Every weekend, thousands of Brits order takeaways from independent restaurants. 

Or do they?

Because these independent restaurants aren’t actually what they seem.   

Pizza Hut, Prezzo, Frankie & Benny’s, Las Iguanas and many more chains are rebranding their food on delivery apps to appear like an independent restaurant. 

They’re exploiting our psychological bias for independent brands and fooling millions of diners. 

Find out how in today’s episode of Nudge. 

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Today’s sources: 

Chen, S. [@StanYM]. (2024, December 22). I served McDonald's at a luxury food convention [Video]. YouTube. 

Hoskin, R. (2026, January 17). Big chains accused of masquerading as independent restaurants on delivery apps. BBC News.

Lin, M. S., Sharma, A., & Ouyang, Y. (2020). Role of signals in consumers' economic valuation of restaurant choices. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research, 44(7), 1080–1100.

Zhang, Y., Fishbach, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2007). The dilution model: How additional goals undermine the perceived instrumentality of a shared path. *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology*, *92*(3), 389–401.

Nine months ago, I started to apply one of Rory Sutherland’s most common bits of business advice. 

Today on Nudge, I share what happened and if I think it works. 

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Watch Veritasim’s video: https://youtu.be/HBluLfX2F_k?si=_M2NqN4KPbBabDoI 

Warning, this episode contains some explicit language.

There’s one simple tactic that makes entrepreneurs 6x more likely to get funding. 

At least that’s according to today’s guest on Nudge, Harvard Professor Leslie John. 

She’s spent her career studying decision-making and reveals why: 

- Flawed leaders inspire more trust

- Authenticity gets you job offers 

- And how crying at work is perceived 

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Today’s sources:

Jiang, L., John, L. K., Boghrati, R., & Kouchaki, M. (2022). Fostering perceptions of authenticity via sensitive self-disclosure. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied, 28(4), 898–915.

John, L. (2026). Revealing: The underrated power of oversharing. Riverhead Books.

John, L. K., Jeong, M., Gino, F., & Huang, L. (2019). The self-presentational consequences of upholding one's stance in spite of the evidence. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 154, 1–14.

Moore, C., Lee, S. Y., Kim, K., & Cable, D. M. (2017). The advantage of being oneself: The role of applicant self-verification in organisational hiring decisions. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(11), 1493–1513.

Wolf, E. B., Lee, J. J., Sah, S., & Brooks, A. W. (2016). Managing perceptions of distress at work: Reframing emotion as passion. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 137, 1–12.

Have you ever finished a book you dislike just to say you’ve finished it?

Have you loaded up Duolingo at 11:55pm to keep the streak alive?

Have you felt the crushing disappointment of realising you forgot to record your run for Strava? 

If so, metrics might be controlling your life. And philosopher C. Thi Nguyen, my guest on today’s episode of Nudge, thinks that’s a problem.

Nguyen believes that our lives are increasingly organised around metrics and that these rankings don’t just track what we value. They replace it.

This episode contains some explicit language. 

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Today’s sources:

Nguyen, C. T. (2026). The Score: How to stop playing somebody else's game. Penguin Press.

On April 26th, 2026, Sebastian Sawe did what many thought was impossible. 

Running the marathon in under two hours.

Today on Nudge, I explain the psychological tricks Sawe may have used to break the record. 

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Buy Alex’s book Endure: https://amzn.to/3TdJv7P 

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Today’s sources: 

Blanchfield, A. W., Hardy, J., & Marcora, S. M. (2014). Non-conscious visual cues related to affect and action alter perception of effort and endurance performance. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 8, Article 967.

Carter, J. M., Jeukendrup, A. E., & Jones, D. A. (2004). The effect of carbohydrate mouth rinse on 1-h cycle time trial performance. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 36(12), 2107–2111.

Damisch, L., Stoberock, B., & Mussweiler, T. (2010). Keep your fingers crossed! How superstition improves performance. Psychological Science, 21(7), 1014–1020.

de Morree, H. M., & Marcora, S. M. (2010). The face of effort: Frowning muscle activity reflects effort during a physical task. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 377–382.

Gray, K. (2010). Moral transformation: Good and evil turn the weak into the mighty. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 1(3), 253–258.

