot! Today, we are going to talk about partitioning, which I mentioned briefly in episode 56 on mental accounting. This is essentially about how the way things are offered or packaged can either encourage or discourage additional purchases and actions. I will let you know how this works both for physical products and service businesses, and how you can use this concept within your business. Show Notes: [04:09] Partitioning has shown us that when you put tiny barriers into place, it causes a consumer to consider their options and be presented with a new decision point. [04:46] If you are sitting in front of the TV with a giant, party-sized bag of Cheetos in front of you…how much will you eat? It's likely you will eat more than you intend even if you don't realize it. [05:30] When food items are partitioned into smaller containers, and you're required to take an action like grab another one out of the box, it creates a new decision point. The small transaction cost will drastically reduce the number of people who will go get a second serving. [06:26] An experiment was done with bottomless soup bowls. A group whose bowl kept refilling, without them knowing it, ate 73% more. [07:55] Have you ever found that putting less on your plate and having to go back for seconds caused you to eat less? [09:10] Decision making opportunities increase awareness and the amount of cognitive processing used. [10:31] One study found that once something became common – like a white partition between cookies – it no longer acted as a partitioning mechanism. [11:52] It isn’t just effort that matters, but drawing the attention of the conscious brain really matters too. [13:03] Partitioning and aversion impacts can also be seen in gambling. [13:49] A gambling study featuring partitioned envelopes showed that once an envelope was opened…all the coupons inside were likely going to be bet, but the number of envelopes significantly impacted the total amount gambled. [15:50] Gamblers will think of house money differently and keep cash or chips in different pockets while playing. They have instilled their own method of partitioning, even if they don’t realize it. [16:43] In another study, people with a higher aversion to gambling were significantly impacted by the partitions. [17:57] Partitioning money has also been found to help people save more or spend less. [18:45] The Shopping Momentum effect is where once you start the process of spending, you are more likely to spend again until you hit a partition. [20:32] What does this mean for your business? It's not only impactful on eating and spending, but other behaviors are impacted. It doesn't need to be a physical item that needs to be opened or unwrapped. Any cognitive interventions can trigger partitioning. [22:11] Having an AC that shuts off automatically and you have to walk over and turn back on is a nudge to use less energy. [25:03] Anticipated regret can force you to rethink a decision and possibly change your mind. [26:56] Questioning the price of a customer's purchase is a lose-lose situation where adding a partition is worse for everyone involved. [27:08] It's easy to talk people out of a sale, or make them feel bad about a purchase (or start to regret it) even when you are trying to be helpful. [27:24] If you keep asking someone, “are you sure?” you are creating unnecessary partitions and of course they are going to say, “I guess not” at some point. [28:00] Setting up targets or progress markers, on the other hand, can be great partitions for a business to set up to keep on the radar of their current, past or potential customers. [29:06] Removing partitions and obstacles can be great for businesses and customers alike. [30:08] Schedule a follow up call and get on their calendar RIGHT THEN at the event. I do this all the time thanks to the advice of Sales Maven Nikki Rausch, and it has made such a difference. [32:10] Every piece, whether it is an email or a Facebook ad or a direct mailer should be clear and concise. Can someone look and very quickly know what they are supposed to do? What the next step is? Simplify to eliminate steps. [33:49] The moral: make it easy for people to do business with you. Remove unnecessary partitions in the process and everyone will be happier. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 57. 5 Things Your Business Must Learn from NASA These 5 Leadership Strategies Enabled NASA's Impossible Moon Landing. They Matter Now More Than Ever Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting 14th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards The Effect of Partitions on Controlling Consumption Episode 52. Biases – Math is Hard Bottomless Bowls: Why Visual Cues of Portion Size May Influence Intake A top Cornell food researcher has had 15 studies retracted. That’s a lot. Episode 21. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Habits Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion The Shopping Momentum Effect Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 35. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Nudges and Choice Architecture Your Sales Maven The Selling Staircase: Mastering the Art of Relationship Selling

