A secret bestseller. Do you recognise this football player? Probably not. He's only played for England once. And yet. This fairly unknown English footballer sold more books than David Beckham, Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard, and Frank Lampard combined. He did so using the curiosity gap. He wrote under a pseudonym, "the Secret Footballer". By hiding his identity, he could share hard truths, gossip, and uncensored stories, such as the drunken antics of a Chelsea striker or the binge-eating winger...
12 days ago • 1 min read
Power pause. In one study (cited in The Anatomy of a Breakthrough), a team of psychologists investigated the value of pauses during negotiations. They asked 60 pairs of university students to negotiate over a job package. One of the students was the recruiter, and the other was the job candidate. 50% were directed to pause during the negotiation. 50% were directed to negotiate naturally. The pause group performed far better. They negotiated better deals (for both parties). According to Adam...
19 days ago • 1 min read
The effect paradox. I recently watched Rory Sutherland's fantastic Nudgestock talk. He shares a surprising story from the Wall Street Journal. Back in 2010, Starbucks got extremely good at making coffee fast. Baristas were trained in parallel pouring, where they could make four different coffees at once. This seems like a good thing. Surely customers want their coffee as fast as possible? Except they don't. Receiving a coffee at record speed changed the experience. The barista's service no...
26 days ago • 1 min read
The ritual effect. To many, this Stella Artiois ad might seem ridiculous. “THE PURIFICATION: A cold-water bath to chill the chalice and sustain the head of the pour. THE SACRIFICE: The first drops are sacrificed, a small price to ensure the freshest taste. THE LIQUID ALCHEMY: The chalice is held at forty-five degrees for the perfect combination of foam and liquid. THE CROWN: The chalice is gracefully straightened, forming a perfect head and sealing in the freshness. THE REMOVAL: A smooth and...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
It's rhyme time. Rhymes are strangely powerful. Researchers McGlone and Tofighbakhsh found that rhymes boost believability by 17% Filkukova and Klempe found that rhyming slogans are rated at 22% more accurate. Shotton and Thompson found that rhymes boost recall by 29%. So it's no surprise that Tesco now use rhymes to reassure customers that its reduced produce is still "just as nice". There's not a single reduced item remaining. Clearly, the rhymes are working. But Tesco is hardly alone....
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Flawless is worthless. Adam Grant shared a study of world-class sculptors in his book Hidden Potential. It turns out that world-class sculptors were average students. 66% graduated high school with Bs and Cs. A similar pattern emerged when comparing America's most influential architects. The great architects had rarely been great students: they typically finished college with a B or C average. Adam Grant writes how, in their quest for flawless results, research suggests that perfectionists...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
How I pitch Nudge. I sent marketing influencer Tom Goodwin a cold email asking him to come on Nudge. He responded with this. What a lovely thing to say. Buoyed by this praise, I thought I'd break down the nudges I included in my pitch. 1: Credible social proof This one speaks for itself. 2: Input bias Most pitches don't bother to research guests and suggest a bespoke topic. I do. 3: Halo effect Picturing well-known marketing profs beside my dumb face will make Tom believe I'm more credible...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
All of us need a goal. Feeling lethargic? Maybe you need a goal. In one study, cyclists who completed two 30km time trials finished an average of almost two minutes, or 4%, slower when they weren't given an explicit endpoint. Without a clear goal, the cyclists performed worse. In a separate study, individuals completed mental tasks at a slower pace when they were unaware that the task would last 90 minutes. More importantly, they became stuck more frequently, taking more breaks from the task...
2 months ago • 1 min read
Open plan fallacy? Do open-plan offices work? Researchers Ethan Bernstein and Ben Waber found out. They monitored in-person interactions at the main offices of two Fortune 500 companies before and after implementing open-office plans. In the open-plan office, face-to-face interactions didn't increase; they actually fell by 70%. Bernstein was curious to see if making minor changes to privacy could have an impact. He worked with supervisors at a Chinese factory to experiment with using curtains...
2 months ago • 1 min read
