The Behavioral Science for Brands Podcast
By decoding some of the world's most famous brands and
campaigns, the Behavioral Science for Brands podcast is meant for
businesses looking to apply proven behavioral science by bridging
the gap between academic studies and practical marketing applications.
Never miss an episode and stay informed.
Ep60 - Interview: Charles Spence, author of Gastrophysics, on the science of taste appeal
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard sit down with Charles Spence, Oxford professor and author of the book Gastrophysics. We explore how taste is shaped by other senses and how brands can manipulate weight, sound, and color to enhance appeal.
Ep59 - Interview: Nir Eyal, author of Hooked, on how to form lasting habits
Behavioral design expert Nir Eyal joins the podcast to break down the psychology behind habit-forming products. He explains his "Hooked" model—Triggers, Action, Variable Rewards, and Investment—and shares actionable insights for brands looking to drive consumer engagement and long-term loyalty.
Ep58 - How using humor helped Aviation gin laugh all the way to the bank
This week MichaelAaron and Richard explore the behavioral science behind Aviation Gin’s success, focusing on humor as a powerful yet underused tool. We discuss Nisbett’s halo effect, where excelling in one area (like humor) boosts perceptions in others, like trustworthiness.
Ep57 - Interview: Roger Dooley, author of Brainfluence, on the practical marketing lessons from behavioural science
In this episode, we chat with Roger Dooley, author of the book Brainfluence. We discuss the importance of making desired behaviors easy, the role of experimentation, and how brands can prioritize key behavioral biases for impact.
Ep56 - How Eleven Madison Park applied the peak-end rule to become the best restaurant in the world
This week's episode explores Eleven Madison Park’s rise to fame, focusing on their legendary customer service and use of the peak-end rule to enhance diners’ memories.
Ep55 - Interview: Sarah Carter, co-author of How Not to Plan, on using behavioural science to improve health and sustainability
In this episode, guest Sarah Carter shares how marketers can use behavioral science for positive change—promoting veggies, train travel, or even safe sex. They explore biases such as social proof, reframing, and the illusion of control in this insightful conversation.
Ep54 - How Kraft kept their healthier product secret to avoid the problem of expectation assimilation
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard discuss the behavioral science behind Kraft Mac & Cheese’s success - from how they launched a healthier formulation without hurting sales to designing packaging that grabs attention using face-like shapes.
Ep53 - Interview: Todd Rogers, Harvard psychologist and author of Writing for Busy Readers, on the psychology of great copywriting
On this week's podcast, Richard interviews Harvard professor Todd Rogers on using behavioral science to improve copywriting. They discuss the power of brevity, simple language, and clear design, sharing actionable tips you can apply to your writing today.
Ep52 - How Pret a Manger harnessed variable rewards to recover from the pandemic
In this episode, we explore Pret a Manger’s impressive post-pandemic recovery, despite headwinds caused by remote working trends. MichaelAaron and Richard uncover how Pret leveraged the sunk cost effect and variable rewards to drive their success.
Ep51 - Interview: Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of Everybody Lies, on how to uncover hidden consumer motivations
MichaelAaron and Richard sit down with economist and data scientist Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, who reveals why direct questions often don't reveal one's true motivations. They also unpack concepts like the illusion of effort, the curse of knowledge, and how to handle conflicting datasets effectively.
Ep50 - The replication crisis: How to avoid basing your marketing on bogus findings
This episode dives into a concept known as "replication crisis" in behavioral science. We explore how repeated attempts to replicate certain studies have yielded results that challenge or contradict the original findings, calling their validity into question. We highlight some well-known studies to be cautious of and share practical advice on how to ensure the findings you apply are reliable.
Ep49 - How to change habitual customer behaviour in the New Year
In this episode, MichaelAaron and Richard dive into how brands can harness the fresh start effect to inspire lasting changes in consumer behavior. They also explore the importance of simplifying the first steps of a new habit to increase its chances of sticking over time.
Ep48 - Interview: Phil Barden, author of Decoded, on how to apply neuroscience to marketing
In this episode we speak to Phil Barden, author of Decoded and Managing Director at DECODE Marketing. His excellent book was one of the earliest to look at how ideas from neuroscience and behavioral economics could be used to improve marketing.
Ep47 - The behavioural science behind the perfect gift
With the holiday season quickly approaching, MichaelAaron and Richard take a closer look into the behavioral science behind one of humanity's oldest traditions: the giving and receiving of gifts.
Ep46 - Interview: Les Binet, co-author of The Long and the Short of It, on the secrets behind effective advertising
MichaelAaron and Richard sit down with celebrated author and marketing thought leader Les Binet to discuss his research and insights in the field of advertising effectiveness.
