-
The Amygdala As Sales Tool
The Wall Street Journal: Many are the tricks that companies use to win our business. As Martin Lindstrom reminds us in "Brandwashed," marketers make sneaky appeals to our fears and desires, leverage our social connections to maximize peer pressure, dazzle us with tinfoil celebrity and lure us with sexual come-ons that would embarrass a bawd. Mr. Lindstrom has made his living in the business he now proposes to expose. His specialty has been using the tools of brain science to help marketers press subconscious buttons. In 2009, Time magazine named him one of the world's most influential thinkers.
-
Subway Ups Ante in Fast Food Dollar Menu War
ABC News: Subway is offering a $2 subs in December, which may excite frugal fans and still keep franchisees happy. The sandwich chain announced this week it was only selling its 6-inch meatball marinara and cold cut combo sandwiches at the discounted prices of $2 during its Customer Appreciation Month. “It’s a magical price point,” consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow told USA Today. “What it communicates to consumers is that Subway is on their side.” Subway did not immediately return a request for comment. The company already has a rotating $5 foot-long submarine sandwich menu.
-
The Psychology of Health Screening
The Huffington Post: Imagine it's time for your annual physical. You visit your family doctor, and along with all the usual probes and tests and queries, your doctor tells you about a disease you've never heard of before. Called thioamine acetlyase, or TAA, deficiency, it affects the body's normal ability to process nutrients, and can lead to severe medical complications -- exhaustion, physical deterioration, even early death. Although studies indicate that 1 in 5 adults suffers from TAA deficiency, most are unaware that they even have the disease. But there is a test that screens for TAA deficiency, your physician tells you.
-
The Secret Life of Pronouns
ABC Brisbane: The words people use can tell you a lot about them. Do they use positive language, express negative emotions, swear a lot, make you laugh, or make you think? However, the words that convey most about you may not be the ones you would automatically assume. Enter the humble pronoun: I, me, you, we, he, she, us. James W Pennebaker is Professor and Chair at the Department of Psychology at the University of Texas, he's been studying how we use pronouns and what messages we send to others in spoken, written and even tweeted forms of language. Professor Pennebaker joined the program to talk more on the topic Listen here: ABC Brisbane
-
La depresión antes o después del embarazo afecta el desarrollo del bebé
AOL Latino: Un nuevo estudio ha demostrado que los bebés pueden percibir lo que sus madres están sintiendo y que pueden verse afectas por el estado sicológico de su progenitora tanto antes como después de dar a luz. Según reportara el Huffington Post, la investigación, realizada por la Universidad de California en Irvine y publicada en la edición de diciembre de Psychological Science, examina cómo la depresión materna impacta a la salud mental del bebé y sus habilidades motoras. Investigadores monitorearon a 221 mujer embarazados durante un año completo para observar de cerca el proceso.
-
Creative Thinkers More Likely to Cheat
LiveScience: When it comes t0 money, creative people are more likely to cheat to get it than the less-imaginative crowd, a new study suggests. The reason? Creative types may be more skilled at coming up with reasons for their less-than-ethical actions, according to the researchers. In the new study, scientists measured the intelligence and creativity of 97 students from local universities in the southeastern United States by asking them to complete a series of recognized psychological tests. Read the whole story: LiveScience
