Neuroscience Research

A vivid story can put us in a more altruistic mode, a study shows. UK researchers looked at the two ways people think about death - abstractly or specifically. They used a detailed story which placed the reader in a burning apartment…

Want to close a sale? When choosing a time to meet with your customer, don't just take the first appointment time offered to you. A recent study looked at decisions by judges, and revealed startling differences in outcomes at different…

Decisions aren't linear conclusions - they are often a battle of competing interests in the consumer's brain. Marketers need to identify some of these rivals and back a winner with their advertising.

At last, there is scientific proof that it's possible to boost generalized cognitive performance with specific training, in this case web-based brain games. For years, we've heard first that we should keep sharp by doing crossword…

Think the way to sell more is to have a frenetic pitchman whip customers into a buying frenzy? Actually, relaxed customers are bigger spenders. A new study that will appear in the Journal of Marketing Research found that relaxed…

In Dietary Decoys, we saw that adding salads to a restaurant menu actually increased sales of french fries. Research in Taiwan exposes an equally odd fact: if we take a nutritional supplement like a multivitamin, we are MORE likely to…

Are you telling customers to buy your product? Maybe you should be asking them about their intentions instead. Research shows that if you want to get people to do something, you should ask them to predict if they will do it. An…

Guess in which country someone would think it a great idea to develop big, furry cat ears that sit on your head and are supposed to show your mood. If you guessed Japan, you would be right. A little sensor arm presses against your…

Have you ever annoyed a potential customer, or made her angry? Before you decide to ignore the faux pas and press forward with the pitch, or write her off and move on to greener pastures, try this simple technique: say, "I'm sorry."…

Twitter's approach to easy social connections lets people build big networks, often quickly. Celebrities attract millions of followers. Even non-celebrities can develop many thousands of friends; some resort to automation tools to…