Schulich’s Behavioural Research Lab: Uncovering Novel Insights About Human Behaviour
What makes people tick? And why do people sometimes act the way they do?
It’s a question we all want to know the answer to – especially those of us who are in the business of providing a product or service to people.
Schulich’s Behavourial Research Lab conducts cutting-edge research that delves deeply into these and related issues in order to generate novel insights that can be used by businesses and organizations. In this month’s column by Peter Darke, Director of the Lab, we share some of the Lab’s latest research findings – a fascinating mix of highly innovative and sometimes counter-intuitive discoveries that reveal the inner workings of the consumer mind.
Another noteworthy service provided by the Lab is that Schulich students have the opportunity to take part in various research projects as an experiential educational opportunity. Students not only get firsthand experience with how research is conducted, but they are also able to apply what they have learned to real-world business problems.
But what makes the Lab’s research work especially important is the fact that business practitioners can apply these consumer insights to how they market their product offerings – insights that can be parlayed into increased profitability and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Best,
Detlev Zwick, PhD
Dean, Tanna H. Schulich Chair in Digital Marketing Strategy
Schulich School of Business
Schulich’s Behavioural Research Lab: Uncovering Novel Insights About Human Behaviour
Scientific Director
Professor of Marketing
The Behavioural Research Lab is a state-of-the-art testing facility housed at Schulich since 2014. It includes approximately 25 computers and an impressive array of specially calibrated equipment to measure arousal levels and other physiological responses, such as changes in pupil size and eye-tracking. The lab is affiliated with numerous researchers and students across many disciplines at Schulich, York University, and many other universities.
A broad range of research questions have been addressed by completing studies in the lab. Some relate to classic marketing topics like word-of-mouth communication, effective product innovation, and sales promotion; whereas other research is more focused on consumer welfare and ethical concerns in marketing. The lab has allowed the faculty and students who use it to publish in many top journals, helping to bolster Schulich’s world-class research reputation.
The following are some examples of the research being carried out at the Lab:
A forthcoming paper in the Journal of Consumer Research by Schulich lab member and marketing professor Nicole Mead entitled, “The Pursuit of Meaning and the Preference for Less Expensive Options” (co-written by Dr. Lawrence E. Williams, University of Colorado Boulder), examined the ways in which the pursuit of meaning shapes consumer preferences for a variety of marketplace items. This research found that those searching for personal meaning when buying tended to spend less, not more, money. This somewhat counterintuitive result was explained by the fact that these individuals tended to think about other more meaningful things they could do with the money they saved, like paying for their child’s education.
Another paper by Schulich lab member and marketing professor Grant Packard entitled, “The Persuasive Present (Tense),” has been conditionally accepted at Journal of Consumer Research (with colleagues Dr. Jonah Berger, Wharton; and Dr. Reihane Boghrati, ASU). The research paper examined the use of different verb tenses when consumers share their opinions. Someone who saw a great movie, for example, could say, “It has great cinematography” (i.e., present tense) or “It had great cinematography” (i.e., past tense). Similarly, someone who enjoyed a recent vacation might say, “The beach is beautiful” or “The beach was beautiful”. While these might seem like subtle variations, could verb tense actually influence word-of-mouth impact? In a series of experiments, lab participants were presented with the opinions of others that varied only in terms of the tense in which they were expressed. When communicators used present rather than past tense to express their opinions and experiences, it suggested they were more certain about what they were saying, which increased persuasion.
Finally, another recent paper entitled, “Winning the battle but losing the war: Ironic effects of training consumers to detect deceptive advertising tactics,” was published in the Journal of Business Ethics by me and several colleagues (Dr. Andrew Wilson, Suffolk University; and Dr. Jaideep Sengupta, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology). The research paper examined the best way to train consumers to recognize deceptive advertising tactics. The researchers found that the direct approach of educating consumers to watch out for specific deceptive tactics, like a fake expert endorsing a product, actually backfired because it ironically caused them to miss other forms of deception that they would have otherwise spotted. My colleagues and I found instead it was better to take a broad, more general approach that involved educating consumers about a variety of tactics and encouraging them to be vigilant. In other words, specific tactic training tended to turn off consumer vigilance once the trained tactic was identified, thereby lowering detection of any other tactics used. In contrast, general training evoked vigilance towards a broader set of tactics, which was not shut down by detecting any one tactic, but instead led to better detection of multiple deceptive ploys.
The researchers using Schulich’s Behavioural Research Lab are discovering valuable insights about how people behave – not only as consumers, but also as entrepreneurs and owners, managers and employees. These insights are helping businesses and other organizations better understand how we interpret the world around us and interact with one other.
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Peter Darke
Scientific Director, Behavioural Research Lab
Professor of Marketing
Director, PhD Program