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    A Crash Course in Understanding Meta-Analyses
    Merle van den Akker
    • 4 days ago
    • 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...
    Death of a Nudge (?)
    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...
    History Repeats: Are We Due For Our Roaring Twenties?
    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 ...
    Why Achieving Your Goals Doesn’t Feel Like Anything: A Neuroscientific Explanation
    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....
    Immediate Gratification as Presented by Mainstream Media
    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...
    Stop creating solutions – Define the problem first!
    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...
    The Influence of Culture on Conspicuous Consumption
    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...
    More Behavioural Financial Non-Advice
    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...
    The Metaverse: Explanation from a Behavioural Scientist
    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...
    Behavioural Science on Personal Finance
    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...
    The Seven Systems of Memory
    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...
    The Story Your Brain Tells You
    Merle van den Akker
    • Apr 21
    • 6 min

    The Story Your Brain Tells You

    Not too long ago I was watching a YouTube video by Better Ideas, a self-improvement channel making content on, well, unsurprisingly,...
    Behavioural Change Should Target Trends – Not Events.
    Merle van den Akker
    • Apr 14
    • 4 min

    Behavioural Change Should Target Trends – Not Events.

    A lot of literature on behavioural change focuses on how to slowly and incrementally integrate a new behaviour into your life. Think of...
    The Effect of Payment Methods on Personal Finance Management: My PhD Summarised!
    Merle van den Akker
    • Apr 6
    • 8 min

    The Effect of Payment Methods on Personal Finance Management: My PhD Summarised!

    The main point for me to start this blog was to be able to disseminate academic work to an audience that was much wider than academia....
    The Never Ending Issue With Lifestyle Inflation
    Merle van den Akker
    • Mar 16
    • 5 min

    The Never Ending Issue With Lifestyle Inflation

    Lifestyle Inflation. You’re supposed to aspire to always become a better, happier, healthier, wealthier version of yourself. But when...
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