research

It seems like everyone has a loyalty program these days. Buy a cup of coffee, and you get a punch card that promises a free cup after you purchase some number of additional cups. Shop at the grocery store, and you get points to reduce the price of gas. Our wallets bulge with partially punched cards, and our keyrings are stuffed with plastic bar code tags, all in the name of loyalty. (And, of course, you have to add the original loyalty programs – airline frequent flyer clubs and credit card reward programs.) Do these actually work?

Our world these days seems to be a succession of forks in the road, points at which decisions need to be made about which pathway we collectively must take. In nearly every case, there's an unsustainable "business as usual" scenario (often shortened, unappealingly, to BAU) along with one or more alternatives.

We know that making ourselves smile or frown can actually influence our mood, and now it seems that the posture we assume can affect our confidence in our own thoughts. A study by Richard Petty, who apparently is not the NASCAR driver but rather a professor at Ohio State University, demostrated the effects of sitting up straight:

Is there something about names that attracts odd research? The last time I used “Weird News” in a Neuromarketing title was in, Weird News: Names Affect Outcomes. That article detailed research that showed a weak but significant correlation between grades and the first letter of a person’s name. Now, research at Newcastle University have found that naming cows affects outcomes, too:

Some neuroscientists have long been critical of fMRI brain scans, complaining that the technique’s colorful images may cause their data to be weighted beyond their merit. Now, two skeptical groups have published data suggesting that the way we interpret brain scans is downright fishy.

Growing Older in America by the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) is a serious bit of research. It contains 108 pages packed with research about all aspects of ageing in the US. It covers health, retirement, finance… all of the subjects you would expect.

A new report from Pew that looks at issues surrounding the “generation gap”. I will not attempt to summarise the reports findings – it contains lots of charts, tables and stuff.

Yesterday, Mashable reported Nielsen's latest Twitter numbers with the headline Stats Confirm It: Teens Don't Tweet. This gained traction on Twitter turning into the trending topic "teens don't tweet" which was primarily kept in play all day yesterday with teens responding to the TT by saying "I'm a teen" or the equivalent of "you're all idiots... what am I, mashed potatoes?"

Over the years, movie-makers have tried to go beyond what’s on the screen to scare theatergoers. In the 1950s, director William Castle startled those viewing his horror films, notably The Tingler, with gimmicks like vibrators installed under some theater seats. When the creature escapes into a theater in the movie, Vincent Price’s voice warns the viewers that the Tingler is loose and tells them to scream. At this moment, the theater projectionist would activate buzzers under the seats of a few people in the audience, often eliciting the desired screams.