Podcast · Business
by Consumer Behavior Lab · English · Business
The Consumer Behavior Lab is dedicated to teaching marketersacross the United States how behavioral science principles can beapplied to help their brands. By decoding the underlying motivationsof how consumers make decisions, the CBL seeks to make a betterindustry - where both brands and agencies pu
7 Oct 2026 · 30 minNew
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.
S1 · E138 · 30 Sep 2026 · 36 min
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.
S1 · E137 · 23 Sep 2026 · 42 min
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.
S1 · E136 · 16 Sep 2026 · 46 min
MichaelAaron and Richard unpack Writing for Busy Readers by Todd Rogers and Jessica Lasky-Fink: six evidence-backed principles for readers who skim rather than read. Why a 49-word email beat a 127-word one, why subheadings doubled newsletter clicks, and why making a task easy beats making it exciting.
S1 · E135 · 9 Sep 2026 · 46 min
Charles Spence's book Gastrophysics argues that taste is built by every sense, not just the tongue. MichaelAaron and Richard work through the evidence: classical music lifting restaurant spend 10%, heavy cutlery raising willingness to pay 16%, rounder chocolate read as 50% creamier, and what brands should do with it.
S1 · E134 · 2 Sep 2026 · 58 min
Guinness made you wait, Avis was second, VW was small. Andy Nairn and Richard unpack why owning a flaw beats hiding one, and how the same instinct led Lucky Generals to raise its own size in pitches before a prospect could ever hold it against them.
S1 · E133 · 26 Aug 2026 · 52 min
MichaelAaron and Richard explore why charity donations are especially resistant to typical marketing tactics. They unpack behavioral studies on anchoring, present preference bias, reciprocity, and overhead aversion that show small shifts in framing and timing can raise donations by double digits.
S1 · E132 · 19 Aug 2026 · 55 min
Courage strategist Rami Dudin joins MichaelAaron and Richard to discuss why distinctive often beats different, using SickKids' $1.3 billion fundraising turnaround, CIBC's no-fee campaign, and neobank scarcity tactics like Monzo's golden ticket to show why owning one idea can perform better than chasing novelty.
S1 · E131 · 12 Aug 2026 · 46 min
MichaelAaron and Richard explore why half of chronic-illness patients skip their medication, and why scaring them into compliance backfires. They cover a study on avoiding bad medical news, a simple diagram that cut medication errors in half, and two studies showing doctors are swayed by menu order and time of day when prescribing.
S1 · E130 · 5 Aug 2026 · 50 min
Harvard professor Michael Norton, author of The Ritual Effect, joins MichaelAaron and Richard to explore why identical actions feel meaningful to one person and trivial to another. They cover how Oreo, Stella Artois, and Guinness turn consumption into ritual, and what marketers should watch for when customers improvise their own rituals.
S1 · E129 · 29 Jul 2026 · 48 min
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.
S1 · E128 · 22 Jul 2026 · 1 hr 3 min
In this special finale to the Inside Influence series, MichaelAaron and Richard are joined by Dr. Robert Cialdini to revisit the principles behind his landmark book Influence. Together, they explore ethical persuasion, authority, AI, and the practical behavioral insights that continue to shape effective marketing
S1 · E127 · 17 Jul 2026 · 42 min
In part three of the Inside Influence series, Richard Shotton and MichaelAaron Flicker explore Cialdini’s principles of commitment, consistency, and unity - revealing how small commitments, shared identity, and group belonging can dramatically shape persuasion and behavior.
S1 · E126 · 15 Jul 2026 · 55 min
In part two of the Inside Influence series, Richard Shotton and MichaelAaron Flicker unpack Cialdini’s principles of social proof, authority, and scarcity - exploring the psychology behind popularity, trust, exclusivity, and why small shifts in perception can dramatically change consumer behavior.
S1 · E125 · 13 Jul 2026 · 51 min
This week, MichaelAaron and Richard kick off their miniseries “Inside Influence” on Robert Cialdini’s classic book Influence. They unpack the principles of reciprocity and liking, exploring how gifts increase spending, why similarity builds trust, and how brands can ethically shape persuasion and behavior.
S1 · E124 · 8 Jul 2026 · 41 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard challenge some of marketing’s biggest assumptions about consumer research. They explore why people often can’t explain their own decisions, why A/B tests outperform surveys, and how observing real behavior leads to stronger insights and better marketing decisions.