In honor of the 50 year anniversary of Neil Armstrong landing on the moon, we are going to talk about behavioral economics lessons you can learn from NASA! On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended onto the lunar surface and uttered those immortal words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." It’s hard to believe that was 50 years ago, and that – knowing what we know today about technology – that it was able to be done with the equipment they had available. Most anyone today would think it was impossible to have completed that feat in the 1960s. So the questions may arise – why then? Why the moon? Why did it matter so much? There are lots of lessons your business can learn from NASA during the space race. While your failures are likely not life or death situations and you may not be breaking world records at every turn, and this story unfolded half a century ago, I want to break down five areas where your business – no matter what industry you are in – can learn from the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo missions at NASA. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:40] On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong descended onto the lunar surface and uttered those immortal words, "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." [05:43] Most people today would think that would be an impossible feat with 1960s technology. [06:40] The cold war intensified as the Soviet Union launched Sputnik, the first satellite, into orbit in October 1957 – much to the shock of the United States. [07:19] This led to fear and essentially kicked off the space race. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (also known as NASA) was created in 1958. [07:47] Kennedy really ratcheted up excitement and budget for NASA. [07:59] In Kennedy's famous speech at Rice University, he mentioned that the budget and taxes would be increased to accommodate the new space program.  [08:24] Overall, the Apollo program cost nearly 20 billion dollars – a third of NASA’s budget for those 13 years, so public interest was important to keep funding around for the program. [08:42] Kennedy also does a great job of priming and framing throughout the speech, and playing on the past victories and pride of the US, Texas and the city of Houston. [09:17] In the moon speech, he did great work to motivate the audience and the general public about the importance of the program and to encourage them to get behind the initiative. [10:53] Kennedy drew a line in the sand that helped launch the program. He also helped to overcome some hurdles by saying we CHOOSE to go to the moon. [12:02] Acknowledging our mistakes and hinting that the Soviets had mistakes helped to instill confidence and combat the availability bias. [13:24] Kennedy also made the task ahead relatable to the audience. [14:35] Kennedy's speech was truly amazing and inspiring. Everybody should read /watch it. [14:57] There are a lot of lessons that your business can learn from NASA during the space race. [15:47] 1) Look for problems (and solutions) [16:31] It would be impossible to think of every possible issue that could come up, but it was critical to think through as many of these pieces as possible. [17:01] Using challenges as inspiration is in direct competition with a bias humans are susceptible to called functional fixedness. [17:23] There are times in your business when this natural bias in your brain is doing more damage than you realize. [19:00] When the astronauts needed to fix their CO2 scrubber, they were literally faced with fitting a square peg in a round hole. Flight director Gene Kranz famously said, "I don't care what anything was designed to do--I care about what it can do."  Those on the ground were inspired to overcome their natural tendency toward functional fixedness to create an ingenious hack to save the lives of the astronauts over 100,000 miles away. [19:12] It's important to think through problems before they come up. [20:05] 2) Test and Retest (But Know When to Move) [20:34] Simulations and trial runs were critical. [21:38] They still moved forward instead of suffering analysis paralysis. [21:51] Narrow down your focus to one or two important goals. Break your goal into small tasks and set up tests to ensure they can be done. [22:35] 3) Autonomy and Support [22:53] The teams were united working toward a common goal, but they were also given the autonomy they needed to solve problems. [23:44] The leadership mindset came from the top down. [25:26] I always told my teams that I would support them in any decision they made and let them know how delegation was a sign of my trust in and respect for them. [26:19] In your business, do you delegate enough and trust your team to take on and really own your big vision? Do they feel supported to look for new options and innovative paths for you? [27:01] 4) Visibility Makes a Difference [27:21] The moon landing made the impact it did because of videos and photos cataloging it every step of the way.  