Business and Social Media (17:06)

Anjana Susarla is a professor of business at Michigan State University. We all saw the video, a bloody man being dragged off a United Airlines flight.  If your fears of flying wernʻt justified by that video, it might have left you just a little bit angry.  Whatever your reaction, social media took that video and made United Airlines the biggest P-R flub of the year. Anjana Susuarla explains how companies are reacting to the social contract they have with the public and the importance of social media to a business bottom line.

 

Kids and Emotional Eating (1:04:52)

Silje Steinsbekk, an Associate Professor at the Dept. of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a clinical child,- and adolescent psychologist. Surveys reveal that 38% of adults say that they eat more when stressed or sad. The problem is that emotional eating increases your risk of becoming overweight: regularly eating a large number of additional calories for reasons other than hunger will do your waistline no favors. Previous research shows that a tendency to eat for comfort begins in early childhood, but we know very little about where this actually comes from, especially during the important formative years. Is comfort eating triggered by nurture or nature? Silje Steinsbekk has performed some research and is here today to share her results.

 

Amazon Dives into Groceries (1:50:10)

Roger Meiners is a Goolsby-Rosenthal Endowed Chair of Economics at the University of Texas-Arlington. His research interests focus on legal and economic aspects of environmental policy. Amazon has recently rolled out their Amazon Pantry program where you can have grocery products – bananas, bread, milk, and even ice cream – shipped next-day to your doorstep. Amazon also recently acquired the Whole Foods grocery chain as a subsidiary and now we are wondering, what is the future of grocery shopping? Roger Meiners explains what Amazon is thinking as they make inroads into the grocery business.