Marketing, Consumer Psychology, and Human Behavior
Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: 1. Employees who use Firefox or Chrome have a 15% higher retention rate and report more satisfaction at work than employees who use Internet Explorer or Safari. This is because they're less likely to accept the default way of doing things. 2. Doctors are 14% more likely to diagnose a child with ADHD on October 31, not because there…
Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: 1. Every iron object made before 1200 BC came from meteorites. ("Bronze Age iron: Meteorite or not? A chemical strategy") 2. Santa's reindeer are all female. Male antlers don't start growing antlers until February, so any reindeer with antlers hauling goods on Christmas Eve wouldn't be male. (FDA) 3. Cookie Monster eats…
Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: 1. In 1992, Southwest Airlines and Stevens Aviation resolved a trademark dispute with an arm wrestling match between their CEOs. ("Armed and Dangerous: The Malice in Dallas") 2. Women are 1.8 times more likely to think the office is too cold. ("Overcooling of offices reveals gender inequity in thermal comfort") 3. By the time the…
In 1925 the Utah Idaho Sugar Company built a factory in Bellingham, Washington that produced sugar from beets. Previous attempts to build a factory in 1923 and 1924 failed because not enough farmers grew beets. That changed in 1925, and this is the first of a series of articles explaining why. The Utah Idaho Sugar [ ] The post Whatcom County dairy farmers and the Utah-Idaho Sugar Company in 1924…
In June of 2022, the synod of the Christian Reformed Church will consider the report and recommendations of the Committee to Articulate a Foundation-laying Biblical Theology of Human Sexuality, or the Human Sexuality Report (HSR). The full report is here (the recommendations are found on page 148), and the Executive Summary is here. Most classes, several [ ] The post 25 Theses on the Human…
Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: The healthier version of Quaker’s Apple Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal claims to contain 35% less sugar, but that s only because the packaging is smaller. The sugar-per-unit is the same as the oatmeal in the regular-sized package. ( Quaker Oats boast 35 percent less sugar, actually [ ] The post 52 things I learned in 2021 appeared first…
Here are some of the most interesting things I learned this year: The bacteria RB41 is known to exist in only three places: showerheads, dog noses, and paleolithic cave paintings. (The Great Indoors: The Surprising Science of How Buildings Shape Our Behavior, Health, and Happiness) An average pair of jeans requires 6 miles of thread. [ ] The post 52 things I learned in 2020 appeared first on Kent…
A close look at the psychology of wine, how marketing affects your perceptions, and why you re paying too much for wine. In 2002, four Wall Street businessmen sat down for dinner at the Balthazar in New York City. They ordered a Mouton Rothschild 1989 for the table. The Balthazar menu lists this wine at $2,000. [ ] The post Does expensive wine taste better? appeared first on Kent Hendricks .
For a group of twenty-five children who were trick-or-treating on the evening of October 31, 1993, Halloween was going exactly as planned. Approach the house. Ring the doorbell. Select the candy. Pretty typical, right? What these kids didn’t know was they were the unwitting participants in an experiment. On the same street, coming in the [ ] The post Diversification Bias appeared first on Kent…
Quick programming note: Usually I write about marketing and consumer behavior. I m taking a quick break to write about the events that happened 102 years ago in my hometown, Lynden, Washington. The first person in Lynden to die of influenza during the 1918 pandemic—the so-called “Spanish flu”—was Cora VandenBrink. She died on Monday, October 28, [ ] The post The 1918–1920 Influenza Pandemic in…