Successful innovation requires far more than a market gap, a visionary, funding, and new technology. Innovation is a behavioral process from start to finish. It relies on the decision-making processes and behaviors of both producers and consumers, as well as the surrounding support system. Behavioral science, the science of how we make decisions, has invaluable practical insights for innovation on all fronts.
Most people are overconfident in various aspect of their daily life. Yet, this bias has been shown to have detrimental economic and financial consequences. In light of these costs, why is this bias so persistent in the population? Our research provides an explanation for this phenomenon: being overconfident can provide a strategic advantage by influencing others in social interactions.
A common interpretation in behavioural finance is that rationality is the result of a pure cognitive process which can be behaviourally biased. While cognitive biases are influences that affect rationality from within the cognitive system, affective biases refer to those influences that affect the cognitive system from outside. Unfortunately, the assumption that rationality is a pure cognitive process is not well motivated. Rationality results from the intrinsic interaction between cognition and emotions.
Many people are struggling financially. Figures from the Money Advice Service and DWP show that half of people say that they are worried about their finances, four in 10 people say that they could not easily cover an unexpected bill of £300, and 40% working age people in the UK face inadequate incomes in retirement. [...]
