I’ve spent weeks writing handwritten letters rather than emails. I’m running an experiment inspired by today’s guest, Harvard Professor Mike Norton. Mike’s the scientist behind the IKEA Effect, and in today’s Nudge, he explains how that bias could help me gain more reviews. Did it work? Find out on today’s episode of Nudge.

Mike’s book Ritual Effect: https://tinyurl.com/mwbvws3n

Watch Nudgestock: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgestock

Control emails: https://im.ge/i/Control-emails.fEPKZW

Handwritten emails: https://im.ge/i/handwritten-emails.fEPfX0

Stats for the control email: https://im.ge/i/Control.fEP9YK

Stats for the handwritten email: https://im.ge/i/Handwritten-variant.fEP5hF

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

This is one of my favourite interviews of the year. Listen, and you’ll learn why you should go last in a job interview, why you should pay incentives out in regular but smaller sums, and how you should always list your benefits in threes. 

Steve’s book: https://tinyurl.com/23u5aysv

Steve’s website: https://influenceatwork.co.uk/

Subscribe to the Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

I spent four hours watching 300 ads back to back. 

Today, I reveal how they use psychological principles to persuade you. 

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

The world’s best websites follow psychology-backed rules. Today’s guest, Thomas McKinlay, has read over 500 scientific marketing papers to figure out how to create a perfect website. On this episode of Nudge, he shares all the secrets. 

Thomas’s newsletter: https://www.sciencesays.com

Subscribe to the Nudge newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

Get the bonus episode: https://nudge.ck.page/2a6d523eea

In today’s episode, I use a marketing psychology principle to try to go viral on YouTube. Did it work? Listen to find out. 

Effortful YouTube video: https://youtu.be/L6ueaBYDop8?si=5kHrlW66Fdzk6yTb

Effortless YouTube video: https://youtu.be/bhMCGaRsyUQ?si=LSXqZExxOZX7gIji

Sign up for the Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

I shrunk Britain’s favourite bread and showed it to a dozen Brits from Bolton. I was experimenting with shrinkflation. Companies shrink the size of their products without changing the price, benefiting from a psychological bias that means we struggle to notice small changes. Today, chatting with Grace Forell from Which?, I figure out the psychology behind shrinkflation, why it works, and I test if anyone notices my shrunken loaf of bread. 

Methods of Persuasion: https://www.kolenda.io/books

Grace Forell’s podcast: https://tinyurl.com/38hu99bu

Today, I try to persuade 20 total strangers to listen to Nudge. To help, I’ve asked Brain Ahearn for advice. Brian’s Tedx talk on pre-suasion has been viewed by over 1 million people. He teaches tactics that anyone can use. So, I put his advice to the test. I’ve found 40 strangers and asked them if they’d listen to Nudge, but for 20 I used Brian’s ‘pre-suasion’. Did it work? Tune in to find out. 

Brian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianfahearn/

Brian’s website: https://influencepeople.biz/

Learn more about Voxpopme: https://www.voxpopme.com/

What makes us happy? This question generates wildly different answers. I asked four Nudge listeners and got four different answers. Being the behavioural science nerd I am, I’ve always wondered if there is a scientific answer to this question. Is there a study that reveals the secrets behind the good life?

Yes, there is. It’s the longest study on human happiness ever conducted. Today, I spoke to Marc Schulz, the associate director of that study, and he shared the results.

What causes a happy life? Find out on today’s episode of Nudge.

Marc’s book The Good Life: https://tinyurl.com/3fzcwuhp

Access the Bonus Episode: https://nudge.ck.page/8c8b5f6c05

Robert Cialdini is known to most as the godfather of influence. But is his 40-year-old book still relevant? Today, with Bas Wouters, best-selling author and CEO of the Cialdini Influence, we debate whether Cialdini’s 1984 findings still apply. 

How I persuaded 8 influencers to promote Nudge: https://tinyurl.com/y8dvy9xk

Bas’s book Online Influence: https://www.onlineinfluence.com/book-online-influence/

Cialdini’s latest edition of Influence: https://tinyurl.com/2sdz9524

BBC’s Bickman experiment: https://youtu.be/4jcleVvgchs?si=hxG2nodA_1vAZfDS

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

I’ve spent hundreds of hours playing Nintendo Brain Training. I’ve always thought it’d make me smarter. Most people agree. I asked 25 Brits, and 24 said it “helps their memory.” And yet, my guest on Nudge, Prof Dan Simons, thinks we’re all wrong. So, does Nintendo brain training work? Well, in today’s episode of Nudge, I find out. 

First, I analysed the dozens of ads Nintendo had put out. I share the psychological nudges they used to persuade us and how they made their game so popular. Then, I run my own experiment. For 5 days, I play Nintendo Brain Training. I record my progress and measure if my intelligence has improved after a week. And finally, I chat with Professor Dan Simons and hear why he thinks so many people like me were lured in by Brain Training’s claims. 

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

Learn more about Voxpopme: https://www.voxpopme.com/

This advice has changed the way I work. 

Professor Adam Alter covers the science behind creativity, Bob Dylan’s songwriting tricks, Pfizer’s profitable pivot, Pixar’s crowd-based wisdom, and one study that changed my perspective on creativity. 

Adam’s book: https://adamalterauthor.com/anatomy

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

Mike Temple’s Blowin’ cover: https://youtu.be/tFgohZ8xtnI?si=z0LYO9E2qX5PCEEw