Ep45 - Get Out the Vote: How behavioral science can boost voter turnout
Richard and MichaelAaron discuss how marketers have used behavioral science techniques to increase voter participation.
Ep44 - How indulgence brands can benefit from moral licensing
Moral Licensing: the hidden force driving your guilty pleasures.
Ep43 - Interview: Matt Johnson, author of Blindsight, on the behavioral science lessons of Pret a Manger and Perrier
Matt Johnson talks about how Pret a Manger excites customers with uncertain rewards, Perrier's use of essentialism to launch in the US, and why brands should market to groups, not individuals.
Ep42 - Interview: Kate Waters, director of client strategy at ITV, on how the AA, Zoe and Spotify use behavioral science
The practical application of behavioral science with Kate Waters
Ep41 - How Starbucks used scarcity to create the cult of the Pumpkin Spiced Latte
How Starbucks Made Pumpkin Spice Latte a Cult Favorite with Scarcity
Ep40 - How Disney uses the peak-end rule to manage queues and spark joy
How the Peak-End Rule Sparks Delight.
Ep39 - Summer holidays: using nostalgia to increase willingness to pay
How holiday marketing uses nostalgia to sell experiences.
Ep38 - The marketing lessons from penalty kicks: The lessons behind action bias and fluent devices
How football shows us that maintaining course can deliver expected results related to marketing.
Ep37 - Interview: Owain Service, former MD of the UK Behavioural Insights Team, on how to apply psychology in the public sector
How behavioral science is used in various sectors of the world, with Owain Service joining in as a guest.
Ep36 - How Liquid Death broke category norms to stand out from the crowd
How Liquid Death made itself stand apart from the crowd with a distinctive style and the behavioral science empowering it.
Ep35 - Kentucky derby: gambling and the danger of overconfidence
How the Kentucky Derby gives bettors a wealth of data to deliver a false sense of confidence and how this is applied to brands.
Ep34 - Three biases that promote sustainable behaviour
How the sustainability movement can be applied to brands and the biases involved with it.
Ep33 - How Red Bull used the principle of relativity to shrink their can and grow their sales
How Red Bull handled its expansion from a traditional recipe in Thailand to having more than 8 billion cans sold worldwide every year.
Ep32 - How Chipotle employs the pique effect to generate excitement
How Chipotle used data points derived from their orders to formulate and execute a successful marketing campaign.
Ep31 - How Costco uses the sunk cost effect to drive repeat purchase
How consumer behavior can be decided by loyalty programes and the theory of sunken cost
Ep30 - Interview: Tali Sharot, author of The Optimism Bias, on how to create positive consumer expectations
How consumer behavior has the tendency to overestimate the likelihood of positive events and underestimate the likelihood of negative events
Ep29 - Valentine’s Day and why much market research is misleading
How intricate Valentine's Day between stated motivations and real behaviors through enlightening studies and practical experiments.
Ep28 - The Super Bowl: why costly signalling makes messages more effective
How brands continue to win consumer sentiment and positive public perception through Super Bowl ads.
Ep27 - Interview: Mark Earls, author of Herd, on how to use behavioral economics in business and beyond
How behavioral science is leveraged to influence public policies and economics.
Ep26 - Interview: Phill Agnew, host of the Nudge Podcast, on three ways to tap into consumer psychology
How a person's impression of someone can influence their feelings towards them and the how impactful the illusion of labor can be.
Ep25 - New Year's Resolution: The power of a public commitment
How New Year's Resolutions can be achieved with a motivation to change and compounding good habits.
Ep24 - How UberEats makes picking simpler to scale up sales
How Uber Eats masterfully curates menus, sidesteps choice confusion, and plays the pricing game to make you crave those French fries on a Friday night.
Ep23 - How Apple made its benefits more memorable by making them concrete
How Apple masters psychology and simplicity to keep you hooked.
Ep22 - How Got Milk? harnessed loss aversion to win market share
How "Got Milk" turned milk mustaches, celebrities, and FOMO into a billion-dollar industry.
Ep21 - How De Beers used anchoring to create perhaps the world’s most successful ad
How De Beers invented the diamond engagement ring and made diamonds forever.
Ep20 - How ‘Don’t Mess With Texas’ achieved success by recognizing ads are a weak force
How the "Don't Mess With Texas" campaign reframed littering, using behavioral science and avoiding authoritarian messaging.
Ep19 - How Snickers use trigger moments to drive consumption
How Snickers humorously triggers your inner hangry self to crave their candy bars.
Ep18 - How The Economist used the generation effect to make their ads memorable
How The Economist effectively used the generation and decoy effects, boosting circulation and brand engagement significantly.
