How Speaking Slower Influences Consumer Behavior
Jonah Berger
April 22, 2025
Research from Wharton’s Jonah Berger reveals why speaking a little slower during sales interactions can help improve customer satisfaction. With a talent for articulating 586 words per minute, actor and pitchman John “Motormouth” Moschitta Jr. made a career out of speaking really fast. But research from Wharton marketing professor Jonah Berger shows that speaking slowly […]
How to Fix Biases in Macroeconomic Forecasts
Sean MyersApril 15, 2025
New research recommends using the one-year GDP and the three-month Treasury bill as benchmarks to adjust for distortions across multiple macroeconomic forecasts. The world of macroeconomic forecasting could probably always use a disruption that enhances accuracy. One such comes from experts at Wharton and elsewhere, who have developed a tool to deal with the Achilles […]
What Joann’s Closing Says About the State of Retail
Cait LambertonApril 7, 2025
Wharton’s Cait Lamberton breaks down the demise of fabric and crafts chain Joann and why it’s so challenging for legacy brands to stay solvent. Plagued by weak sales and eroding market share, Joann fabric and crafts is the latest legacy brand to go out of business. All 800 stores are closing after the company […]
Does Financial Literacy Decline with Age?
Olivia S. MitchellApril 7, 2025
A new study reveals an alarming drop in financial and health literacy levels for older men and women over the span of 12 years. Older adults with declining financial and health literacy are at risk of making mistakes that could significantly impact their well-being. They could, for instance, make wrong decisions on when to […]
Should We Compare Bitcoin to Gold? Lessons From the Last Financial Crisis
Rahul KapoorApril 2, 2025
Wharton’s Rahul Kapoor and Lehigh University’s Natalya Vinokurova explain the risks associated with a common argument for investing in Bitcoin: comparing it to gold. The following article was written by Wharton management professor Rahul Kapoor and Natalya Vinokurova, associate professor of management at the College of Business at Lehigh University. Bitcoin is now priced […]
How Ambiguity Aversion Affects Investment Choices
Olivia S. MitchellMarch 25, 2025
Policies to reduce investors’ ambiguity about asset returns can stimulate equity market participation, according to new research. Most people are ambiguity averse, meaning that they prefer to make decisions when they face known probabilities (risk), rather than unknown probabilities (ambiguity). In the real world, investment decisions nearly always involve ambiguity, as the probability distribution […]
How COVID-19 Changed the World
Barbara KahnMarch 18, 2025
Wharton professors look back at how COVID-19 upended our lives five years ago, impacting business and the economy in lasting ways. Five years ago this week, the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 pandemic, and the world has never been the same. What began in December 2019 as a cluster of patients in Wuhan, […]
AI’s Impact on Productivity and Innovation | Daniel Rock
Daniel RockMarch 11, 2025
Professor Daniel Rock explains how AI can impact productivity from the top down. Wharton’s Daniel Rock analyzes how AI could increase productivity in the workplace and what’s standing in the way of widespread implementation. This episode is part of a series on “Innovation” that was produced in cooperation with Mack Institute for Innovation Management. […]
Real AI Adoption Means Changing Human Behavior
Scott A. SnyderMarch 4, 2025
Wharton’s Scott Snyder and co-author Jason Hreha offer five strategies to bridge the gap between leadership expectations around AI and meaningful transformation. The following article was written by Scott A. Snyder, a senior fellow at Wharton, adjunct professor at Penn Engineering, and chief digital officer at EVERSANA; and Jason Hreha, the founder and CEO […]
Can Pride Make You Look Incompetent at Work?
Rebecca SchaumbergFebruary 25, 2025
Research from Wharton’s Rebecca Schaumberg explores the downside of expressing pride in your own work. Meeting a project deadline or signing a new client is something to crow about, but being proud can backfire if colleagues think the accomplishment is no big deal. Research from Rebecca (Becky) Schaumberg, Wharton professor of operations, information and […]