Stanley Kubrick is considered by many to be the greatest film maker that has ever lived, with a number of scenes in his films counted as some of the most compelling and memorable in the history of cinema.  ... Read More

Quick, there is a fire in your building! Do you know where the nearest fire extinguisher is? A recent UCLA psychology study found that people often do not recall things they have seen hundreds of times. In the study, 54 people who worked in an office building were asked whether they knew of the location of their nearest fire extinguisher, but only 13 (24%) were able to correctly identify the location. But when asked to find a fire extinguisher, in other words to physically locate it, they were all able to do so quickly.   ... Read More

I previously wrote about self-fulfilling prophecies in marketing research. Here is another example that has much scarier implications. Leonard Mlodinow outlines this experiment called “Pygmalion in the Classroom” in his new book, Subliminal.  ... Read More

Is it possible to rationally persuade people to pay a premium for your brand?  ... Read More

The brain is found to be far more “plastic” than previously thought, able to rewire itself after damage from a stroke or to strengthen neural connections or “maps” when learning, like memorising the dialogue of a play  or learning to play the guitar.  ... Read More

Here’s a quick assessment of your personality...  ... Read More

In an episode of season 5 of The Simpsons cartoon, the townsfolk of Springfield decided to legalize gambling in order to boost the town’s flagging coffers. Marge – the mom whom the Simpson family normally rely on to be the voice of reason and prevent their lives degenerating into chaos - develops a gambling addiction after putting a loose coin in a slot machine. She becomes permanently glued to the machines, feeding in coins in a zombie-like fashion and consequently neglecting her family, who proceed to stir up all sorts of unconstrained mayhem.  ... Read More

How do you like your popcorn? Week-old stale or freshly popped? If you are like most people, you are probably going to choose the fresh popcorn over the batch that has been lying around for a week. And when asked why you eat popcorn, you are probably going to name taste or flavour as a principle reason for doing so. Nothing remarkable there.  ... Read More

Corporations spend billions each year endeavouring to influence the public’s behaviour to favour their sales objectives. What exactly is it they are ultimately attempting to create with these marketing efforts though?    ... Read More