Ep17 - How Facebook harnesses uncertain rewards to build a sticky user experience
How Zuckerberg intertwined computer programming and psychology to create a billion dollar company.
Ep16 - How political campaigns have applied behavioural science to sway their audience
How past American presidential campaigns captured the moment of our nation and won the hearts of many.
Ep15 - How Blue Apron adds a little friction to boost taste perceptions
How Blue Apron created home chefs though the balance of friction.
Ep14 - How Grey Goose uses price to signal superior quality
How Grey Goose convinced audiences that French vodka tastes better.
Ep13 - How Dyson uses the illusion of effort to set expectations of excellence
How Dyson revolutionized household appliances from product design to brand marketing leveraging key behavioral science tactics.
Ep12 - How KFC used scarcity in a creative way to drum up sales
How KFC’s approach to innovation, based on behavioral science, made them a leader in the fast food industry.
Ep11 - How Spotify harnesses the fresh start effect to encourage new listening habits
How Spotify revolutionized the music industry while leveraging behavioral science tactics to gain popularity.
Ep10 - How Uber creates psychological distance to make prices feel smaller
How Uber makes payment less painful.
Bonus Episode - The key lessons from Richard’s new book, The Illusion of Choice
How marketers can use Richard Shotton’s new book, The Illusion of Choice, to make their advertising more effective.
Ep08 - How Wellow uses the science of sound to signal comfort
How Wellow Compression Socks rooted their name and brand positioning in behavioral science
Ep07 - How Pringles used rhyme to become America’s top chip
How Pringles leveraged behavioral science to become America's favorite chip.
Ep06 - How Amazon has ruthlessly removed friction to encourage customers to come back for more
How Amazon Uses Behavioral Science to Dominate E-Commerce
Ep05 - How Aboslut’s distinctiveness helped them grow market share in a crowded category
How Absolut turned the iconic shape of its bottle into a cultural phenomenon.
Ep04 - How Häagen-Dazs used foreign branding to create a premium image
How Haagen-Dazs used factious words and invented the category of luxury ice cream.
Ep03 - How Aperol applies the power of lateral social proof to become more appealing
How a single distinctive color drove the remarkable success of Aperol.
Ep02 - How L'Oréal emphasizes their cost to signal quality
How L'Oréal Paris' famed tagline has endured the test of time.
About the Hosts
MichaelAaron Flicker and Richard Shotton are two entrepreneurs and thought leaders
committed to applying behavior science to increase the effectiveness of marketing and
advertising. They have jointly launched the Consumer Behavior Lab, an R+D unit that
brings the benefits of behavioral science to companies and brands across America.
MichaelAaron Flicker
Founder of XenoPsi
Richard Shotton
Founder of Astroten, Ltd.
MichaelAaron Flicker
As a thought leader at the intersection of business consulting, advertising and technology, MichaelAaron is passionate about helping brands tackle their toughest business challenges. He excels at bringing innovative, growth-driving thinking to a variety of businesses, concentrating on start-up and challenger brands across a wide variety of sectors.
Richard Shotton
Richard is the author of The Illusion of Choice and The Choice Factory, a best-selling book on how to apply findings from behavioral science to marketing and advertising. Astroten is based in London and helps such clients as Google, Barclays, BrewDog and Facebook to better understand why consumers make the decisions they do and how to better influence their decision making process.
Celebrating Richard's Second Book
Critical Acclaim From The Industry
“
The Illusion of Choice is provocative and practical. Shotton utilizes the best of behavioral science to demonstrate surprising ways you can improve your business.
— Seth Stephens-Davidowitz
New York Times Best Selling Author, Everybody Lies
“
No one should be allowed near a layout pad or a keyboard until they have read this book. It is an antidote to the tediously direct and transactional nature of much of modern marketing.
— Rory Sutherland
Columnist for the Spectator & Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy One
“
The Illusion of Choice explains lesser-known research in an easy-to-read manner to give consumers and businesses insights into how products persuade.
— Nir Eyal
Author of Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products
“
Comprehensive, compelling and immensely practical, the Choice Factory brings the building blocks of behavior change together in one place.
— Richard Huntington
Chairman & Chief Strategy Officer, Saatchi & Saatchi
“
In a cacophony of overstatement, Richard Shotton possesses a melodious and balanced voice. In this short but powerful tome you can learn about how marketing actually does influence consumers.
— Mark Ritson
Columnist for Marketing Week and Professor at Melbourne Business School
“
A short guide to applying behavioral economics to marketing, this book is both fun and useful. A great little bag of tricks!
— Les Binet
Head of Effectiveness at adam&eveDDB & Expert in Econometrics
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