A selection of articles and essays on consumer behaviour, research, and decision-making.
While no longer updated regularly, this archive reflects some of the themes and thinking behind Philip’s work.
Brand Influence: How the Brands You Buy Change Who You Are
It’s hard to regard the success of the Red Bull brand as anything less than astonishing. They took a workers’ energy drink from Thailand and turned it into one of the biggest brands in the world. Not bad for a product that marke…
Branding for Children: Unconscious Influence
Take a look at the image above. I think it’s fair to say it looks nothing like a cereal you would expect to find on the breakfast table of most households these days, particularly those with children. It’s not just breakfast cer…
The Psychology of Shopping: the Tesco Clubcard
The British supermarket chain, Tesco, has grown very successfully over the years and is now the world’s third largest retailer. According to one source more than 15 million people in the UK had a Tesco Clubcard (it’s loyalty car…
First Impressions are Hard to Change
Most people have heard the old saying, “First impressions last”. Most of us have also probably had an occasion when we’ve made a bad first impression and wished we could change it. The psychological phenomenon of priming i…
Beyond Economics: Valuing Behavioural Insight
Despite the millions spent on market research, there is relatively little effort made to gauge the value of that investment. For the most part there is a default assumption, a belief, that asking people questions is a valid and useful thing…
Does Sorry Mean Less than You Imagine?
Inevitably, when dealing with customers, something goes wrong. When I had to get my mountain bike’s gears serviced at the local shop – I’d tried but got nowhere – all seemed well. But a couple of days after getting t…
The Evolution of Shopping: How Far Have we Come?
Sometimes people get confused between equality of opportunity and equality. A quick glance at sporting world records will show that men and women are not equal. Before I go further, I should warn you that this article deals in generalisatio…
How to Spend Less: Use Your Imagination!
At this time of year many people are making their New Year resolutions about how they’re going to do thing differently in the coming year. Often their choices are shaped by their festive excesses; losing weight or getting their financ…
How to Look Younger (Without Plastic Surgery)
Demand for plastic surgery is increasing dramatically. Whilst there’s no denying that the surgeons are getting more skilled and the techniques being used are advancing all the time, I can’t help but think that the main problem w…