Yule Heibel's Library tagged behavioral_economics →  View Popular, Search in Google

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As behavioral economists—who use social, cognitive, and emotional factors to understand how people make choices—refine their understanding of what helps us stick to commitments, they are using this information to design new tools. Not surprisingly, money turns out to be a good motivator.

Ian Ayres, a behavioral economist at Yale, developed a website called StickK.com, on which users set a specific goal and then pledge a sum of money to forfeit should they fail to achieve it. Unlike other sites that track weight loss and fitness goals and offer support via social networking, StickK leverages another discovery from behavioral economics: our extreme dislike of losing money.

"The specter of losing money is twice as motivating as the possibility of gaining the same amount of money," says Rose.
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mit_techreview behavioral_economics cognitive_function apps

Ben Atlas poses interview questions to Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions. Dan responds to the questions in this video. Atlas's questions focus on rationality/ irrationality, crime, reward, etc. Fascinating stuff about behavioral economics, great insights from Dan Ariely.

ben_atlas dan_ariely behavioral_economics psychology video interview