The Strange Factors That Influence What You Buy & The Fascinating Story of Data

Ever wonder why mosquitoes are attracted to some people more than others? I begin this episode by discussing 5 factors that make you so irresistible to those pesky insects. https://theweek.com/articles/462191/5-things-that-make-irresistible-mosquitoes

Consumer behavior is a fascinating area of research. While people like to think they make objective decisions about what to buy or not buy, there are a lot of factors that influence those decisions such as description, price, ease of use and many more. And they influence you in ways that are not so obvious. Joining me to explain these factors is Richard Shotton. He is a behavioral scientist and author of the book The Illusion of Choice: 16 ½ Psychological Biases That Influence What We Buy (https://amzn.to/3q2Vne9).

What do you think of when you hear the word data? Doesn’t it seem that data has an air of certainty, authority and objectivity. It’s hard to argue with data, right? That’s what concerns Chris Wiggins who is here to take a hard look at the history of data, algorithms and statistics and how they have come to drive so much of our lives. Should we accept data simply because, well, it’s data? Or should we be a bit more skeptical? Chris Wiggins is an associate professor of applied mathematics at Columbia University and he is the New York Times’s chief data scientist and co-author of the book How Data Happened: A History from the Age of Reason to the Age of Algorithms (https://amzn.to/3luS1Pb).

Ever pull a green potato chip out of the bag and wonder if it is safe to eat? What about the occasional dark brown chip? What’s the deal with that one? Listen as I explain what to do with these off-color chips. https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/30746/whats-those-green-potato-chips-you-sometimes-find

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