Tag: Consumer Behavior

Researchers at Linköping University have investigated how orthopaedic surgeons make decisions regarding surgery, and how the decisions are related to how much of their work shift they have completed. The results show that a patient who meets the surgeon at the end of his or her shift is less likely to be scheduled for surgery.

Children’s savings accounts (CSAs), offered by elementary schools throughout San Francisco and in schools across the nation, were introduced to boost college-going rates, limit student debt and foster equal opportunity for low-income children. However, San Francisco State University Assistant Professor of Management Ian Dunham finds that geography — particularly in neighborhoods that lack brick-and-mortar banks

Real and fake smiles can be tricky to tell apart, but researchers at the University of Bradford have now developed computer software that can spot false facial expressions. By analysing the movement of the smile across a person’s face, the software can determine whether or not the expression is genuine. The most significant movements detected

Bystanders will intervene in nine-out-of-ten public fights to help victims of aggression and violence say researchers, in the largest ever study of real-life conflicts captured by CCTV. The findings overturn the impression of the “walk on by society” where victims are ignored by bystanders. Instead, the international research team of social scientists found that at

Is honesty the best policy when it comes to being green? It just might be, according to a new paper by Michel Magnan, a professor of accountancy at the John Molson School of School of Business. In their article for Sustainability Accounting, Management and Policy Journal, Magnan and co-author Hani Tadros of Elon University in

Timing is everything, goes a popular phrase, and this is also true for relationships. As Valentine’s Day approaches, social psychologists from Purdue University offer new research showing that a person’s commitment readiness is a good predictor of relationship success. The results are published in Social Psychological and Personality Science. “Feeling ready leads to better relational

The traditional model for setting auto insurance premiums has been to base rates on the motorist’s driving history, age, gender and even marital status (in some states). Thanks to new technological options, insurance companies and motorists have started to work together to give the insurance companies access to better data on an individual driver’s risk

Many individuals cite prescription opioids as their gateway to illicit opioid use. However, while prescription opioids are involved in more than one-third of all opioid overdose deaths in the U.S., examining any correlation between prescription opioid overdose deaths and pharmaceutical industry marketing has been limited — until now. New research from NYU School of Medicine

Impulse online shopping, downloading music and compulsive email use are all signs of a certain personality trait that make you a target for malware attacks. New research from Michigan State University examines the behaviors — both obvious and subtle — that lead someone to fall victim to cybercrime involving Trojans, viruses, and malware. “People who

Here’s a new negotiating tactic: enjoy a family-style meal with your counterpart before making your opening bid. When people in a business negotiation share not just a meal but a plate, they collaborate better and reach deals faster, according to new research from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. In the study, “Shared

Consumers make assumptions based on the language used by a brand or advertiser, and politeness does matter, say researchers at the University of Oregon and University of Washington. In a series of three studies, Aparna Sundar, a professor of marketing in the UO’s Lundquist College of Business, and Edita Cao, a doctoral student in UW’s

Conventional wisdom holds that people set themselves up for even greater heartache when they jump into bed with their ex-partner after a breakup. However, according to the findings of a study in Springer’s journal Archives of Sexual Behavior, having sex with an ex doesn’t seem to hinder moving on after the breakup. This is true

The world’s largest computing society, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), updated its code of ethics in July 2018 — but new research from North Carolina State University shows that the code of ethics does not appear to affect the decisions made by software developers. “We applauded the decision to update the ACM code of

Researchers at the University of Waterloo have made progress towards predicting who is likely to feel sick from virtual reality technology. In a recent study, the researchers found they could predict whether an individual will experience cybersickness (motion sickness caused by virtual reality) by how much they sway in response to a moving visual field.

For most people, the sense of happiness derived from a luxurious vacation, a good movie or a tasty dinner at a restaurant may seem short-lived, but what if it were possible to extend these feelings of enjoyment? Researchers from the University of Minnesota and Texas A&M University decided to explore whether the way people frame

Scientists report they were unable to reproduce the results of a well-known study showing that people are less likely to cheat on a task after making a list of the Ten Commandments. Their findings are published in a Registered Replication Report (RRR) in Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, a journal of the

The behavior of people who remain committed to a choice, even when it is clear that an alternate choice would be a better option, has been a perplexing phenomenon to psychologists and economists. For example, people will continue to wait in the slow line at a grocery store, stick out an unhealthy relationship, or refuse

When playing an economic game those that were assigned as ‘lower status’ were more likely to share their wealth than their ‘higher status’ counterparts, according to a new study at Queen Mary University of London. The social experiment involved a series of economic games in which people played with other people for real money. The

Setbacks are to be expected when pursuing a goal, whether you are trying to lose weight or save money. The challenge is getting back on track and not giving up after a difficulty or crisis, says a marketing professor in Iowa State University’s Ivy College of Business. José Rosa, John and Deborah Ganoe Faculty Fellow,

A fulsome smile in a photo makes it easier for people to identify the individual, say researchers at the University of York. Previous research at York has shown that it is difficult for people to match a pair of unfamiliar faces in photographs, presenting significant issues for authorities to spot identity fraud. Research has also