Evidence from the fields of behavioral economics and neuroeconomics shows that many cognitive biases influence people’s minds when they have to make choices. These unconscious but universally spread processes shape our brains and make us “Predictably Irrational” (as behavioral scientist Dan Ariely wrote). For this reason, “nudging” can act on our decision-making system and be positively […]
Nudging is the careful construction of decision-making environments aimed at helping decision makers making wiser choices, possibly at their advantage. The first applications of nudges regarded mainly public policies and programs aimed at a general public, with no particular distinctions between potential users. Tax compliance, energy saving and even increasing men’s aim in public toilets […]
The idea for this article was born scrolling through my Facebook home page during the last months. Without doing it on purpose, my attention was captured every time by the posts of one of my Facebook contacts, who will be called Mr. X for privacy reasons. Mr. X is an avid Facebook user, publisher of […]
Throughout the history of humankind, stories have always played an essential role: they shaped people’s traditions, defined their religious beliefs, gave birth to their common wisdom and their profound values. Perhaps most importantly, storytelling allowed cultural heritage to be transmitted across generations through a series of alterations or exaggerations. Our daily lives are pervaded by […]
Are you feeling like you are stuck on a treadmill, while your peers are nearing the finish line on a marathon? Are your grades spiralling down alongside your motivation and self-esteem? Does it feel like the only thing getting bigger is the pile of assignments due? Do not panic! You might be a victim of […]
What is Happiness? For millennia, philosophers, moralists, and scholars have postulated and waxed poetic about happiness, its causes, and its true meaning. Achieving happiness is the ultimate goal for many, as evidenced by the thousands of best-selling self-help books, the hundreds of sold out self-improvement seminars across the world, and the dozens of millionaire life […]
As behavioral economics becomes the hottest economic theory for firms and policymakers promising easy and cheap fixes, it becomes crucial to remember that it also has its dark side. Over the past decade, behavioral economics has become the whiz kid of economic research. Suddenly, traditional models which relied on unrealistic assumptions were criticized and modernized. […]
Life is made of decisions: whether about your career path, health insurance, marriage, the next brand of toothpaste you want to try or whatever else, you simply cannot avoid them. What professors Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein address in Nudge is the possibility of improving people’s choices by acting on the design of the question. It is just as […]
With the tumultuous state of the USA elections at the moment, our association has been focusing heavily on the theme of the voting behaviour Our first meeting of the semester took place on November 5th, two days after election night in the USA. The two days post elections has the world on its toes in […]
Are we really in control of our voting behaviour? A behavioral insight on voting preferences and media influence by Valentina Saponara and Enrico Grassi The upcoming US election has the world holding its breath: soon American citizens will cast their vote and shape the future of one of the most relevant actors on the international […]
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