Science backed guide to gift-giving

The world seems to be disintegrating around us. And, for some, this festive season is marked by worrying personal news, or the loss of loved ones. Frankly, in the middle of all of this, it may feel frivolous to be talking about gifts. But for those of us who feel that they have to exchange … Continue reading Science backed guide to gift-giving

The opposite of trust?

According to the Oxford Languages dictionary, the opposite of trust is distrust. The two concepts are like two sides of the same coin. However, according to the paper “What Does the Brain Tell Us About Trust and Distrust? Evidence from a Functional Neuroimaging Study”, authored by Angelika Dimoka, trust and distrust are two very different … Continue reading The opposite of trust?

[Miscellany] How Norway disrupted sushi, and Americans disrupted pasta and pizza

Two examples of phenomena that we (or, at least, I) think are linked to tradition, but are, actually, manufactured and quite recent. How Norway disrupted sushi The most popular sushi topping in Japan and, probably, around the world is salmon. Yet, this is not an option grounded on tradition. According to this article by Ida Eikvag Groth … Continue reading [Miscellany] How Norway disrupted sushi, and Americans disrupted pasta and pizza

New paper: On your marks, headset, go! Understanding the building blocks of metaverse realms

The hype around the Metaverse may have subsided, but that doesn’t mean that the belief in the potential of this technology for business has decreased. On the contrary, technology research and consulting firm, Gartner, believes that the combination of Metaverse, Web3 and AI (and especially generative AI) technologies offers numerous possibilities for firms. Nevertheless, there is no … Continue reading New paper: On your marks, headset, go! Understanding the building blocks of metaverse realms

Some reflections on the importance of awareness of algorithmic decision making

You could probably name half a dozen or so instances where you come across algorithmic decision making in your interactions with commercial organisations. There’s the news displayed on your phone, the adverts shown while you are browsing, the content recommendations in your streaming service, or the product suggestions on your online shopping platform, whether your … Continue reading Some reflections on the importance of awareness of algorithmic decision making

If the (self-service) technology broke it, the (self-service) technology should fix it

I have recently come across an interesting paper examining under what conditions customers preferred to interact with a human vs a non-human agent, after a failure with self-service technology (SST). That is, if a customer is using technology to perform a task (say, ordering something online), and something goes wrong, would customers prefer to be … Continue reading If the (self-service) technology broke it, the (self-service) technology should fix it

Book review: “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You” by Sam Gosling

This is a non-fiction book, authored by Professo of Psychology Sam Gosling. It draws on vast research by Gosling and others about how we are connected to the places where we live (e.g., the country or region where we end up settling) and those that we inhabit (our bedrooms, offices, desks…). The book unpacks how … Continue reading Book review: “Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You” by Sam Gosling

[Miscellany] Lack of originality, lack of empathy, and the upside of competition

This is another one of those blog posts where I put together some interesting stories that I have come across, recently. I will go chronologically (i.e., by date in which that blog post was published). Same old, same old One of the worries about generative AI is that it will result in the end of … Continue reading [Miscellany] Lack of originality, lack of empathy, and the upside of competition

From metaverse games to serious customer insight

Enthusiasm for the metaverse as a business asset seems to have cooled down a bit. OK, a lot. At least, judging by Google searches for the term. Nonetheless, if there’s one area where the Metaverse is still promising to deliver business value is in terms of generating customer insight. The combination of technologies such as … Continue reading From metaverse games to serious customer insight