Most people prefer AI art until they know it’s AI-generated. 

Today on Nudge, Professor of Consumer Psychology Matt Johnson explains why. 

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Watch the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/5fa3398dfb  

More on Matt's books, work and newsletters: https://www.neuroscienceof.com/

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Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

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Sources: 

Bellaiche, L., Shahi, R., Turpin, M. H., Ragnhildstveit, A., Sprockett, S., Barr, N., & Seli, P. (2023). Humans versus AI: Whether and why we prefer human-created compared to AI-created artwork. Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, 8(1), 42.

Glenn, J., & Walker, R. (Eds.). (2012). Significant objects: 100 extraordinary stories about ordinary things. Fantagraphics.

Lecamwasam, K., & Ray Chaudhuri, T. (2025). Exploring listeners’ perceptions of AI-generated and human-composed music for functional emotional applications. arXiv preprint arXiv:2506.02856.

Oasis. (2002, April 15). Oasis – The Hindu Times (Official Video) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/Wp5zZ5cdu98

Oasis – Lost In The Clouds (AI Song). (2024, approximate). Oasis – Lost In The Clouds (AI Song) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/ZmC9RYRitLs

What determines who you vote for? 

You probably think it's due to rational reasons.

Economy. Sustainability. Immigration. Growth. 

But research shows that your choice of vote isn’t as logical as you might expect. 

In fact, all of our votes can be swayed by a largely irrelevant factor. 

And this factor can be used to change what we eat, wear, drink and buy. 

Hear how, on today’s episode of Nudge with Phil Graves.

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Phil’s book: https://shorturl.at/kzAta

Phil’s consultancy: https://www.philipgraves.net/consultancy/

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

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Today’s sources:

Cialdini, R. B., Reno, R. R., & Kallgren, C. A. (1990). A focus theory of normative conduct: Recycling the concept of norms to reduce littering in public places. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 58(6), 1015–1026.

Davis, C. J., Bowers, J. S., & Memon, A. (2011). Social influence in televised election debates: A potential distortion of democracy. PLoS ONE, 6(3), e18154.

Latané, B., & Darley, J. M. (1968). Group inhibition of bystander intervention in emergencies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 10(3), 215–221.

Martin, S. J. (2024). Influence at work: Capture attention, connect with others, convince people to act. The Economist Books (Pegasus Books).

Tanner, R. J., Ferraro, R., Chartrand, T. L., Bettman, J. R., & Van Bagren, R. (2008). Of chameleons and consumption: The impact of mimicry on choice and preferences. Journal of Consumer Research, April.

Trott, D. (2023). Crossover creativity: Real-life stories about where creativity comes from. Harriman House.

Have businesses become less accountable?

If something goes wrong with your flight, train, or takeaway, you’ll probably struggle to get a helpful response from someone.

Today’s guest on Nudge, economist Dan Davies, says this is by design.

He calls them Unaccountability Machines, and they’re taking over.

He explains that they’ve caused the world’s largest defamation settlement against Fox News, almost destroyed Boeing, and even massacred 400 Chinese squirrels.

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Dan’s book: https://profilebooks.com/work/the-unaccountability-machine/ 

Dan’s Nudgestock talk: https://youtu.be/W-2He-YzjRg?si=Gqk30nCPLDxxEh52

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

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Today’s sources: 

BBC News. (1999, April 15). Dutch airline in squirrel shredding row. BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/320810.stm

Davies, D. (2024). The Unaccountability Machine: Why big systems make terrible decisions—and how the world lost its mind. Profile Books.

I joined The Hustle Daily Show to chat about NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani's and how his campaign cracked the code of modern political psychology by embracing vulnerability, leading with policy over aesthetics, and masterfully triggering psychological reactance against establishment dismissal. I chatted with The Hustle Daily Show's Jon Weigell about attention economy, authenticity and psychological factors that made the Mamdani campaign win out. Plus: Superman soars at the box office and Snoop Dogg cashes in on soccer.
Follow The Hustle on social media:
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If you want the Hustle delivered to your inbox, join millions of others and sign up for The Hustle Daily newsletter, here: ⁠https://thehustle.co/email/⁠ 

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Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

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A few weeks back I debunked five studies on priming.

