Here at the Questioning Behaviour podcast, we have curated a sub-series of episodes focused on the lives and experiences of early career researchers (ECR) who have recently completed a Behavioural Science PhD.    Our first guest of the ECR sub-series is Natalie J Hallinger -Director of Behavioural Science at Litterati. Natalie has a background in clinical psychology and received her PhD in Applied Social Psychology from Loyola University Chicago. In this episode we talk postgrad programme...

To kick off Season 3 of the Questioning Behaviour podcast, Sarah and Merle speak to the one and only Cass Sunstein. Cass is the co-author of Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness (2008) alongside Richard Thaler.  In this episode, we discuss Cass’ book writing career, his "meet cute" with Richard Thaler, and how a law background informs his view of behavioural science.   Finding Cass Sunstein: Twitter: @CassSunstein Harvard Law School faculty...

In this episode of the QB pod, Sarah and Merle meet Matt Wallaert (Head of Behavioural Science @ frog). We discuss why behavioural scientists should pay more attention to science fiction, how 10-weeks can be enough to complete the behavioural science process, and why the democratisation of behavioural science is essential. Go forth and prosper listener, and remember... behaviour as the outcome, science as the process.   Finding Matt: Twitter:...

In this episode of the QB pod, Sarah and Merle meet Steve Brunt (Planning Director, The Behaviours Agency)! We discuss how sometimes "bringing awareness" is just not enough, what behavioural science brings to the craft of marketing, the secret art of creating resonance and emotion, and so much more!  The Behaviours Agency is a UK-based behavioural science marketing and creative agency that utilises the evidence around the power of default choices, our brain's tendency to compare and make...

In this episode, Sarah and Merle speak with Erik Angner (Professor of Practical Philosophy at Stockholm University). We talk about Erik's experience of interdisciplinary work, what philosophers can teach economists, the importance of asserting implicit assumptions, and the over-confidence of economists! Erik totally blows our minds this episode with his knowledge, insight, and most importantly, sense of humour ;)   Finding Erik: Personal website: https://www.erikangner.com/ Twitter...

On this episode of the QB pod, Sarah and Merle invite Chris Cornthwaite (Roostervane) about how to transition from the PhD to a career outside of academia ("AltAc"), and why the grass may in fact be greener on the other side. We talk about the transferability of skills, the social capital of a PhD, and the pitfalls of academia. You'll enjoy this one if you are thinking about pursuing a PhD and/or if you enjoy a bit of PhD trash talk.    Finding Chris: Roostervane Acadamy:...

In this episode, Sarah and Merle chat with Nick Mishkin (@Behavior2020) about sales, mental health and wellbeing, and how behavioural science can link it all together. Nick is currently based in Tel Aviv studying Behavioural Economics at IDC Herzliya - his focus is on the application of behavioural economics to sales and finance.   Finding Nick: Behavior2020 consultancy: https://behavior2020.com/about-2/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/behavior2020 Behavioural Science Playlist:...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour Sarah and Merle talk to behavioural science legend Cristina Bicchieri about her work in behavioural science, applying behavioural science to changing behaviours through the application of social norms, all over the world!   FInding Cristina: University of Pennsylvania: https://philosophy.sas.upenn.edu/people/cristina-bicchieri Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/instructor/~806874 Norms in the Wild (Book):...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with Michael (Mike) Barbera, Chief Behavioural Officer at Clicksuasion. They talk about his young start as an entrepreneur, the ever-changing online environment, shoving, consumer loops, the replication crisis not really being that big of a deal, and IKEA designing clothes! Michael is an award-winning consumer psychologist and business strategist for Fortune 50 companies. He is the chief behavioural officer at...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with Tyfone's Josh DeTar. We talk about the traditional banking system and its competitors in community and neo-banking. Additionally, we wonder what it's going to take to "compensate" people for their time during the pandemic. Are we all going to end up in the roaring twenties, taking trips to Cabo? Or will a KitKat do? Josh DeTar's role with Tyfone is to deliver exceptional experiences to both current and...

