At the end of the day, business is all about incentives and thinking about the way people act.
Understanding what motivates people is the basis for a huge field of research — behavioral
Carmen Nobel at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge recently took a look at some business school studies to learn about
Order groceries in advance
Researchers Todd Rogers, Katherine L. Milkman, and Max H. Bazerman from Harvard Business School wanted to look at how decisions made for tomorrow differ from those made say, a few days or a week in advance.
The data they used was from online grocery shopping, and they found that "as the delay between order completion and delivery increases, grocery customers spend less, order a higher percentage of "should" items (e.g., vegetables), and order a lower percentage of "want" items (e.g., ice cream)"
Find the full study here
Make a habit of carrying a heavier bag
No, it's not to burn extra calories.
The idea of
They found that students who wore a heavy backpack experienced higher levels of guilt, and were also more likely to pick healthy snacks as opposed to guilt inducing ones like chocolate.
Find the full study here
Try a "power pose"
Research from Harvard's Amy Cuddy has found that as little as two minutes in an open, expansive stance she calls a "power pose" can increase feelings of confidence and power. It actually affects hormone levels, as this chart from the study shows. The left side shows an increase in testosterone after a high-power pose, and the right a reduction in cortisol, a stress hormone.
High levels of cortisol have been shown to lead to increased abdominal fat.
Find more tips at Harvard Business School Working Knowledge