Mirror neurons allow us to experience what we are seeing. [28:23] Are you making your important projects visible enough to rally the troops? While not everything needs to be put on video, and not every little detail needs to be shared with everyone…there is a lot of power in transparency. [29:13] Where can you share more – either via video or other communications – to ensure big goals and projects are remembered? [29:27] 5) Word Choice Matters [29:58] No one told Neil Armstrong what to say, or asked him what his first words would be when he stepped onto the lunar surface. The words he chose perfectly captured the moment, [30:00] What he said was easy to remember, poignant, and succinct. [31:31] Gene Kranz had countless quotes including, "failure is not an option." [32:11] The lesson for you as a leader, and within your business is this: in the moment, it may feel like word choice isn't critical. You may think you can always clarify, but the subconscious brain is picking up on so many millions of bits of information. It would take many words to undo the damage of not saying something properly. [33:12] As you move up the ranks in an organization, the words you use in everyday conversations matter much more than you realize. [33:50] I encourage you to be thoughtful each and every time, because the words you choose in any conversation could be the difference between changing the world forever, and just another day. [34:12] RECAP: Think about the ripples and look for problems before they come up so you can plan for them…and always be working on innovative solutions.  Break your goal into smaller tasks, and test each step before you move forward on the final goal (but make sure you actually do move forward) Let your teams know you trust and support their decisions, and that delegation is an extension of your belief in them Make big, important projects as visible and transparent as possible Take the time to choose the right words, because they might be famous quotes attributed to you one day! Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 56. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Mental Accounting @BethAMcAuley on Twitter Your Awards and Accomplishments Don't Mean Anything to Your Customers Unless You Talk About Them in This Way Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing @thebrainybiz on Twitter The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube 14th Annual People's Choice Podcast Awards Apollo 1's Fatal Fire Almost Ended the Program | Apollo John F. Kennedy Moon Speech - Rice Stadium President Kennedy's Speech at Rice University Episode 18. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Priming ‘No university is more synonymous with NASA than Rice’ How The Cold War Launched The Space Race Episode 15: Behavioral Economics Foundations: Availability Episode 24. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Sense of Sight Episode 27. Behavioral Economics Foundations: The Sense of Hearing and Sound Episode 54. Biases Toward Novelty and Stories NASA History Overview Immunity to Functional Fixedness in Young Children NASA Johnson Space Center Oral History Project Edited Oral History Transcript This is the actual hack that saved the astronauts of the Apollo XIII Lessons in Manliness from Gene Kranz My Everyday Extraordinary The Apollo 13 Accident Episode 29. Resolutions and Keeping Commitments Careers at NASA: Explore the Extraordinary, Every Day Fierce Conversations: Achieving Success at Work and in Life One Conversation at a Time Episode 31. Mirror Neurons

Hopefully, you tuned in last week for the special anniversary episode, where I went over the top episodes by downloads, your votes and some of my favorites. I also gave some of my book recommendations and a sneak peek behind the scenes with the top questions I get asked, the weird thing I hear all the time now…and so much more. Today, we are back into the swing of things with a behavioral economics foundations episode on mental accounting. This concept was mentioned briefly in the biases series, but today we are going to dig into what this really is and just how much it impacts our approach to money, risk, time and more. CLICK HERE FOR YOUR FREE DOWNLOAD! Show Notes: [05:02] The concept of mental accounting was introduced by nobel prize winner Richard Thaler, and is based on humans’ illogical approach to value in relative terms instead of looking at it as an absolute. [05:31] Three examples by Richard Thaler of mental accounting.  [07:41] These are all examples of the way that mental accounting can impact the decisions we make. [08:17] Money and accounts should be perfectly fungible (that is an economics term for interchangeable). It shouldn’t matter if money was in a savings account, or a checking account or your pocket or a 401k…it would all exchange exactly the same. [09:32] Our brain segregates when thinking about money. This is one of the reasons the field of behavioral economics was needed…traditional economics does not account for the importance of this phenomenon. [10:10] The three ways money is commonly labeled: expenses are grouped into budgets like food, rent, and entertainment. Wealth is separated into accounts (checking, emergency or “rainy day” funds, and retirement). And lastly income is looked at in categories: namely regular or windfall. [12:35] Much like regular accounting, in mental accounting, individuals will book and post any occurring or planned transactions to the mental account. [15:59] When businesses are reporting their year-end earnings and losses, they always want to have a positive year end, which could make it tempting to hold on to losses until the next year. [16:42] If you are looking like you are going to have a bad year and have no option but to take a loss, general wisdom is to throw in as much negative and expense as you can. If it is going to be negative, might as well have it all come in at once. (Known as “taking the big bath”) [17:13] Adding a small amount to an already large payment doesn’t feel the same as having that payment on its own. This is because of decoupling – where you remove the pain of the payment away from the joy of the purchase. [18:28] There are some times where people significantly prefer to prepay over delaying their payments. Vacations are enjoyed more when they are prepaid because they feel free. [24:10] The way the consumer uses their mental accounting transforms something that can be very expensive hobby (like wine collecting) into one that is seen as free. [25:24] People can and often do plan for expenses in one way and experience it completely differently in the moment. [26:57] Internalize how the brain is wired to make its decisions around mental accounting. Think about how this has impacted you and how it can impact your customers. [27:52] Expenses are thought about in budgets, and wealth is considered in accounts. [28:03] The most tempting and easiest accounts to spend from are the current assets, this is your checking account and physical cash. [28:13] It's less tempting to spend from the current wealth category, which is made up of other liquid assets – savings accounts, stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. [28:33] The next, even less tempting category is equity (like that in a home or car you own). Future income is the least tempting category. These are your retirement accounts. [29:27] Those who have issues with self control should set up accounts that are off limits and put together automatic transfers so they are not tempted. [31:03] An example of losing a movie ticket and losing $10 that shows when the loss is associated with the outing to the movies, it is aversive, but when it is not associated with the outing, it is still annoying, but doesn’t impact the mental account for the movie. [31:22] Money that you earn in your paycheck is considered different than money you win in the lottery or find on the ground. [32:58] How will the mental account allocation impact the way the gift is used? And how does that line up with the intention behind the gift? [35:54] While losses should be lumped together, gains should be separated out to really feel their value - don’t wrap all the Christmas presents in one box.  [36:26] Brands can use mental accounting to their advantage in the way they advertise products. How can you use this frame on mental accounting in your business? [37:03] Mental accounting impacts more than money.   [39:43] Context is important in the way that people react. [42:53] Being aware of how the sausage is made can impact your enjoyment of it. Keep this in mind when you present pricing to customers. [43:10] One other scarce resource impacted by mental accounting is time. [43:41] Labeling time as only in the “family time” account makes it so “work time” isn’t even in the consideration of what to do on Saturday morning.  [45:20] Are there times where you are wasting high value productive time? Take a step back and think about how you could better allocate your mental time account. Thanks for listening. Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or Android. If you like what you heard, please leave a review on iTunes and share what you liked about the show.  Links and Resources: Episode 55. Special Anniversary Episode: Celebrating the First Year of the Podcast Episode 45. Overview of Personal Biases The Brainy Business on Facebook The Brainy Business on Instagram The Brainy Business on YouTube Always Leave Home Without It: A Further Investigation of the Credit-Card Effect on Willingness to Pay A 1-minute clip from a Dustin Hoffman interview sums up the life’s work of a Nobel-winning economist Episode 16. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Framing Bank of America Keep the Change Episode 9. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Loss Aversion Episode 51. Behavioral Economics Foundations: Time Discounting The Red and the Black: Mental Accounting of Savings and Debt Invest now, drink later, spend never: On the mental accounting of delayed consumption Mental Accounting Matters Choices, Values, and Frames Episode 30. Booms and Busts Episode 8. What is Value? Here’s what the average NFL player makes in a season Mental Accounting and Consumer Choice Episode 5. The Truth About Pricing