In this episode of the QB pod, Sarah and Merle speak with Erica Vandergaal about behavioural science and what it tells us about our relationship with money! Erica is an author, (Merle's favourite) journalist, and public speaker, she has been talking and speaking mostly in Dutch, about everything people do with money and what money does with people since 1994. We were delighted to have Erica on the show, and really enjoyed all the insights she shared with us!   Finding Erica: Personal website...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with the wonderful Dilip Soman about professional identity, the behaviorally informed organisation, and his work at BEAR (Behavioural Economics in Action at Rotman). We get into the power of metaphors, how to improve the way we communicate behavioural science, and how to get around the "RCTs-are-the-gold-standard" problem when applying behavioural science within organisations.   Finding Dilip: BEAR:...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with the remarkable Elizabeth Linos about her pioneering work into the drivers and mechanisms of "burn-out". We discuss what a behavioural science intervention to target burnout can look like and what it tells us about the potential of behavioural science to alleviate the instances and effects of burnout on individuals and institutions. This is a timely and incredibly insightful episode you don't want to miss!   Finding...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker invite Matej Sucha (CEO of MINDWORX) onto the podcast to discuss being a CEO of a behavioural science consultancy and what it means to have a behavioural mindset. We discuss how we might improve existing behavioural science training programmes, and why the discussion of "ethical behavioural science" might be having unintended consequences...    Finding Matej: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suchamatej/?originalSubdomain=uk Twitter:...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour, Sarah and Merle speak with Christina Gravert about the potential of nudges, new evidence about the effectiveness of reminders, and a framework to understand the difference between moral and pure nudges. There is so much insight to be gained from this episode, and Christina's incredible research! Christina is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen and the Co-Founder of Impactually, a behavioural science...

In this episode of the QB pod, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker meet Torben Emmerling - the Founder and Managing Partner of Affective Advisory, and Board Member of the Global Association of Applied Behavioural Scientists (GAABS). We learn all about Torben's journey into behavioural science, what it's like to set up your own behavioural science company, and the origin story of GAABS.   You can find all things Torben at the links below! Linkedin:...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker invite Jo Evershed (Creator of Gorilla Experiment Builder) to discuss innovation in online experiments, and the challenge of democratising behavioural science.   Finding Jo & links to Gorilla: Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-evershed-36bba9/?originalSubdomain=uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/evershedjo?lang=en Personal website: https://joevershed.com/ Gorilla Experiment Builder: https://gorilla.sc/about/   Questioning Behaviour...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour, we speak with Peter Judodihardjo of the PetesBITs YouTube channel! We dive into the behavioural science of YouTube and get a guided tour through some of Pete's favourite PetesBITs episodes so far deconstructing insights from behavioural science and psychology (including the stereotype threat phenomenon).    Finding Pete: Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC20iyvAXUZPraEqCAk0zDbw Twitter (@PeteJudo): https://twitter.com/PeteJudo Instagram:...

In today's episode of Questioning Behaviour, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker question Koen Smets, also known as Koenfucius or the "accidental behavioural economist". We discuss how to invoke making change within an organisation, and why it's so damn difficult! We also digress into a behavioural conversation about time and the perceptions and illusions that come along with it! Finding Koentwitter: https://twitter.com/koenfucius linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/koensmets/ site:...

In this episode of Questioning Behaviour, Merle and Sarah interview Amy Bucher, to talk about behavioural design. In our discussion, we begin to ponder life's big questions such as: what does it mean to design like a behavioural scientist? How and when should behavioural insights be used when designing products, tools, and systems? We also open the ethical pandora's box, to figure out what are the ethical considerations and implications of behavioural design! We hope you enjoy our fabulous...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker talk to Kelly Paxton (fraud expert, podcast hero, and hashtag extraordinaire). We figure out what makes this type of crime "pink" (as opposed to "white" or "blue"!), discuss why this type of criminal behaviour occurs, and ask what we can do to nip it in the bud! Join us, as we dare to question some behaviour and unravel the motivators, facilitators and barriers to committing (and reporting) pink collar crime with our fabulous guest Kelly...

Welcome to Episode 31 of the Questioning Behaviour Podcast! On this episode, Merle and Sarah interview friend of the show Christian Hunt once more, regarding a previous episode (episode 28). The conversation goes back to the "mistake of the month" example from the previous episode, what it means to signal and report mistakes, and the differences in opinion on its effectiveness between Merle and Christian, carefully mediated by Sarah!  We hope you enjoy this sequel episode, we definitely...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with David Perrott about taking a more individualised "do-it-yourself" approach to applying behavioural science! We ponder how best to empower individuals to become their own behavioural architects; harnessing behavioural science insights and self-experimentation to improve wellbeing and support behavioural change. David shares his experience building and delivering Circles in Time, a community-driven program to support individuals in...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker are delighted to speak with Dr Neela Saldanha. We get to talk to Neela about her behavioural science journey and destinations, how behavioural science is being innovated in the Global South, and the challenge of broadening the practice and application of behavioural science. Listen in the hear about the challenges of establishing an applied behavioural science unit, the importance of "hybrids" to bridge the gap between academic and applied...

In this episode, Sarah Bowen and Merle van den Akker speak with Christian Hunt about how to encourage and support people to "follow the rules"! We discuss the ethics of compliance, the inevitability of human error, and how behavioural science can help us to design better systems and processes for humans. Christian is the founder of Human Risk (https://www.human-risk.com/), a consulting and training firm. Christian is also the wonderful host of the Human RIsk podcast...