Slides of the keynote of Ben Ambridge at Conversion Hotel 2016: http://www.conversionhotel.com - Psychology myths debunked

1. Trust nobody.
Trust your data.
Ben Ambridge
Head of Consumer Psychology, Endless Gain

2. Psychological Intelligence: PSY-Q

5. Problem

6. A H I B U E E V S D K E S T E Y U T
E H E H A I O A S O L R R W Y Z A B
I Q U F M K U E N E O H D S R E B S
E P F V A M E U U B K P Y U E A I A
U K I T T E N S H Y H A U N D B H H
J P I K W N D T T E I S U S O S Y J
A O J L E E Q I O S E I P H S F C I
A K L H A P P Y Q R F G D I C H I A
J B P B V E C I O H I Y H N Y Y K I
T I I H X A A N D O L F E E H T Y B
H A K Y K C C S L D O E G I T T C I
E H R L P E A S M A P H G C H F I D
Wordsearch
A H I B U E E V S D K E S T E Y U T
E C A S H I O A S O L W R W Y Z F B
I Q U F M K U E N E O O D U R E I S
E P F V A M E U U B K N Y Y E A N A
U O K P R O F I T S H G U Q D B A H
J P I K W N D T T E I A U D O S N J
A O J L E E Q I O S E I P C S F C I
A K L I B Y U A Q R F G D X C H I A
J B P B V O C I O H D O U G H Y A I
T I I H X L A N D O L F E G H T L B
B U S I N E S S L D O E G I T T C I
E H R L P O A S M A P H G C H F I D

7. • Most economic policies in Europe serve the greater good
• Many people suffer through no fault of their own
• Some groups of people are simply inferior to others
• The most fair economic system is a market system in which everyone is
allowed to independently pursue their own economic interests
Wordsearch

8. A H I B U E E V S D K E S T E Y U T
E C A S H I O A S O L W R W Y Z F B
I Q U F M K U E N E O O D U R E I S
E P F V A M E U U B K N Y Y E A N A
U O K P R O F I T S H G U Q D B A H
J P I K W N D T T E I A U D O S N J
A O J L E E Q I O S E I P C S F C I
A K L I B Y U A Q R F G D X C H I A
J B P B V O C I O H D O U G H Y A I
T I I H X L A N D O L F E G H T L B
B U S I N E S S L D O E G I T T C I
E H R L P O A S M A P H G C H F I D
A H I B U E E V S D K E S T E Y U T
E H E H A I O A S O L R R W Y Z A B
I Q U F M K U E N E O H D S R E B S
E P F V A M E U U B K P Y U E A I A
U K I T T E N S H Y H A U N D B H H
J P I K W N D T T E I S U S O S Y J
A O J L E E Q I O S E I P H S F C I
A K L H A P P Y Q R F G D I C H I A
J B P B V E C I O H I Y H N Y Y K I
T I I H X A A N D O L F E E H T Y B
H A K Y K C C S L D O E G I T T C I
E H R L P E A S M A P H G C H F I D
Wordsearch

9. 1. Would you prefer…
(a) to win £50 for sure OR
(b) a 50% chance to win £100 (50% chance to win nothing)
2. Would you prefer…
(a) to lose £50 for sure OR
(b) a 50% chance to lose nothing (50% chance to lose £100)
A sure thing?

10. Would you prefer to buy…
(a) A £50 shirt with free delivery
(b) A £40 shirt + £10 for delivery
(c) A £45 shirt + £5 for delivery
(d) A £45 shirt + £5 for delivery OR £20 for next-day delivery
(e) A £55 shirt with a special £5 discount if you collect in store
A sure thing?

11. • Some of the artists are beekeepers
• All of the beekeepers are chemists
What necessarily follows?
(a) Some of the artists are chemists
(b) All of the artists are chemists
(c) None of the artists are chemists?
(d) All of the chemists are artists
Let’s Bee Reasonable

12. •None of the archers are
boxers
•All of the boxers are clerks
Let’s Bee Reasonable

13. •None of the athletes are builders
•All of the builders are criminals
What necessarily follows?
Let’s Bee Reasonable

14. • Some of the clerks are not archers
• Some of the criminals are not athletes
Let’s Bee Reasonable

15. The biggest football stadium in the Netherlands is the
Amsterdam Arena. Don’t play if you know for sure, but
please guess its capacity.
A Tall Tale

16. The tallest mountain in the world is Mount Everest.
Again, please don’t play if you know for sure,
please guess its height (in feet)
A Tall Tale

17. DISASTER! Yes, they’re both for the same weekend
Which do you choose? (both are nonrefundable!)
• Suppose you’ve bought a £300 flight for a holiday weekend in Italy
• You then buy a £150 flight for a holiday weekend in Spain
• You think you will enjoy the Spain trip more than the Italy trip
That Sinking Feeling

18. 54% 46%
That Sinking Feeling

19. Successful replications
• Anchoring effects http://www.endlessgain.com/blog/2016/10/how-to-use-the-
anchoring-effect-to-win-more-business/
• Gain vs loss framing https://osf.io/wx7ck/wiki/home/
• Sunk costs https://osf.io/wx7ck/wiki/home/
Failures to replicate
• Money priming http://curatescience.org/#money-priming
• Disfluent fonts and maths problems
http://digitalcommons.chapman.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1095&contex
t=esi_pubs
• www.curatescience.org
• https://alexanderetz.com/2015/08/30/the-bayesian-reproducibility-project/
Summary

20. Find a
study/effect
Check it
replicates
Put it into
practice on
your sites
TEST,
TEST and
TEST
again

21. Trust nobody.
Trust your data.
Ben Ambridge
Head of Consumer Psychology, Endless Gain