Over the last few years, an illuminating series of studies about false beliefs and misperceptions about the state of the world has been underway. In the first of these studies (known as “The Gapminder Misconception Study”) published back in 2017, the researchers discovered that misperceptions among the general population appear to be the norm rather than the exception, especially among citizens of wealthier nations.
What do you think would happen if you spent 6-15 minutes in a room with nothing to interact with but your own thoughts? If this idea gives you an uneasy pause, you are not alone.
Although an essential component to the overall success of market economies, profit-seeking is often viewed negatively within many social circles. In fact, for-profit businesses struggle to achieve even a small measure of the goodwill automatically garnered by their non-profit counterparts.
Consumers have always had a complex relationship with brand names, and rightly so, as those names play a crucial role in the all-important first impressions of a product or service.
Towards the end of the 18th century, an ideological movement took root in the western hemisphere. Romanticism, as it came to be known, firmly associated itself with the emotional, irrational, and the imaginative parts of the human condition.
Not so long ago (the early 1990s) and not so far away (well, here on planet earth), an epic battle filled with intrigue, sabotage, and sacrifice took place. Although it was “fought” in plain sight, few understood that the conflict was designed to ensure that both sides would lose in the end.
After months of anticipation, Super Bowl LVII has come and gone. With the watercooler discussions of the big game’s highlights (or low points) starting to fade, now is the perfect time to bring up what everyone has secretly been wondering: which of the Super Bowl commercials this year were the undisputed best in their class?
It is no secret that emotional intuition plays a pivotal role in human behavior. As Social Psychologist Jonathan Haidt has explained in his work, the concept of “the emotional dog and its rational tail” provides a firm foundation for understanding why humans make the choices that they do.
The weight of scientific authority has long been a persuasive tool in marketing strategies. As an extremely social species, humans care a great deal about categorical authority, and in the modern world there are few more revered sources of authority than those affiliated with the theoretical concept of science.
When it comes to “humanness,” it turns out there is a fine line between appealing and appalling. Although rather than a line, research suggests the border separating the two feelings may be more of a valley.