Money (but not called that, and how it changes behaviour).

Advertising agencies make a lot of advertisements for well-known brands, businesses, and governments. And sometimes they make them for businesses and...


0 Comments18 Minutes

Reading ease is not as easy as all that – comprehension shows the way

It's easy to make text readable, right? You just use the embedded check in Microsoft Word, and make sure the reading ease or grade level is what you want? Maybe


0 Comments6 Minutes

The ‘Hollywood hello’ – and the importance of context when communicating

When communicating we all like to be as precise as possible (unless we're being evasive or in an argument we know we don't have a leg to stand on!). Precision in most cases is…


0 Comments4 Minutes

When research turns into promotion – the Mere Measurement effect

...Simply asking about the strength of desire disproportionately increased action. That wasn’t supposed to happen. The actual rates of car purchase among the...


1 Comment7 Minutes

We don’t make decisions based absolutely on what we want – school children and fruit show us proof

We don't make decisions based absolutely on what we want – we make decisions based on what is offered. Find out how in US schools.


1 Comment3 Minutes

You are the best person to talk to your customers (and the worst!)

You are the best person to lead communication – because you are so knowledgeable! (You are the worst people to lead communication – because you are so knowledgeable...)


0 Comments3 Minutes

Asking with the right incentive

Football fans in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital city Brazzaville, and a Brazilian solution to graffiti...


0 Comments3 Minutes

Construal Theory in communication: Tailoring your messages for maximum impact

Construal theory is a psychological theory that explains how people think about objects and events that are close to them (psychologically close) versus objects and events that…


0 Comments5 Minutes

Well, this is one way of explaining what we do! Ari Melber explains Jay-Z lyrics

What does a behavioural insight & communication agency do? What is behavior change marketing? Sometimes I answer by describing the output – digital ads, brand…


0 Comments2 Minutes

The invisible salience of Brewdog and Belvedere

The odd Belvedere ‘story’ is a smooth pebble in the shoe, not the immovable boulder of Brewdog.We have a very strong, shared mental model of what advertising…


0 Comments8 Minutes

Words that work: Email subject headings that increase and decrease response

Email is a common way to communicate. The stats are eye popping: There are 4 billion daily email users. This number is expected to climb to 4.6 billion by 2025…


0 Comments4 Minutes

Are you a horse or anorak?

In 1898 the first car advertisement appeared, in Scientific American, headlined ‘Dispense With A Horse’. An odd way to describe a car today, however, back...


0 Comments3 Minutes

Mental models, and seeing the world

“Consumers. Sophisticated, they are” says a small, green, wrinkled alien in a galaxy far, far away. You know immediately that this portrays…


0 Comments5 Minutes

We are ancient creatures in modern times, fit for a world that no longer surrounds us

‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’ -- 1. AN ITALIAN OFFICER --- Vittorio was under attack. Ethiopian tribesmen had pushed him back up the hill of Daga Roba, near…


0 Comments13 Minutes

How many people do I need to test on? (Answer: It’s not as many as you think.)

An RCT (Randomised Control Trial), an online survey (e.g. a Semantic Pairs survey, or Comprehension-Motivation Test©, or Implicit Attitude Map©), or…


0 Comments4 Minutes

Trying to find the tallest jockey: A/B testing can be problematic

'There's nothing wrong with A/B testing'. This statement is both true and not useful; better is, 'there's nothing wrong with A/B testing if you're A/B testing…


0 Comments3 Minutes

Cold-call emails: 3 gold-standard tips from our behavioural science experiments you need to know

Email marketing has the highest ROI of any marketing tactic. $44 for every $1 spent, say Campaign Monitor: Email marketing is a tactic that's hard to...


0 Comments5 Minutes

Brands! Now you can reliably predict customer’s perception of your brand – *and* that of your competitors

Personality traits have been used and abused by Cambridge Analytica1, but those traits offer positive benefits – especially when mapped to brands...


0 Comments5 Minutes

A behavioural science April Fool with The Center For Advanced Hindsight – and knowing where to put the chalk cross

The excellent behavioural scientists, Ingrid M. Paulin (@iwmelvaer) and Aline Holzwarth (@alineholzwarth), from The Center For Advanced Hindsight (@advncdhindsight)…


0 Comments5 Minutes

Why do we need behavioural science? Because we’ve created a way of life we no longer recognise

‘Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.’1. An Italian officer was under attack. Ethiopian tribesmen had pushed him back up the hill of Daga Roba, near…


0 Comments17 Minutes

How to make a New Year’s resolution that will last forever – the science of habit formation

Most New Year’s resolutions have a success rate in the teens – in some studies fewer than 8% of us ever stick to our plan (Journal of Clinical Psychology...


2 Comments11 Minutes

Keynote: Inspiring sustainable behaviour

I was very honoured to the be the keynote speaker at the ‘Together Towards A low Carbon Future’ Conference run by @ESBGroup & @iiea on the 23rd Nov…


0 Comments4 Minutes

Your behaviour is unsuitable (because our lives are better).

It’s nothing personal. We’re good at living short and brutal lives. Indeed we’ve even codified an approach to life that ameliorates the shortness and...


0 Comments5 Minutes

Where does your brand sit in your consumer’s subconscious?

Wouldn't you love to have a solid, reliable map of where your brand sits in relation to its competitors in your consumer's subconscious? Of course, it's...


0 Comments3 Minutes