Nudging against polarization: Jesse Itzkowitz

In today’s episode, we are joined by Jesse Itzkowitz, Senior Vice President and Behavioral Scientist at Ipsos Behavioral Science Center, a leading global market research and consulting firm. Prior to joining IPSOS, Jesse held an extremely successful academic career as a Professor from Yeshiva University, where he was twice awarded Professor of the year. Holding a dual PhD degree in marketing and cognitive psychology from the University of Florida has equipped him with a valuable (and extremely unique) skillset that enables him to be both scientifically rigorous and responsive to the needs of the industry. His research has received extensive press coverage from the Wall Street Journal, Time, Bloomberg Businessweek, and CNN. Last winter he gave an informal synopsis of his interests and body of work in a TEDx talk. In this episode, we discuss: Moving from a career in academia into applied behavioral science Navigating the new consumer world: Brand advocacy in the political sphere Using behavioral science to personalize, predict and direct brand strategy Nudges versus sludges: Guiding principles for behavioral scientists and why we need to keep the consumer’s best interest in mind Reconciling academic rigor with behavioral science applications in the real world: Challenges and solutions Why companies are reluctant to apply behavioral science: Is it the fear that our experiments might just prove us wrong? Behavioral Science at IPSOS How to distinguish good research versus bad research: Why the “So what?” question is the key to impacting meaningful change. How to frame our thinking around the ethics of nudging The value of having a PhD when working in applied behavioral science How we can apply behavioural science to improve sustainability, improve trust among consumers and understand the role that emotions play in decision making.