Behavioral Science in the Wild

by Nina Mazar (Editor), Dilip Soman (Editor)

Behavioral Science in the Wild helps managers understand how best to incorporate key research findings to solve their own behavior change challenges in the real world – from lab to field. Behavioral Science in the Wild helps managers to implement research findings on behavioral change in their own workplace operations and to apply them to business or policy problems. As the second book in the Behaviourally Informed Organizations series, Behavioral Science in the Wild takes a step back to address the "why" and "how" behind the origins of behavioral insights, and how best to translate and scale behavioral science from lab-based research findings. Governments, for-profit enterprises, and welfare organizations have increasingly started relying on findings from the behavioral sciences to develop more accessible and user-friendly products, processes, and experiences for their end-users. While there is a burgeoning science that helps us to understand why people act and make the decisions that they do, and how their actions can be influenced, we still lack a precise science and strategic insights into how some key theoretical findings can be successfully translated, scaled, and applied in the field. Nina Mažar and Dilip Soman are joined by leading figures from both the academic and applied behavioral sciences to develop a nuanced framework for how managers can best translate results from pilot studies into their own organizations and behavior change challenges using behavioral science.

Genres: Nonfiction, Psychology, Science, Leadership, Design

360 pages, Hardcover

Published May 15, 2022

Reviews

[Lou Reckinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could have been great - if somebody had taken the time to actually write a book.
It’s a collection of articles that all contain 1-2 interesting facts, but they repeat each other at nauseam. If one more person tells me that results of behavioral science experiments depend on cultural context I am going to *nudge* myself of a cliff.
There’s some good stuff in here though. Just a pity the articles weren’t connected with each other by some sort of narrative or red thread.

[Hendrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found it nice and interesting to read. Especially the earlier, more general chapters were very insightful. In the middle, it becomes very context-dependent and whether you enjoy and find informative these chapters depends on your interest and prior knowledge. Towards the end, it feels that articles that did not fit anywhere were still included. However, these were very short and, overall, not well written.

[Clayton Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this a year ago, and then it got quite technical, and I moved on to others. In my end-of-the-year blitz, I finally returned and was reminded why I chose it in the first place. Some relevant behavioral science for my craft and interest.

[Jared Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A thousand stories of research not generalizing as well as researchers hope, and some reasons why. Useful in some ways, but not sure who the book is for. Maybe novice behavioral scientists who haven't fully appreciated the context dependent nature or Behavioral Science?