Huang, D.-H., Chou, S.-W., Chen, Y.-L., & Chiou, W.-K. (2014). Frowning and jaw clenching muscle activity reflects the perception of effort during incremental workload cycling. Journal of Sports Science & Medicine, 13(4), 921–928.

McCormick, A., Meijen, C., & Marcora, S. (2018). Effects of a motivational self-talk intervention for endurance athletes completing an ultramarathon. The Sport Psychologist, 32(1), 42–50.

Stoate, I., Wulf, G., & Lewthwaite, R. (2012). Enhanced expectancies improve movement efficiency in runners. Journal of Sports Sciences, 30(8), 815–823.

Strack, F., Martin, L. L., & Stepper, S. (1988). Inhibiting and facilitating conditions of the human smile: A nonobtrusive test of the facial feedback hypothesis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54(5), 768–777.

Williams, E. L., Jones, H. S., Sparks, S., Marchant, D. C., Midgley, A. W., & McNaughton, L. R. (2014). Deception studies manipulating centrally acting performance modifiers: A review. Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 46(7), 1441–1451.

In 1997, Miss USA won Miss Universe with one perfectly judged answer.

She revealed just enough to charm, but not enough to shock.

Harvard professor Leslie John says that's scientifically proven to persuade.

Her research shows revealers are more likeable, more hireable, and even more dateable.

In this episode, she shares why oversharing beats staying guarded, why privacy promises make us shy, and how putting fears into words can cure phobias.

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Today’s sources: 

Huang, K., Yeomans, M., Brooks, A. W., Minson, J., & Gino, F. (2017). It doesn't hurt to ask: Question-asking increases liking. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113(3), 430–452.

John, L. K., Acquisti, A., & Loewenstein, G. (2011). Strangers on a plane: Context-dependent willingness to divulge sensitive information. Journal of Consumer Research, 37(5), 858–873.

John, L. K., Barasz, K., & Norton, M. I. (2016). Hiding personal information reveals the worst. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(4), 954–959.

Kircanski, K., Lieberman, M. D., & Craske, M. G. (2012). Feelings into words: Contributions of language to exposure therapy. Psychological Science, 23(10), 1086–1091.

Pennebaker, J. W., & Beall, S. K. (1986). Confronting a traumatic event: Toward an understanding of inhibition and disease. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 95(3), 274–281.

Spera, S. P., Buhrfeind, E. D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1994). Expressive writing and coping with job loss. Academy of Management Journal, 37(3), 722–733.

Katy Milkman shares one technique that could keep you exercising for 55% longer. 

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Today’s sources:

Gallus, J. (2017). Fostering public good contributions with symbolic awards: A large-scale natural field experiment at Wikipedia. Management Science, 63(12), 3999–4015.

Hershfield, H. E., Shu, S., & Benartzi, S. (2020). Temporal reframing and participation in a savings program: A field experiment. Marketing Science, 39(6), 1039-1051.

Milkman, K. L., Minson, J. A., & Volpp, K. G. M. (2014). Holding the Hunger Games hostage at the gym: An evaluation of temptation bundling. Management Science, 60(2), 283–299.

Rai, A., Sharif, M. A., Chang, E. H., Milkman, K. L., & Duckworth, A. L. (2023). A field experiment on subgoal framing to boost volunteering: The trade-off between goal granularity and flexibility. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(4), 621–634.

Woolley, K., & Fishbach, A. (2016). For the fun of it: Harnessing immediate rewards to increase persistence in long-term goals. Journal of Consumer Research, 42(6), 952–966.

To persuade someone, most of us are tempted to use fear. 

We tell clients how much they’ll struggle if they pick a competitor. We tell our kids how they’ll lose TV time if they don’t finish their homework. We plead with our partners to kick bad habits by highlighting how unhealthy it’s making them. 

We all do it; we opt for doom-and-gloom messages baked in fear.

But today's guests on Nudge, Elizabeth Dunn and JZ, explain that these messages won’t work. 

When it comes to persuasion, fear doesn’t persuade. 

To find out what does, listen to today’s episode of Nudge. 

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In a fairly inconspicuous SXSW podcast, two marketers shook the music industry. 

Jesse Coren and Andrew Spelman, two co-founders at Chaotic Good, explained how they make bands go viral. 

Their methods shocked people. 

Today on Nudge, I reveal how these two marketers use psychological hacks to manipulate the masses and make 'indie' bands mainstream. 

