Are men who are insecure about their manhood more likely to buy sports cars? Do memes work for government communication? Does brand colour change the products we buy? And will an AI ever replace a police interrogator? These are some of the questions Jo Evershed, a psychological scientist and CEO, helps me answer on today’s episode of Nudge. --- Start using Riverside for free: https://bit.ly/PhilAgnew Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Learn more about Gorilla: https://gorilla.sc/ Connect with Jo on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jo-evershed-36bba9/ Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- Today’s sources: CX Lab. (n.d.). CX Lab case study [Blog post]. Gorilla Experiment Builder. https://gorilla.sc/blog/cx-lab-case-study Shang, J., Reed, A., & Croson, R. (2008). Identity congruency effects on donations. Journal of Marketing Research, 45(3), 351–361. Tasnim, A., Kwan, C., Chahboub, M., Liu, A., & Humairah, A. (n.d.). Saving trees one meme at a time: An investigation into how meme-style posts influence behavioural intentions to water street trees [Unpublished manuscript]. University College London.
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. --- Watch the Birdbox vs Frankie & Benny's Taste Test: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqcZ_5NixfM Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Subscribe to my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- 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. --- Get my 40 small bets: https://nudge.kit.com/c69cd49a9a Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join 12,199 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ 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 --- Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Leslie’s book Revealing: https://amzn.to/3RkFTAq Leslie’s website: https://www.proflesliejohn.com/ Join 12,199 readers of the Nudge Newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- 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. --- Get Thi’s book The Score: https://amzn.to/4fsqxTD Unlock the Nudge Vaults: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults Join 12,411 readers of my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/ --- Today’s sources: Nguyen, C. T. (2026). The Score: How to stop playing somebody else's game. Penguin Press.