Behavioral Science For Brands: Leveraging behavioral science in brand marketing. Interview: Uri Gneezy, author of Mixed Signals, on why misaligned incentives backfire
Aug 13, 2025
Uri Gneezy, a behavioral economist and professor at the Rady School of Management, dives into the intricacies of incentives and decision-making. He highlights how poorly designed incentives can backfire, emphasizing the importance of aligning goals with desired outcomes. Gneezy discusses societal perceptions of charitable donations and how they affect donor behavior. Additionally, he shares insights on using anticipated regret to influence consumer choices and warns about common branding pitfalls that arise from misunderstanding customer incentives.
AI Snips
Chapters
Books
Transcript
Episode notes
Pay What People Actually Hate Paying For
- Target incentives to what people truly find painful or valuable, not abstract sums.
- Rename or earmark benefits (e.g., 'gas credit') to increase perceived value.
Price As A Quality Cue
- Higher prices can act as quality signals when quality is ambiguous.
- Raising price sometimes increases demand by shifting perceptions.
The Cost Of Overhead Aversion
- Donors dislike funding overhead and may prefer visible program costs.
- Overhead aversion can block charities from hiring talent or investing in infrastructure.
