Psychology of Selling and Marketing
What makes a TikTok ad stick? A study breaks down the sights and sounds that drive engagement
A study of 900 TikTok ads identifies four audiovisual ingredients tied to engagement: casual speech, rhythmic sound, vivid color, and a strong visual focal point, with product type and posting time shifting which ones matter most.
New York’s bottle bill raised water prices by 4%, study finds
A new analysis of New York's 2009 bottle deposit law finds retailers raised prices on covered bottles by 4% while shoppers shifted toward larger, uncovered sizes, cutting category sales by 6%.
Who really buys into pump-and-dump stock scams? A look inside 110,000 investor accounts
A study of 470 pump-and-dump schemes and 110,000 investor accounts reveals who buys into stock scams, how much they lose, and why some keep coming back for more.
Why financially literate young investors are more likely to put their money where their values are
New research finds that social pressure alone doesn't push young investors toward responsible investing. Financial literacy is the missing ingredient that makes peer influence actually translate into action.
How the language of finance shapes its moral reputation
A new experiment finds that jargon-heavy descriptions of financial products make readers view those products as more morally problematic, even when the underlying content is unchanged.
A new study explains why confident salespeople sometimes underperform
A study of 145 salesperson-supervisor pairs finds that a salesperson's self-confidence boosts their ability to adapt only when it sparks genuine motivation, and that this chain reaction works mainly in highly competitive markets.
The words brands use in marketing games can shape how consumers feel about them
New research examines how the language brands use in gamified marketing campaigns may shape consumer attitudes, and why feeling close to a brand could amplify the effect.
Coffee shop calorie labels shift beliefs but not behavior, study finds
A study tested whether printing calorie counts on coffee shop menus changes what people order. The labels shifted beliefs and improved calorie knowledge, but did not significantly change what participants chose to buy.
Do small gestures on a restaurant check boost tips in Turkey the way they do in America?
Three field experiments in Istanbul tested whether classic American tipping tricks, like writing "thank you" or drawing a smiley on a check, work in a non-WEIRD setting. They did, but Turkish tips ran far smaller overall.
Packing products tightly on shelves makes shoppers grab more flavors
Four experiments find shoppers pick a wider mix of products when items sit close together on display. The pattern traces back to how spacing shapes visual attention.