But did I get it wrong? 

Today’s guest on Nudge thinks I missed something. 

Tune in to hear consumer behaviour expert Philip Graves explain his view on priming. 

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Phil’s book: https://shorturl.at/kzAta

Phil’s consultancy: https://www.philipgraves.net/consultancy/

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

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Today’s sources: 

Li, W., Moallem, I., Paller, K.A. & Gottfried, J.A. (2007) Subliminal smells can guide social preferences, Psychological Science, 18(12): 1044-9.

Plassmann, H., O' Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008) Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(3).

Spence, C., & Wang, Q. (2017). Assessing the impact of closure type on wine ratings and mood. Beverages, 3(4), 52.

University of Georgia. (2008). Simple recipe for ad success: Just add art. ScienceDaily.

Wansink, B., & van Ittersum, K. (2007, August 6). Bad wine can ruin a good meal [Press release]. Cornell University.

Yoon, S.-O. & Simonson, I. (2008) Choice set configuration as a determinant of preference attribution and strength, Journal of Consumer Research, 35(2): 324.

In 1985, Coca-Cola changed its flavour.

You probably know that this was a complete failure.

‘New Coke’ was discontinued after just 79 days.

But you probably don’t know the true reason why New Coke failed.

Many claim it was due to poor market research, but today’s guest on Nudge, leading consumer behaviour expert Philip Graves, disagrees.

Philip says New Coke failed not because the research was poor, but because market research is inherently flawed.

Want to understand the biggest marketing blunder of the century? Listen to today’s Nudge.

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Phil’s book: https://shorturl.at/kzAta

Phil’s consultancy: https://www.philipgraves.net/consultancy/

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

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Today’s sources:

Dutton, D. G., & Aron, A. P. (1974). Some evidence for heightened sexual attraction under conditions of high anxiety. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 30(4), 510–517.

Graves, P. (2010). Consumer.ology: The market research myth, the truth about consumers and the psychology of shopping. Nicholas Brealey.

Hasel, L.E. & Kassin, S.M. (2009). On the presumption of evidentiary independence: Can confessions corrupt eyewitness identifications? Psychological Science, 20(1), 122.

McClure, S. M., Li, J., Tomlin, D., Cypert, K. S., Montague, L. M., & Montague, P. R. (2004). Neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. Neuron, 44(2), 379–387.

Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231–259.

Paul Zak can predict what customers buy without speaking to them. 

He’s even able to boost charitable donations by spraying a donor with hormones.

Find out how in today’s episode of Nudge. 

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Read Paul’s book Immersion: https://shorturl.at/YcYxu 

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

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Today’s sources: 

Nisbett, R. E., & Wilson, T. D. (1977). Telling more than we can know: Verbal reports on mental processes. Psychological Review, 84(3), 231–259.

Rogers, R. W., & Mewborn, C. R. (1976). Fear appeals and attitude change: Effects of a threat’s noxiousness, probability of occurrence, and the efficacy of coping responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34(1), 54–61.

Zak, P. J. (2022). Immersion: The science of the extraordinary and the source of happiness. Lioncrest Publishing.

97% of independent films fail. Boiling Point did not. Today, I chat with executive producer Paul Mellor to learn how this movie applied psychological principles to outperform its peers and compete against blockbusters like James Bond. 

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Join the Nudge Vaults waiting list: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/vaults

Paul’s 13.5 ways to grow an underdog: https://www.mellorandsmith.com/13-ways-to-grow-your-underdog-brand

Paul’s agency: https://www.mellorandsmith.com/

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

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Binet, L., & Carter, S. (2018). How Not to Plan: 66 ways to screw it up. APG/Matador.

Cialdini, R. B. (2016). Pre‑suasion: A revolutionary way to influence and persuade. Simon & Schuster.

