What I do as a Behavioural Science Manager, in a Bank
Not too long ago Pete Judodihardjo, my favourite YouTuber, published a video describing what his actual job at the Behavioural Unit of...
Merle van den Akker
- Sep 21
- 7 min
Using Behavioural Science to Upgrade Your Job
In the last article I explained how to save money during what is likely going to be a difficult time. Saving more money by cutting...
Merle van den Akker
- Aug 25
- 6 min
Seeing Volatile Income Through the Lense of Financial Decision Making
A while back I published a post on my own experience with payment cycles. I had switched from being paid on a monthly basis (UK) to being...
Merle van den Akker
- Aug 18
- 4 min
Subscribe Your Life Away!
In two previous articles I outlined what behavioural science had to say about managing money. And behavioural science had a lot to say....
Merle van den Akker
- Aug 11
- 5 min
A Crash Course in Understanding Meta-Analyses
A while back a meta-analysis on “The effectiveness of nudging…” was published and it took off, after it received a reply attacking its...
Merle van den Akker
- Aug 4
- 6 min
Death of a Nudge (?)
For those tuned into the field of behavioural science, you cannot have missed the recent meta-analysis gone viral: “The effectiveness of...
Merle van den Akker
- Jul 28
- 5 min
History Repeats: Are We Due For Our Roaring Twenties?
In an article by Jeremy Gutsche there was a mention of the roaring twenties returning. To put this in a little context, Jeremy argues ...
Merle van den Akker
- Jul 21
- 6 min
Why Achieving Your Goals Doesn’t Feel Like Anything: A Neuroscientific Explanation
You dreamt about it. You planned it. You worked on it. There were triumphs, initial sub-goals met. There were setbacks, life happened....
Merle van den Akker
- Jun 29
- 4 min
Immediate Gratification as Presented by Mainstream Media
In my previous article I talked about subscriptions; how they’re designed to fly under the radar payment wise, whilst at the same time...
Merle van den Akker
- Jun 15
- 5 min
Stop creating solutions – Define the problem first!
A while back I had the pleasure of hearing Elina Halonen talk about COM-B. She is not the creator of this tool, but she is known for...
Merle van den Akker
- Jun 8
- 4 min
The Influence of Culture on Conspicuous Consumption
Conspicuous consumption – the idea of consuming as a signal of value to others – is something I always struggled to understand. Not...
Merle van den Akker
- Jun 2
- 6 min
More Behavioural Financial Non-Advice
In part 1 I outlined 6 key pieces of information behavioural science has dug out on managing your money. We discussed knowing where your...
Merle van den Akker
- May 25
- 6 min
The Metaverse: Explanation from a Behavioural Scientist
Chances are that you’ve heard of the Metaverse. It’s vaguely linked to Facebook and whatever Zuckerberg is up to these days. It also...
Merle van den Akker
- May 18
- 6 min
Behavioural Science on Personal Finance
This is not financial advice! As the subheader indicates, this is not financial advice. I'm not qualified. Most people giving financial...
Merle van den Akker
- May 11
- 4 min
The Seven Systems of Memory
A while back I was having dinner with a friend of mine who holds a PhD in neuroscience. We were discussing, or rather criticizing, some...