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Listen to the Billboard podcast: https://youtu.be/v1rP3cpilkM?si=iF2B9zzMQEZ5tSVb 

Listen to the Guardian podcast: https://www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2026/may/05/fake-fans-fake-buzz-how-your-favourite-band-got-big-podcast 

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Today’s sources: 

Mallinson, D. J., & Hatemi, P. K. (2018). The effects of information and social conformity on opinion change. PLOS ONE, 13(5), e0196600.

Muchnik, L., Aral, S., & Taylor, S. J. (2013). Social influence bias: A randomized experiment. Science, 341(6146), 647–651.

Salganik, M.Salganik, M. J., Dodds, P. S., & Watts, D. J. (2006). Experimental study of inequality and unpredictability in an artificial cultural market. Science, 311(5762), 854–856.

In 2007, two Harvard researchers added a splash of balsamic vinegar to beer. 

When drinkers knew the beer contained vinegar, they hated it. 

But when the researchers told them “this is our MIT brew," the majority loved it. 

The study reveals the secrets behind marketing. 

On today’s episode of Nudge with award-winning science writer David Robson, we explain how good marketing can shape our perception. 

Link to the bonus episode: ⁠https://nudge.kit.com/86d3e39845⁠ 

Become an FSB member: https://get.fsb.org.uk/nudge/

Read the Expectation Effect: https://amzn.to/4dvkb3s 

David’s website: https://davidrobson.me/ 

David’s Substack: https://davidarobson.substack.com/ 

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Today’s sources: 

Amar, M., Ariely, D., Bar-Hillel, M., Carmon, Z., & Ofir, C. (2011). Brand names act like marketing placebos. Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Clark, A. (2016). Surfing uncertainty: Prediction, action, and the embodied mind. Oxford University Press.

Crum, A. J., & Langer, E. J. (2007). Mind-set matters: Exercise and the placebo effect. Psychological Science, 18(2), 165–171.

Faasse, K., Martin, L.R., Grey, A., Gamble, G., and Petrie, K.J. (2016). Impact of brand or generic labeling on medication effectiveness and side effects. Health Psychology, 35(2), 187.

Grabenhorst, F., Rolls, E. T., & Bilderbeck, A. (2008). How cognition modulates affective responses to taste and flavor: Top-down influences on the orbitofrontal and pregenual cingulate cortices. Cerebral Cortex, 18(7), 1549–1559.

Lee, L., Frederick, S., & Ariely, D. (2006). Try it, you'll like it: The influence of expectation, consumption, and revelation on preferences for beer. Psychological Science, 17(12), 1054–1058.

Lidstone, S. C., Schulzer, M., Dinelle, K., Mak, E., Sossi, V., Ruth, T. J., & Stoessl, A. J. (2010). Effects of expectation on placebo-induced dopamine release in Parkinson disease. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67(8), 857–865.

Plassmann, H., O'Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(3), 1050–1054.

Quattrone, A., Barbagallo, G., Cerasa, A., & Stoessl, A. J. (2018). Neurobiology of placebo effect in Parkinson's disease: What we have learned and where we are going. Movement Disorders, 33(8), 1213–1227.

Robson, D. (2022). The expectation effect: How your mindset can transform your life. Canongate.

Spence, C., & Piqueras-Fiszman, B. (2014). The perfect meal: The multisensory science of food and dining. John Wiley & Sons.

Imagine you’re a chef. 

You are shown the recipe for a soup. It has five ingredients. 

You’re told to improve the recipe. 

What do you do? 

96% of people reveal a bias when answering this question. And that bias makes marketing less effective, communication less engaging and products less appealing. 

Find out why in today’s episode of Nudge with the award-winning professor Leidy Klotz. 

Warning: this episode contains explicit language. 

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Today’s sources: 

Adams, G. S., Converse, B. A., Hales, A. H., & Klotz, L. E. (2021). "People systematically overlook subtractive changes." Nature, 592(7853), 258–261.

Rogers, T., & Lasky-Fink, J. (2023). Writing for busy readers: Communicate more effectively in the real world. Dutton.

Zhang, Y., Fishbach, A., & Kruglanski, A. W. (2007). The dilution model: How additional goals undermine the perceived instrumentality of a shared path. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92(3), 389–401