Why 95% of companies stall on AI, and the behavioral science that fixes it
Behavioral Science For Brands: Leveraging behavioral science in brand marketing.Show Notes
MichaelAaron and Richard unpack a new Behavioral Insights Team report on why most companies fail to get employees using AI, covering how social proof lifts adoption, why removing small points of friction beats motivational pitches, and why framing AI as something to lose outperforms framing it as a gain.
More from Behavioral Science For Brands: Leveraging behavioral science in brand marketing.
All "social proof" isn't created equally. Richard and MichaelAaron unpack studies showing it grows stronger with uncertainty, fear, youth, and collectivist cultures, backfires with wealthy tax debtors, and works best when implied, from Aperol's unmistakable orange spritzes to labeling products 'sold out.'
Richard and MichaelAaron unpack Novartis' campaign 'Relax Your Tight End', winner of the Pharma Grand Prix at Cannes Lions. They explore why present bias lets a moment of embarrassment outweigh long-term health, how humor sidesteps the ostrich effect where fear fails, and why a mix of messengers can beat one big celebrity.
After 12 tons of KitKat bars vanished the week before Easter, the brand turned a supply chain crisis into a Cannes Grand Prix winning campaign. MichaelAaron and Richard unpack the scarcity, Zeigarnik and IKEA effects behind it, and how brands can turn spectators into participants in a story.
Polish law requires every club to identify each fan entering the stadium. Wisła Kraków's Football Club turned that compliance database into the Lucky Fan Index, a metric for how much luck each supporter brings, and game attendance rose 42%. MichaelAaron and Richard dissect the superstition research behind it.
MichaelAaron and Richard revisit William Poundstone's Priceless to unpack why price feels relative, not absolute. They cover anchoring in courtroom and Williams-Sonoma pricing, why a $5 saving matters more on a $15 item than a $125 one, and how visible costs and higher prices signal quality and fairness to buyers.