S1 · E123 · 1 Jul 2026 · 59 min
In this episode, we speak with Richard Chataway, founder of Communication Science Group and author of The Behaviour Business. Richard reveals how he used behavioral science to help people quit smoking, why diversity has both a moral and commercial justification, and how interacting with AI changes our behavior.
S1 · E122 · 24 Jun 2026 · 49 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and behavioral science. They discuss why AI amplifies good and bad thinking alike, how overreliance can weaken judgment, why creativity risks becoming more uniform, and how understanding human behavior remains a critical advantage in the age of AI.
S1 · E121 · 17 Jun 2026 · 39 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard explore how behavioral science can improve e-commerce performance. From why perfect reviews reduce trust to how scarcity boosts value perception, they unpack practical ways brands can increase conversion, reduce friction, and shape buying decisions online.
S1 · E120 · 10 Jun 2026 · 47 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard sit down with behavioral scientist Michael Hallsworth, co-creator of the EAST framework and author of The Hypocrisy Trap. They explore behavior change, social influence, hypocrisy, and why relatable messengers, simple interventions, and context matter more than most marketers realize.
S1 · E119 · 3 Jun 2026 · 43 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton explore how agencies can use behavioral science to build stronger brand strategies. From the mere-exposure effect to the halo effect and goal dilution, they unpack why consistency, focus, and clear communication often outperform complexity and constant reinvention.
S1 · E118 · 28 May 2026 · 34 min
In this episode, the fourth and final installment in a miniseries on the 4 Ps of Marketing, MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton explore how behavioral science shapes “place.” From making products easier to access to using scarcity and premium environments to influence perception, they unpack why distribution is far more powerful than most marketers realize.
S1 · E117 · 20 May 2026 · 1 hr 2 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard sit down with behavioral scientist Robert West, creator of the COM-B model, to explore the three forces behind every human behavior: capability, opportunity, and motivation. They discuss why behavior change so often fails, how environments shape decisions more than we realize, and how businesses and governments can design more effective interventions.
S1 · E116 · 14 May 2026 · 46 min
In this episode, part three of a miniseries on the 4 Ps of Marketing, MichaelAaron and Richard explore how behavioral science shapes product design. From optimal newness to visible social proof and sensory cues, they show how small design choices can dramatically influence perception, appeal, and willingness to pay.
S1 · E115 · 6 May 2026 · 39 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard unpack how Specsavers turned a simple joke into one of the UK’s most effective campaigns. By combining humor, consistency, and behavioral science, they show how the brand captured attention, avoided fear-based messaging, and built lasting trust and growth.
S1 · E114 · 29 Apr 2026 · 46 min
In part two of our miniseries on the 4 Ps of Marketing, MichaelAaron and Richard explore how behavioral science can improve pricing decisions. They discuss how price signals quality, why delaying costs boosts uptake, how fairness shapes willingness to pay, and how framing upgrades as small differentials can increase conversion.
S1 · E113 · 22 Apr 2026 · 48 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton speak with Nick Chater about the “flat mind” theory and what it means for marketers. They discuss why people improvise decisions in the moment, how context shapes behavior, and why simple cues can be more powerful than deep persuasion.
S1 · E112 · 15 Apr 2026 · 52 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard explore how behavioral science can strengthen the promotion pillar of the four Ps. They cover the power of language framing, why admitting the right flaw can increase credibility, and how the “but you are free” technique boosts compliance without pressure.
S1 · E111 · 8 Apr 2026 · 48 min
In this episode, MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton speak with Karen Nelson-Field about why attention has become one of the most important metrics in modern advertising. They explore how attention differs from reach, what drives it across channels, and how brands can plan media more effectively by focusing on real human engagement.
S1 · E110 · 1 Apr 2026 · 36 min
MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton unpack how DP World helped shift a global shipping standard that no one had questioned for nearly a century. By challenging status quo bias and rallying competitors around a shared change from −18°C to −15°C, the campaign cut emissions, reduced costs, and reshaped an entire industry.
The Consumer Behavior Lab is dedicated to teaching marketersacross the United States how behavioral science principles can beapplied to help their brands. By decoding the underlying motivationsof how consumers make decisions, the CBL seeks to make a betterindustry - where both brands and agencies put proven sciencebehind their decision making.
Behavioral Science For Brands: Leveraging behavioral science in brand marketing. is a English business podcast from Consumer Behavior Lab. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
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