Articles (page 29)

Give someone a mug and they will ask about twice what others will pay for it. A 2005 challenge showed the gap can vanish, and the evidence since shows when owning really does raise the price.

Forty years of studies suggest, though not unanimously, paying by card loosens the link between money and what it buys. The effect is real, smaller than the first auctions suggested, and smaller in…

The winner of a competitive bid is often the person who most overestimated the prize. Evidence from Alaskan oil leases to eBay shows when that happens, and how far experience helps.

Tell people a wine costs more and they enjoy it more, and a pleasure-related brain region responds with them. Blind tastings and larger recent studies show the effect is real but less dependable…

Ballots, wine tastings and menus often show the first option winning more than its share. The edge is real when people know little and choose fast, and it fades or flips when the list is long or the…

The 21-day rule comes from a 1960 self-help book by a plastic surgeon, not from any study of routines. Measured properly, a new habit takes anywhere from weeks to months, and the setting matters…

In a list of similar things, the item that breaks the pattern is the one we keep. The research shows it depends on what surrounds it, and that the same pull can steer a hurried choice away from what…

Sunshine is supposed to lift the mood and loosen the wallet. The largest studies find little effect on life satisfaction, and a clearer one on what people imagine they will need.

Recommendation engines are sold as mind readers, yet the published field tests put their average sales lift at one to five per cent. They also shape where you look, what everyone else ends up…