Ryan, J. D., & Cohen, N. J. (2004). The nature of change detection and online representations of scenes. Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 30(5), 988–1015.

Trott, D. (2019). Creative Blindness (and How to Cure It): Real‑life stories of remarkable creative vision. Harriman House.

van den Broek, E., & den Heijer, T. (2024). The Housefly Effect: How nudge psychology steers your everyday behaviour. Bedford Square Publishers.

How would you encourage sustainable behaviour? 

You might assume logical messages work best. 

Stuff like “the average three-hour flight creates ~250–400 kg of CO₂”. 

But today’s guest on Nudge has tested logical messages. 

And they don’t work. 

Today on Nudge, Toby Park from the Behavioural Insights Team explains how renaming a meat-free dish doubled its sales. Why targeting home-movers made Americans 400% more likely to cycle. How social norms can increase sales by 20%. And the reframing led the majority of Brits to choose energy-efficient fridges. 

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Watch the bonus episode: https://nudge.kit.com/27720ca0ad

Connect with Toby on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/toby-park-67773279/ 

Read Toby’s Net Zero Report: https://shorturl.at/Wy8RP

How to Build a Net Zero Society: https://shorturl.at/0PcRk

Sign up for my newsletter: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/mailing-list 

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew-22213187/ 

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/ 

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Sources: 

Das, G., Spence, M. T., & Agarwal, J. (2021). Social selling cues: The dynamics of posting numbers viewed and bought on customers' purchase intentions. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(4), 994–1016.

Kirkman, E. (2019). Free riding or discounted riding? How the framing of a bike share offer impacts redemption. Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 2(2), 1–10.

Park, T., Whincup, E., Parker, F., & Bhura, A. (2024). Net Zero communications, marketing and public engagement: Why we need it, and what we can learn from past case studies [Report]. Behavioural Insights Team.

Shotton, R. (2018). The Choice Factory: 25 behavioural biases that influence what we buy. Harriman House.

Sparkman, G., & Walton, G. M. (2017). Dynamic norms promote sustainable behavior, even if it is counternormative. Psychological Science, 28(11), 1663–1674.

Turnwald, B. P., Boles, D. Z., & Crum, A. J. (2017). Association Between Indulgent Descriptions and Vegetable Consumption: Twisted Carrots and Dynamite Beets. JAMA Internal Medicine, 177(8), 1216–1218.

Vennard, D., Park, T., & Attwood, S. (2019). Encouraging Sustainable Food Consumption By Using More-Appetizing Language.

Super Mario Bros is 40 years old. It’s an incredibly simple game (it takes up the same memory as a smartphone wallpaper), yet it’s incredibly popular. Over 40 million people have played it. Why? Because it’s packed with psychological tips that hook players in and keep them playing. Today, Ramli John explains the subtle behavioural science tricks Super Mario games use to keep us playing.

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Ramli’s book EUREKA: https://www.delightpath.com/book/eureka

Ramli’s website: https://www.delightpath.com/

Subscribe to the (free) Nudge Newsletter: https://nudge.ck.page/profile

Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/phill-agnew/

Watch Nudge on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@nudgepodcast/

Visit the new website: https://www.nudgepodcast.com/

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Sources: 

Alter, A. L. (2023). Anatomy of a breakthrough: How to get unstuck when it matters most. Simon & Schuster.

Allen, E. J., Dechow, P. M., Pope, D. G., & Wu, G. (2017). Reference-dependent preferences: Evidence from marathon runners. Management Science, 63(6), 1657–1672.

Fishbach, A. (2022). Get It Done: Surprising lessons from the science of motivation. Little, Brown Spark.

Graves, P. (2010). Consumer.ology: The truth about consumers and the psychology of shopping. Nicholas Brealey Publishing.

Kivetz, R., Urminsky, O., & Zheng, Y. (2006). The goal‑gradient hypothesis resurrected: Purchase acceleration, illusionary goal progress, and customer retention. Journal of Marketing Research, 43(1), 39–58.

Music by Koji Kondo, © 1985 Nintendo