Assume that when people think of you, they will store your name, a mental picture of you, a few words they associate with you and a few stories about your behavior. From this they will make all the decisions they have to make about you. Name association is a good start for promoting yourself because [...]
Halo Effect
When we want permission to indulge, we’ll take any hint of virtue as a justification to give in. To see this in action, you don’t have to look any further than dinner. Studies show that people who order a main dish advertised as a healthy choice also order more indulgent drinks, side dishes, and desserts. [...]
New research shows that when consumers share “incidental” traits like a birthday, name or hometown with a salesperson, they’re more likely to open their wallets. If your waitress happens to mention her birthday is the same day as yours, or you discover a clothing store clerk grew up your hometown, chances are you’ll order an [...]
A recent article in the WSJ, “Hidden Ways Hotels Court Guests Faster”, focused on how hotels are trying to dazzle guests with first impressions. Jeremy McCarthy, a hotel executive, argues this is why “upon arriving to a luxury hotel, you are often greeted in the lobby by a friendly face, an offer to assist with [...]
Scientists have long cautioned that the brain is not a video recorder-storing perfect memory in a way that can be pulled out, rewound, and replayed over and over while remaining intact. Even the simple act of telling a story can modify memory. This month, the Supreme Court heard its first oral arguments in more than [...]
Here is a wonderful excerpt on the pitfalls of hiring star performers from Think Twice: Harnessing the Power of Counterintuition: What is the quickest way to improve your organization’s results? Many companies, sports teams, and entertainment businesses opt for the same solution: they hire a star. At first glace, signing a star seems like a [...]
There is a ton of psychology at work in Apple’s new virtual assistant Siri and if they succeed, it will be much harder to change phones. This : The Siri group, one of the largest software teams at Apple, fine-tuned Siri’s responses in an attempt to forge an emotional tie with its customers. To that [...]
We think narcissists rise to the top because their qualities – confidence, dominance, authority, and self-esteem make them good leaders. But is this true? “Our research shows that the opposite seems to be true,” says Barbora Nevicka, a PhD candidate in organizational psychology, describing a new study. It turns out that the narcissists’ preoccupation with [...]
